that the 1989 Federal Manual was based not on three mandatory criteria, but rather 

 solely on one criterion ~ the hydric soil criterion. Some individuals believed that any 

 area mapped as a hydric soil series was a wetland. These misunderstandings needed to 

 be addressed. From these and other concerns raised, it was clear that a better defined 

 set of field indicators was needed to prevent incorrect positive identification of the 

 three technical criteria. 



REVISIONS TO THE 1989 FEDERAL MANUAL: INCREASING TFIE BURDEN 

 OF PROOF - The goal in revising the 1989 Federal Manual is to improve the 1989 

 Federal Manual's accuracy for identifying and delineating wetlands. The proposed 

 revisions also address many of ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^^^^^i^m 



the issues raised in the public 

 comments and public meetings. 

 The changes incorporate 

 technical knowledge derived 

 from the use of the 1989 

 Federal Manual in the past two 

 years and from improvements 

 in the state of the science. It 

 is important to note that these 

 proposed revisions, as with the 

 1989 Federal Manual, are 

 intended to be consistent with 

 the definition of wetlands used 

 in implementing the Section 

 404 program and the 

 Swampbuster provisions of the 

 Farm Bill. 



The major changes 

 would increase the burden of 

 proof required to identify and 

 delineate a wetland by 

 clarifying and restricting the 

 manner in which field 

 indicators are used to indicate 

 whether the three criteria 

 (wetland hydrology, hydrophytic 

 vegetation and hydric soils) are 

 met. This approach to wetland 

 delineation will make it easier 

 for Federal or State agency 

 staff to explain to landowners 

 how wetlands are being 

 delineated. 



EXPLAINING THE THREE C3irreRIA FOR 

 WETIANDS - Under natural, undisturbed conditions, 

 vegetated wetlands generally possess three characteristics • 

 - wetland hydrology, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydric 

 soils. The proposed revised Federal Manual provides field 

 indicators to verify the presence of these criteria. 



Wetland Ffydrology: Tlie driving force creating wetlands is 

 wetlands hydrology. The presence of water is essentially 

 wliat makes a wetland a wetland. Field staff may not be 

 able to directly observe more than two weeks of 

 inundation and/or saturation if they are not present during 

 the right part of the growing season or for a long enough 

 observation period. Unless specifically addressed in the 

 proposed revised Federal Manual as exceptions or 

 disturbed areas, areas without any of the hydrologic 

 indicators provided in the proposed Federal Manual are 

 nonwetland areas. 



Hydrophytic Vegetation: The term "hydrophytic 

 vegetation" describes plants that live in "wet" conditions. 

 However, not all plants that grow in wetlands grow only in 

 wetlands. The majority of plant species growing in 

 wetlands also grow in non-wetlands or in upland areas in 

 varying degrees. Thus, plants alone cannot t)e used to 

 identify and delineate wetlands. The determination of 

 whether or not the vegetation in an area meets the criteria 

 is based on estimated frequencies with which the plant 

 species found in the area occur in wetlands. 



Hydric Soil: The National Technical Committee for 

 Hydric Soils has developed criteria for hydric soils and a 

 list of the nation's hydric soils. The Federal Manual's 

 hydric soil criterion is based on the Committee's criteria 

 for hydric soil. Wetlands typically possess hydric soils but 

 the presence of indicators of hydric soils does not 

 necessarily mean that the area is a wetland. 



