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persons, the result can be delayed permit Issuance, particularly In cases of 

 complex applications — delays which may be costly to the applicant. Attorney 

 General Civiletti's 1979 advisory opinion stating that EPA, not the Corps, 

 should have the final say in determining the jurisdictional limits of the pro- 

 gram, has focused attention on this issue. It raises the question not only 

 of which agency has full regulatory authority but also of who has authority 

 to bring enforcement actions over activities occurring in navigable waters, 

 including the discharge and disposal of dredged material. Under the Reagan 

 Administration, the Justice Department has not taken steps to reverse the 

 Civiletti opinion. One reason that the Corps was given major responsibilities 

 under section 404 in 1972 was pressure from the dredging industry and others 

 to keep EPA out of matters concerning dredging and filling (see page 78). 



Con 



Other persons argue that the current Corps-EPA relationship should remain 

 unchanged. They contend that there should be little or no confusion regarding 

 responsibility under section 404, which is set out in the statutory provision 

 itself, and thus no need for legislative clarification. The Attorney General's 

 1979 advisory opinion spelled out the Corps-EPA relationship that is already 

 in the law, these persons say. In particular, EPA develops environmental 

 guidelines for the Corps' use In reviewing permit requests (section 404(b)), 

 and the agency may deny or restrict specific sites for dredged material dis- 

 posal, based on determination of adverse environmental effect (sec. 404(c)). 

 Each of these EPA activities is to be accomplished in conjunction or consul- 

 tation with the Corps of Engineers. Because section 404 is, in fact, part of 

 a water quality law, EPA's limited activities concerning water quality pro- 

 tection are entirely appropriate. EPA is not authorized, for example, to de- 

 termine the Corps' regulatory jurisdiction under section 10 of the Rivers and 



