170 



hinds lar more broadly than the Clinton Administration did in its 

 Memorandum ot Agreement of Agriculture (giving SCS responsibility 

 tor wetland delineations on agricultural lands and certain related 

 areas). Alarmingly, H.R. 3465 broadly defines agricultural lands to 

 include "pasture land, hay lands, [and] range lands," which SCS 

 defines as all non forested areas grazed by herbivores regardless of 

 whether they are domesticated (this definition would, for example, 

 deem suburban yards grazed by deer to be range land). To alleviate 

 concerns over this vast expansion of SCS's responsibilities, the 

 definition of agricultural lands should be narrowed to agricultural 

 land that is intensively managed or lacking in natural vegetation, and 

 SCS should not be given responsibility over non-agricultural lands. 



There are several other key respects in which H.R. 3465 needs 

 strengthening amendments. First, and foremost, by authorizing the 

 Corps to issue general permits for categories of water, the bill would 

 legalize nationwide permit 26 (NWP 26) --the infamous loophole 

 through which countless acres of prairie potholes and other valuable 

 isolated and headwater wetlands have been destroyed-- and would 

 open the door for the Corps to issue more general permits to write- 

 off types of allegedly "low value" wetlands. Congress has never 

 authorized, and must not authorize now, general permits which 

 blanketly allow discharges into certain types of wetlands. Wetlands 

 often serve a myriad of functions and cannot be accurately 

 categorized as high or low value. The wetland that provides valuable 

 flood storage, for example, may not provide good duck habitat. 

 Whether such a wetland is a low or high value wetland depends 

 upon individual perspective (e.g., are you a duck hunter or a nearby 

 homeowner?). Moreover, classification is not necessary. The Section 

 404 permitting process already contains the flexibility to allow 

 regulators to more intensely review particularly destructive 

 activities or proposed discharges in sensitive wetlands. Accordingly, 

 the devastating general permits for categories of waters provision 

 must be deleted. 



H.R. 1330, "The Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation and 

 Management .Act of 1993" 



TU strongly opposes H.R. 1330. H.R, 1330, introduced by 

 Representative Jimmy Hayes (D-LA), is designed to weaken, and for 

 more than half the nation's existing wetlands, actually eliminate 

 federal protection. The bill completely rewrites Section 404 of the 

 Clean Water Act and disregards the 20 years of experience the 



