Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service. The role of the technical committee in the 

 revision process was to recommend technical revisions to the 1989 Federal Manual 

 based on field experience and technical comments from the public during the public 

 meetings and public comment period scheduled in 1990. The technical committee 

 completed their revisions in the spring of 1991. 



Have the four agencies agreed to the proposed revised Federal Manual? 



The four agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, 

 Department of Agriculture, and Department of Interior have agreed to the Federal 

 Re gister Notice of the proposed revised Federal Manual and agreed that the Federal 

 Manual is ready for public comment. 



To what extent does policy affect the proposed revisions to the Federal Manual? 



The purpose of the Federal Manual is to establish standard Federal technical criteria 

 for identifying and delineating vegetated wetlands. Therefore, the Federal Manual 

 primarily deals with the technical criteria consistent with the regulatory definitions of 

 wetlands. However, the Federal Manual is not solely a technical document. There are 

 policy issues addressed in the proposed revised Federal Manual. A key policy 

 consideration is, for example, the determination of "normal circumstances" under the 

 regulatory definition of wetlands. Another is the extent of evidence necessary for each 

 of the three criteria in order to make a positive wetland determination. 



Do the agencies plan to field test the revised Federal Manual before it is finalized and 

 implemented ? 



Yes. The four agencies are planning to fully field test the revised Federal Manual 

 before finalizing it. The intent of the field testing, which we expect to occur while the 

 Federal Manual is under public review, is to verify its technical validity in delineating 

 wetlands, assure its ease of implementation and reveal any unanticipated effects. We 

 are also interested in evaluating the applicability of the Federal Manual to all regions of 

 the country. The Corps will coordinate field testing among the four agencies at the 

 field level. 



An independent expert panel will also field test the revised Federal Manual. Upon 

 completion of field testing, the expert panel as well as the regions and district offices of 

 the four agencies will provide recommendations to the agencies to assist in developing 

 necessary final revisions to the Federal Manual. We also encourage other interested 

 parties to conduct field tests of the proposed revised Federal Manual and provide 

 recommendations during the public comment period. 



