158 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



by FWS, 36 by NMFS, and 16 by EPA (elevation 

 requests are sometimes made by more than one 

 agency). 



It has been argued, however, that these agen- 

 cies have steadily reduced processing delays and 

 only rarely elevate permits. According to FWS sta- 

 tistics for the period July 1 to December 31, 1980, 

 average processing time was 17.2 days for routine 

 permits and 22.5 days for all permits. FWS re- 

 quested the elevation of 42 out of the 6,376 received 

 404 and 10/404 public notices, about 0.7 percent. 

 Of these, resolutions in the permit applicant's favor 

 were made in 15 cases; in FWS' favor, in 2 cases; 

 and a compromise was made in 25 cases. Of the 

 four cases elevated as high as the Washington level, 

 two resolutions were made in the applicant's favor, 

 with two compromises.'^ In the NMFS Southeast 

 region, which handles about half the NMFS 404 

 workload, 97 percent of the 5,240 permits reviewed 

 were handled within 30 days in 1980.*° 



According to IWR, elevation requests and han- 

 dling by Federal agencies are not the only, or even 

 the primary, source of delays. In order of impor- 

 tance, the following sources of delay were men- 

 tioned by Corps districts in response to the RIA 

 questionnaire: 



Applicant Behavior 



Many permit applicants fail to provide sufficient 

 information on applications, leading to requests for 

 additional information by Federal agencies and de- 

 lay for the applicant. One possible reason for this 

 problem, suggests IWR, is that application require- 

 ments are complicated and beyond the capability 

 of many applicants. 



State Water Quality Certification 



As mentioned, section 401 of CWA requires all 

 404 applicants to obtain a certification or permit 

 from the State in which the discharge of a pollut- 

 ant may take place to the effect that the discharge 

 will comply with applicable State standards. States 

 are given a period not to exceed 1 year to make 

 a decision on whether to give such certification, 

 after which this requirement is considered to be 



waived. In the absence of 401 certification, a 404 

 permit will not be granted by the Corps. A number 

 of States use 401 requirements as a way of gaining 

 concessions from permit applicants without having 

 to establish explicidy a separate wedand-protection 

 program. 



Manpower 



Corps district personnel responsible for process- 

 ing applications are unable to keep pace with the 

 number of permit applications received. Manpower 

 was not expanded when the Corps expanded its ac- 

 tivities from phase I to phase II and III waters. 



FWS Comments 



Although FWS actually elevates relatively few 

 permits, it has exercised considerable influence by 

 threatening to elevate permits unless applicants im- 

 plement changes in their applications. To avoid the 

 greater delay of elevation, applicants accept the 

 lesser delays entailed in revising applications to 

 meet FWS concerns. 



Other sources of delay were not judged by Corps 

 districts to be nearly as significant as the above four 

 causes.*' 



The relative importance of these sources of delay 

 varies with the Corps district. State, and project 

 involved. For example, in most cases, State certi- 

 fications become factors in delay only when proj- 

 ects are controversial, large in size, or otherwise 

 difficult or complex to evaluate. Many States say 

 that delays come from poor applications and poorly 

 planned projects: time is taken to assist applicants 

 in resubmitting or even redesigning applications 

 and projects. Most States responding to the OTA 

 State survey claimed that they process routine 401 

 and 404 permit applications and applications for 

 State permits within 2 months, with more major 

 applications taking longer (6 months, or in excep- 

 tional cases, even years). While there are few data 

 on the proportion of projects that are delayed by 



"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Fact Package," Feb. 26, 1982. 

 "Natural Resources Council of America, "Statement on 404, " Mar. 

 5, 1982. 



"Ibid., pp. 180-183. Corps delays in issuing public notices in Alaska 

 were ascribed by GAO to Corps manpower problems. Rather than 

 the 15-day period mandated, the Alaska district averaged 21 days, 

 with two-thirds of the notices late in issuance in fiscal year 1981 (down 

 from 28 days and 71 percent delayed in 1980). GAO made a similar 

 finding in 1980 for three other Corps districts. GAO (Tech. Note No. 

 9), p. 30. 



