FWS reviews all the Corps' permit applications and may recommend conditions 

 to reduce or mitigate impacts on fish and wildlife and their habitat and 

 related public natural resources [131]. Most permits with conditions 

 satisfactory to both FWS and the Corps are established at the district 

 or division level . 



FWS procedures are outlined in The Navigable Waters Handbook and 

 special guidelines for Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Activities 

 reproduced in part in the Federal Register, December 1, 1975 [132]. The 

 Service role is defined in relation to fish, wildlife and their associated 

 habitat issues. The FWS has no veto in this process; its role in the Corps 

 permit program is one of advice-giving on environmental issues. The Corps 

 of Engineers must weigh the full spectrum of these and other issues before 

 making the actual permit decision. 



EPA is also required to make a direct contribution to Corps permit 

 evaluation, under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

 Amendments of 1972. EPA guidelines call for evaluation of both physical 

 and chemical -biological interactive effects on water quality. The key 

 physical effect is filling wetlands; chemical-biological evaluation needs 

 are determined on a case-by-case basis, with routine types of dredging 

 usually exempted. The manpower which EPA has assigned to the 404 program 

 is strictly limited, therefore, it analyzes only selected permit applica- 

 tions. In the event that EPA agrees with the granting of the permit, it 

 returns a note of no objection to the Corps. On some occasions, EPA has 

 requested that the Corps turn down particular projects or add conditions 

 when granting permits. Failure to notify the Corps within three months of 

 public notice has the same effect as sending a note of no objection [133]. 



3.3.2 Permits and Licenses for the Use of Federal Lands 



A detailed review of the management of public lands is beyond the 

 scope of this report [134]. However, certain aspects of public lands 

 management are more likely than other to influence OCS-related development. 

 Rights-of-way for pipelines or other types of access are generally granted 

 by the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior for 

 ocean bottom and other BLM-managed lands. Other rights-of-way are granted 

 by the Federal land management agency with management responsibilities. 

 The Fish and Wildlife Service grants rights-of-way for land, such as 

 refuges, that it manages [135J. 



The use of public lands for rights-of-way and similar purposes is 

 called an "occupancy use," The Federal laws and regulations governing 

 occupancy uses are numerous and varied. On some lands and in some cases 

 a user may purchase title to the land. In others, only limited rights or 

 licenses may be obtained. The environmental impact statement process 

 sometimes gives the public and other agencies great leverage in this 

 process, for instance in the trans-Alaska pipeline case [136]. Others 

 such as short rights-of-way across park or forest lands on barrier islands 



47 



