CRS-132 



Public Law 95-616 also contained a specific provision for enhancement of 

 critical waterfowl habitat in the grasslands areas of the Central Valley in 

 California. This area has been regarded as important both as a year-round 

 habitat area in the San Joaquin Valley and as a prime wetland area used by 

 wintering waterfowl in the Pacific flyway. The provision was intended to pro- 

 vide an economic incentive to Central Valley landowners to maintain their land 

 for waterfowl, rather than converting the land to other purposes offering 

 greater economic returns. The Act provided that water from the Central Valley 

 reclamation project would be made available to landowners at no cost for the 

 purpose of maintaining marshy habitat required by the migratory waterfowl. 



The Senate added this provision as a floor amendment to the House-passed 

 version of the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 (H.R. 2329). The lan- 

 guage was identical to that in a bill passed by the Senate earlier in the 95th 

 Congress (S.691) and was similar to legislation that passed both the House and 

 Senate in the 94th Congress but which was not enacted at that time (H.R. 15007). 



THE 96th CONGRESS (1979-1980) 



Despite congressional efforts in 1977 to streamline and simplify the sec- 

 tion 404 program, by exempting certain categories of activities from permitting 

 requirements and by authorizing general and nationwide permits, criticism of 

 that program continued. Some of the criticism took the form of legislation 

 that would impose further restrictions on Federal authority respecting dredge 

 and fill activities. Several bills were Introduced during the 96th Congress 

 to restrict the definition of "navigable waters" in section 404 to the tradi- 

 tional concept of navigability, thus limiting the regulatory jurisdiction of 

 the Corps of Engineers. Other legislation sought to establish a maximum time 

 period for Issuance of section 404 permits, in view of concern about the costs 



