CRS-124 



Instead, the Administration supported a Cleveland-Harsha substitute that would 

 have retained the Corps' broad territorial jurisdiction, authorized certain 

 regulatory exemptions, and provided for issuance of general permits. 



The proposal finally adopted by the House in 1976 was offered by Rep- 

 resentative Wright and was something of a compromise. It contained the reduced 

 scope of the Breaux amendment and provided for a number of permitting exemptions. 



The Senate supported a slightly different proposal offered by Senators 

 Baker and Randolph. It would have retained broad jurisdiction but would have 

 transferred authority over waters in Phase II and III from the Corps to EPA. 



However, Congress failed to enact any FWPCA legislation at that time, in 

 part due to the controversy over amending section 404. 170 / An unintended result 

 of the controversy, according to one author, may have been "to draw attention 

 to the need for a more specific and more comprehensive wetlands protection 

 act." 171 / 



In 1976, however, Congress did enact legislation (P.L. 94-215) that extended 

 until 1983 the period during which the Department of the Interior could acquire 

 wetlands for migratory waterfowl with appropriations authorized by the Wetlands 

 Loan Act. Enacted in 1961 (P.L. 87-383), the Wetlands Loan Act was one part 

 of an overall Federal program that envisioned acquiring 2.5 million acres of 

 wetlands. That Act authorized Federal Treasury advances on future receipts 

 from the sale of "duck stamps" (under the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conserva- 

 tion Stamp Act — then known as the 1934 Hunting Stamp Act) to increase the 

 amount of monies, along with those available under the Migratory Bird Con- 

 servation Fund, that could be used for direct wetland acquisition. However, 



170 / Corps's Wetlands Control Survives Trip Through a Legislative Swamp. 

 National Journal, v. 8, Oct. 23, 1976. p. 1505-1512. 



171 / Ibid., p. 1512. 



