held in 1990 (Sacramento, 

 California; St. Paul, Minnesota; 

 Baltimore, Maryland; and 

 Baton Rouge, Louisiana) to 

 solicit comments from the 

 public on technical revisions to 

 the document. In addition, 

 numerous written comments 

 were submitted and reviewed 

 during a public comment 

 period which was publicized by 

 a notice in the Federal 

 Register . The four agencies 

 also reviewed assessments by 

 agency field staff using the 



1989 Federal Manual. 



This process resulted in 

 the development of a 

 substantial and useful set of 

 concerns and recommendations 

 that was used in developing the 

 revisions currently being 

 proposed. The four agencies 

 met regularly from October 



1990 through April 1991 to 

 develop the proposed revisions 

 to the 1989 Federal Manual. 

 Some of the key technical 

 issues needing re-examination 

 were: wetland hydrology 

 criterion, the use of hydric soil 

 for delineating the wetland 

 boundary, the assumption that 

 facultative vegetation could be 

 used to demonstrate wetland 

 hydrology, the depth and 



duration of saturation, the ,,,....:.. -....:. . .. ■.. . ■^__^.^^__-^_ 



definition of the growing 



season, and the nature of the determination process which provided opportunities for 

 misuse. In addition, general misunderstandings of the 1989 Federal Manual were 

 addressed. Perhaps the issue that engendered the most concern involved the use of 

 hydric soils for wetland identification and delineation. This led to the misconception 



STATISTICS ON SECnON 404 PERMTT ACnvmES AND SBCTION 

 404<c) ACTIONS 



Permit Adivitie* 



The Oean Water Act Section 404 program regulate* the disdiarge 

 of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, a tema which 

 includes most of the Nation's wetlands. In general, the Corps receives 

 apprcodmately 15,000 individual permit applications annually (this number 

 includes both Section 404 and Section 10 applications). Of these 15,000 

 individual permit applications: 



appronmatety 10,000 permits (67%) are issued; 



approximately 500 permit applications (3%) are denied; 



approximately 4,500 permit applications (30%) are 



withdrawn by the applicant or qualify for a general 



permit. 

 In addition, approximately 75,000 minor activities are authorized 

 each year through regional and nationwide ^eral permits . General 

 permits authorize activities in wetlands and other waters without the need 

 for individual permit review as long as these activities cause only minimal 

 adverse environmental effects. Nationwide permit #26, in particular, 

 authorizes activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material into 10 

 acres or less of Isolated waters or headwaters streams (non-tidal streams 

 where the average annual flow is 5 cubic feet per second or less). For 

 activities that affect between 1 and 10 acres of such waters, the applicant 

 is required to notify the Corps <rf Engineers prior to proceeding with any 

 discharge. 



Permit Review Period 



Approximately 92% of all permit evaluations (that is, both 

 individual and general permits) are completed in less than 60 days after a 

 completed permit application has been received by the Corps. 



Individual permit applications that involve complex projects or 

 sensitive environmental issues usually require more than 60 days to reach 

 a decision. After a completed individual permit application has been 

 received by the Corps: 



over 50% are processed in less than 60 days; 



approximately 25% percent are processed in 61 to 120 



days; 



approximately 20% require 121 days to a year to process; 



and 



less than 5% require more than one year to p)rocess. 



SummaTY of EPA Section 404^c^ Actions fas of 5/91) 



Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act authorizes the 

 Administrator of EPA to prohibit or restrict discharges of dredged or fill 

 material into waters of the United States when such discharges would have 

 unacceptable adverse effects on munidpal water supplies, shellfish beds 

 and fishery areas, wildlife or recreational areas. To date, EPA has 

 completed only ^even Section 404(c) actions, out of an estimated 150,000 

 permit applications received since the Section 404(c) regulations went into 

 effect hi late 1979. 



