55 



12 PROTECTING AMERICA'S WETLANDS; 



from Swampbustcr provisions. This will provide greater certainty to the Nation's 

 fonners that they can rely on SCS/FWS mitigation determinations. While the 

 Nationwide permit will include ^propriatc conditions to protect valuable 

 wetlands, an individual review by the Corps and EPA will generally not be 

 required. 



•• Clarify that Certain Man-Made Wetlands Art Not JurisdxetionaL The Corps and 

 EPA will incorporate examples of certain man-made wetlands, such as non-tidal drainage 

 and irrigation ditches excavated on upland, and irrigated lands that would revert to upland 

 if irrigation ceased, into their regulations to clarify the types of waters that are generally 

 not subject to Qean Water Act jurisdiction because they are created out of upland. 



• Wetlands Reserve Program. The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) offers a 

 significant opportunity to assist iazmcTS who are interested in restoring wetlands on their 

 property. Response by farmers to the nine State pilot program was overwhelming, with 

 proposals for 250,000 acres of restoration by over 2300 feirmeis. The 1994 

 Appropriations conference report provides for 75,000 new acres to be enrolled in the 

 WRP. When passed this will more than double — to 20 — the number of stotes where 

 producers can participate in the program. The recent Midwest flood has created a 

 particularly pressing need to assist farmers in the voluntary restoration of wetlands that 

 have historically provided valuable flood protection. Congress should fully fund the 

 Administration's budget requests for the WRP in 1995, and should expand the program 

 in the 1995 Farm Bill. 



D. CATEGORIZATION 



Issue Deflnitjon: A persistent criticism of the Section 404 regulatory program is that the permit 

 process is inflexible to the extent that "all wetlands are treated the same" from a regulatory 

 perspective. Such criticisms have led to calls for a nationwide categorization system to rank 

 wetlands based upon their relative function and importance to society. 



One proposed approach would require that all of the Nation's wetlands be mapped and 

 categorized "up front" as either "high-", "medium-", or "low-value." The ranking based upon 

 this a priori categorization would, in turn, govem the regulatory response at the time of a specific 

 permit application. 



Administration Position! While conceptually a priori categorization and ranking may 

 seem attractive, its technical, fiscal and envirormiental implications make it unworkable. 

 For example, simply mapping the lower 4& States at a scale suitable for detailed 

 regulatory use would involve a mammoth undertaking yielding nearly 14 million maps 

 and costing in excess of $500 million. Assessing the functions of every wetland in the 

 country would be a ^ larger and more complicated task and would require staffing and 

 funding many times that necessary to complete mapping alone. 



