11 



This statement is being presented on behalf of the Environmen- 

 tal Protection Agency, the Department of the Army Corps of Engi- 

 neers, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Inte- 

 rior, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 within the Department of Commerce. This joint statement demon- 

 strates the tremendous cooperation and coordination among the 

 Federal agencies that participated in the Interagency Working 

 Group on Federal Wetlands Policy that produced the administra- 

 tion's wetlands policy. 



Last month the administration released a comprehensive pack- 

 age of improvements to Federal wetlands policy. This package re- 

 flects a broad-based consensus within the executive branch. It con- 

 tains a balanced, common sense, workable set of initiatives that 

 will make Federal wetlands policy fairer, better coordinated with 

 State and local efforts, and more effective in protecting wetlands. 

 We have attached the administration's full policy statement to this 

 testimony. 



We would like to begin by briefly describing why wetlands pro- 

 tection is important, and then provide some background on the 

 process used to arrive at this consensus package. We will then 

 highlight some of the main provisions of the administration's wet- 

 lands policy, noting in particular where Congressional action is rec- 

 ommended. 



Wetlands are among our Nation's most critical and productive 

 natural resources. Wetlands are the vital link between land and 

 water. They provide a multitude of services to society, are the basis 

 of thousands of jobs, and contribute billions of dollars to the econo- 

 my. Wetlands fulfill vital functions within the ecosystem, such as 

 wildlife and aquatic life habitat and food chain support, water 

 quality improvement and flood storage, and shoreline erosion con- 

 trol. 



In some areas, up to two-thirds of our commercial and recre- 

 ational fisheries are dependent on wetlands in their life cycles. 

 This means that wetlands protection may contribute over $15 bil- 

 lion annually to our economy for fisheries alone. A high percentage 

 of our endangered species rely directly or indirectly on wetlands 

 for their survival. 



Protecting wetlands is essential if we are to achieve the Clean 

 Water Act's (CWA's) objective to restore and maintain the chemi- 

 cal, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. 



Coastal wetlands are vitally important to marine commercial 

 and recreational fisheries, with up to 70 percent of marine fishery 

 landings in some areas dependent on coastal wetlands. These wet- 

 lands continue to be lost at a rate of 20,000 acres per year, which 

 has contributed significantly to declines in U.S. Fishery stocks. 



Given the fact that wetlands are so important, it is tragic that 

 we have lost over 50 percent of the wetlands that were present in 

 the coterminous United States at the time of European settlement. 

 Information available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 shows a loss rate of 290,000 acres a year from the mid-1970's to the 

 mid-1980's. 



From the mid-1980's to the present, agricultural wetland losses 

 have declined significantly due to the enactment of the Swampbus- 

 ter provision in the 1985 Farm Bill. While this represents an im- 



