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ATTACHMENT 3 

 H.R. 350 

 'WETLANDS REFORM ACT OF 1993" 

 March 23, 1994 



The Coalition strongly opposes the enactment of H.R. 350. The legislation 

 contains some useful provisions, including certain provisions regarding activities 

 exempt from regulation under Section 404, a training and certification program for 

 wetlands delineators, funding assistance for delineations of wetlands by small 

 landowners and a number of incentives for the conservation of privately owned 

 wetlands. However, the negative aspects of the bill overwhelm these positive 

 attributes. Among the negative aspects of H.R. 350 that the Coalition strongly 

 opposes are the following: 



H.R. 350 LEGISLATES THE "AVOIDANCE" TEST 

 AND APPLIES THAT TEST TO GENERAL PERMITS : 



Much of the controversy surrounding the current program can be traced to the 

 "avoidance" test which has proven to be particularly inflexible and troublesome in 

 marginal wetlands. Section 108 of HR. 350 exacerbates this problem by legislating 

 this test, which is not now required by statute, and applying the test for the first time 

 to general permits. 



H.R. 350 REDUCES THE USEFULNESS OF GENERAL PERMITS : 



The primary reason that the Section 404 program has not collapsed is that 

 60,000 to 80,000 activities annually are handled by general permits rather than 

 individual Section 404 permits. H.R. 350 significantly reduces the usefulness of 

 general permits by: 



• requiring in Section 1 05 the concurrence of the EPA Administrator in the 

 issuance of such permits; 



• requiring in Section 1 05 the biennial review of each general permit rather 

 than allowing general permits to be issued for 5 years as under current 

 law; and 



• requiring in Section 106 the application of the "avoidance test" to 

 general permits. 



