168 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



terial. So, it is clear that section 404 does not serve 

 as the Nation's comprehensive wetlands protection 

 law. 



This chapter addresses these and other limita- 

 tions of the program under two parts: "Scope of 

 Coverage" and "Corps Performance." The first 

 part discusses activities that may adversely impact 

 wetlands and areas that are not addressed by sec- 

 tion 404 because of either legislative or regulatory 

 language. The second part discusses the implemen- 

 tation of section 404 by the Corps, including reg- 

 ulatory policies, district implementation, and mon- 

 itoring and enforcement. 



Sources of information for this chapter include 

 OTA surveys of States and Corps districts as well 

 as information provided in OTA's regional case 

 studies and OTA interviews. The analysis of cover- 

 age of the program was prepared by reviewing the 

 language of the legislation and regulations and con- 

 sidering the evaluations provided by these various 

 information sources. The analysis of Corps per- 

 formance, however, was limited by a lack of quan- 

 titative data. 



SCOPE OF COVERAGE 



With respect to comprehensive wetlands protec- 

 tion, a number of gaps exist in the 404 program's 

 geographical coverage of wedands, types of develop- 

 ment activities on wetlands that require permits, 

 and the standards for determining if a permit will 

 be granted. Resource agencies also contend that 

 gaps have been widened by recent regulatory 

 changes in the 404 program that were made in re- 

 sponse to the regulatory reform initiatives of the 

 administration. Because of inadequate data on the 

 404 permitting process prior to 1982, it is impossi- 

 ble to quantitatively document any changes in the 

 quality of decisions about wetlands use in terms of 

 environmental protection due to these administra- 

 tive changes. 



Unregulated Activities 



Several development activities that cause direct 

 wetland conversions or significant impacts on wet- 

 lands but do not involve the disposal of dredged 

 or fill material on wetlands are not included in sec- 

 tion 404 and thus not regulated by the Corps. They 

 include drainage of wetlands, dredging and excava- 

 tion of wetlands, lowering of ground water levels, 

 flooding of wetlands, deposition of material other 

 than dredged or fill, removal of wedand vegetation, 

 and activities on non wetland areas. 



Drainage of Wetlands 



Removal of water from wetlands through drain- 

 age ditches, tiles, and canals is the primary source 

 of wetland conversion in some parts of the coun- 

 try, such as south Florida (1), prairie potholes (2), 

 North Carolina (9). Drainage of wetlands is not 

 covered under the existing 404 program unless the 

 material removed from the ditches or canals is de- 

 posited back in the wedand area. Reasons for drain- 

 age include: bringing new areas into agricultural 

 production or improving productivity on existing 

 agricultural land (e.g., prairie potholes (2), 

 Nebraska (4), Florida (1), North Carolina (9), 

 South Carolina (9)); allowing harvest and reforesta- 

 tion of timber stands (which generally requires only 

 partial drainage during critical time periods, e.g., 

 North Carolina (9)); providing sites that can be de- 

 veloped for urban or industrial use (e.g., Florida 

 (1)); and enhancing the use of areas for nonwedand 

 purposes such as lawns (e.g., Washington State 

 (10)). 



Dredging and Excavation of Wetlands 



While dredged or fill material may not be placed 

 on a wetland covered by the 404 program without 

 a permit or exemption, wetlands themselves may 

 be dredged or excavated without a permit as long 



