Part 



Introduction 



offered to provide users with a selection of meth- 

 ods that range from office determinations to de- 

 tailed field determinations. If the user departs from 

 these methods, the reasons for doing so should be 

 documented. 



Purpose 



1.0. The purpose of this manual is to 

 provide users with mandatory technical 

 criteria, field indicators and other sourc- 

 es of information, and recommended 

 methods to determine whether an area is 

 jurisdictional wetland or not, and to delineate the 

 upper boundary of these wedands. The document 

 can be used to idenrify jurisdictional wedands sub- 

 ject to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and to 

 the "Swampbuster" provision of the Food Security 

 Act, or to identify vegetated wedands in general for 

 the National Wedands Inventory and other purpos- 

 es. The term "wetland" as used throughout this 

 manual refers to jurisdictional wetlands for use by 

 Federal agencies. This manual, therefore, provides 

 a single, consistent approach for identifying and 

 delineating wedands from a multi-agency Federal 

 perspective. 



Organization of the Manual 



1.1. The manual is divided into four major parts: 

 Part I — Introducrion, Part II — Mandatory Tech- 

 nical Criteria for Wedand Identification, Part III — 

 Field Indicators and Other Available Information, 

 and Part IV — Methods for Identification and De- 

 lineation of Wetlands. References, a glossary of 

 technical terms, and appendices are included at the 

 back of the manual. 



Use of the Manual 



1.2. The manual should be used for identification 

 and delineation of wetlands in the United States. 

 Emphasis for delineation is on the upper boundary 

 of wedands (i.e., wetland-upland boundary) and 

 not on the lower boundary between wetlands and 

 other aquatic habitats. The technical criteria for 

 wedand identification presented in Part 11 are man- 

 datory, while die methods presented in Pan IV are 

 recommended approaches. Alternative methods are 



Background 



1.3. At the Federal level, four agencies are princi- 

 pally involved with wedand identification and de- 

 lineation: Army Corps of Engineers (CE), Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (FWS), and Soil Conservation Service 

 (SCS). Each of these agencies have developed 

 techniques for identifying the limits of wetlands for 

 various purposes. 



1.4. The CE and EPA are responsible for making 

 jurisdictional determinations of wetlands regulated 

 under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (former- 

 ly known as the Federal Water Pollution Control 

 Act, 33 U.S.C. 1344). The CE also makes juns- 

 dictional determinations under Section 10 of the 

 Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403). 

 Under Section 404, the Secretary of the Army, act- 

 ing through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to 

 issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill 

 materials into the waters of the United States, in- 

 cluding wetlands, widi program oversight by EPA. 

 The EPA has the audiority to make fmal determina- 

 tions on the extent of Clean Water Act jurisdiction. 

 The CE also issues permits for filling, dredging, 

 and other construction in certain wedands under 

 Section 10. Under authority of the Fish and Wild- 

 life Coordination Act, the FWS and the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service review applications for 

 these Federal permits and provide comments to the 

 CE on the environmental impacts of proposed 

 work. In addition, the FWS is conducting an in- 

 ventory of die Nation's wedands and is producing 

 a series of National Wedands Inventory maps for 

 die entire country. While die SCS has been in- 

 volved in wedand identification since 1956, it has 

 recendy become more deeply involved in wedand 

 determinations through the "Swampbuster" provi- 

 sion of the Food Security Act of 1985. 



1.5. The CE and EPA have developed technical 

 manuals for identifying and delineating wedands 

 subject to Section 404 (Environmental Laboratory 

 1987 and Sipple 1988, respectively). The SCS has 

 developed procedures for identifying wetlands for 



