40 



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The Administration policy also addresses landowner concerns regarding the 

 Section 404 program. The Corps will develop. Through rulemaking, an administrative 

 appeals process under the regulatory program so that landowners, farmers, and others 

 can seek review of jurisdictional determinations, administrative penalties, and permit 

 denials without going to court. The Corps will also modify its regulations to impose 

 deadlines to ensure that permitting decisions are made in a timely fashion. The policy 

 also endorses the use of mitigation banks for compensatory mitigation under the 

 Section 404 program within environmentally sound limits. Mitigation banks developed 

 within the context of a watershed planning effort can assist in integrating permit-by- 

 permit mitigation of unavoidable wetland losses into an overall watershed restoration 

 strategy. 



The Clinton policy takes several steps to increase the predictability and public 

 acceptance of efforts to identify areas as wetlands subject to jurisdiction under the 

 CWA. Use of the 1987 wetlands delineation manual has provided a workable and 

 broadly accepted delineation procedure over the past two years. The Admimstration 

 supports continued use by all agencies of the 1987 manual pending completion and 

 review of the National Academy of Sciences study, expected in September 1 994. To 

 increase public confidence in the Section 404 program, the Administration also is 

 recommending Congressional endorsement of continued use of the 1987 manual. 



To put to rest the notion that Congress did not intend to protect wetlands under 

 the CWA, the Administratioo recommends that explicit definitions of the terms 

 "wetlands" and "waters of the United States" be included in the statute, consistent 



