156 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



modifications, forest-access road construction usual- 

 ly requires certain modifications (e.g., adequate 

 culverts) to insure flow and circulation when cross- 

 ing waters or wedands. This is not a major difficul- 

 ty. The construction of water intake and effluent- 



outfall structures must be undertaken in a fashion 

 that does not involve unnecessary disruption of wet- 

 land areas. This has not generally proven to be dif- 

 ficult." 



DELAY COSTS 



Delays in processing applications past "normal" 

 processing time can result in costs to applicants, 

 such as payments to idle workers and contractors, 

 possible increases in interest rates and prices for 

 raw materials, labor, machinery, and the like. Un- 

 anticipated delays are especially cosdy. 



OMB stated that the 404 program has been 

 "plagued by severe delays that have generated com- 

 plaints and imposed heavy economic burdens on 

 the public" and "has introduced long delays into 

 a substantial number of major permit applica- 

 tions."^' Such delays are contrary to statutory 

 language in section 404, which requires that memo- 

 randums of agreement be concluded among agen- 

 cies to minimize delays. The major source of delays 

 was said to be the multiple layers of review or eleva- 

 tions of permit decisions possible if another agen- 

 cy disagrees with the Corps. 



As the OMB letter did not define "long delays," 

 or "substantial number of major permits," it is dif- 

 ficult to assess the accuracy of its criticism. Opin- 

 ions differ about what constitutes normad process- 

 ing time. A coalition of environmental groups be- 

 lieves that 131 days, the average period for proc- 

 essing non-EIS permits from 1977 to 1981, is a 

 reasonable figure.'" Following the figure employed 

 by RIA, IWR used 120 days. The General Ac- 

 counting Office (GAO) says 105 days." Some in- 

 dustry spokesmen have used a 90-day figure (13). 

 OMB recommended that 60 days be the normal 

 processing time. 



Statutory and regulatory language on process- 

 ing deadlines provides that the Corps must issue 

 a public notice of a permit application within 15 



days of receipt of a complete application.'^ Applica- 

 tions lacking required information must be resub- 

 mitted. CWA requires that memorandums of 

 agreement be concluded among the Federal agen- 

 cies involved such that "to the msiximum extent 

 practicable,"'' decisions about permits can be made 

 not later thcin 90 days zifter pubhc notice. This dead- 

 line allows for some deviation. Federal agencies are 

 given 30 days from the issuance of public notice 

 to forward comments to the Corps; however, they 

 may request extensions of up to 75 days under what 

 are supposed to be unusual circumstances. Section 

 404(m) directs the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 

 to submit comments within 90 days of receiving the 

 public notice. 



In addition to the time allowed for Federal agen- 

 cy action. States are given up to 1 year to perform 

 water quality certifications, which apply to prac- 

 tically all 404 permits. Without such certification, 

 the Corps cannot grant a permit. As discussed be- 

 low, according to IWR, much of the time involved 

 in processing permits stems from the length of time 

 it takes States to grant 401 certifications. Most 

 States claim, however, that they issue such certifica- 

 tions within 90 days. Arrangements have been 

 made between some Corps districts and State agen- 

 cies to set time limits on State certifications, after 

 which certification is considered to be de facto 

 granted. 



Percentage of Permits Delayed 



OTA calculations based on RIA material are that 

 if only issued permits are considered (i.e., not in- 

 cluding permit withdrawals and denials), 43 per- 

 cent of commercial, 29 percent of private, and 33 



"Office of Management and Budget, op. cit., p. 28 



'"National Wildlife Federation, op. cit. 



"General Accounting Office (Tech. Note No. 9), p. 28. 



"Clean Water Act, sec. 404(a). 

 "Clean Water Act, sec. 404(q). 



