59 



16 PROTECTING AMERICA'S WETIANPS: 



United Sutes for purposes of the Qean Water Act. Congress should include this 

 clarifying language in statute as well. 



The Administration also recommends that Congress add examples of 'isolated waters" 

 (e.g., praiiic potholes, vernal pools, and playa lakes) to the sututory definition of 

 wetlands. From a scientific standpoint, isolated wetlands perform many of the same vital 

 functions performed by other aquatic areas widely accepted as wetlands, such as flood 

 control and groundwater recharge, as well as providing critical habitat for migratory 

 waterfowl and other wildlife, and contribute to achieving the objectives of the Qean 

 Water Act both individually and as a class. 



Issue DeOnitioD: 'Artindal' Wetlands 



Neither the Qean Water Aa nor its implementing regulations distinguishes between natural and 

 created wetlands. However, certain "artificial" wetlands do not normally exhibit the values and 

 functions typically attributed to natural wetlands. These artificial wetlands are created 

 inadvertently from upland by human activity and would revert to upland if such aaivity ceased. 

 The fact that these areas are not specifically excluded from the jurisdiction of the Qean Water 

 Act in either statute or regulation has caused confusion. 



AHniinl<;tratmn Position : The EPA and the Corps will incorporate examples of artificial 

 wetlands, such as non-tidal drainage and irrigation ditches excavated on upland, into their 

 regulations to clarify the types of waters that are generally not subject to Clean Water Act 

 jurisdiction because they are created out of upland. 



F. MITIGATION AND MITIGATION BANKING 



Issue Dennition: Mitigating the harmful effects of necessary development actions on the 

 Nation's waters is a central premise of Federal wetland regulatory programs. The Section 404 

 regulatory program relies up>on a sequential approach to mitigating these harmful effects by first 

 avoiding unnecessary impacts, then minimizing enviroimiental harm, and, finally, compensating 

 for remaining unavoidable damage to wetlands and other waters through, for example, the 

 restoration or creation of wetlands. 



Mitigation banking refers to a wetland restoration, creation, or enhancement effort undertaken 

 expressly for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable wetland losses in advance of 

 development actions, when compensatory mitigation is | not appropriate, practicable, or as 

 environmentally beneficial at the development site. Units of restored or created wetland are 

 expressed as "credits", and accumulated credits are subsequently withdrawn to offset "debits" 

 incurred at the development site. \ 



Administration Position: The sequential approach to mitigation provides a logical, 

 predictable, and reasonable framework for mitigating impacts associated with proposed 



