Authority 5 



ably equivalent usefulness with the property proposed for conversion 

 regardless of the nature of that property. For example, a city may wish to 

 use a portion of a park acquired and/or developed with LWCF monies for a 

 non-outdoor recreation use such as city offices. Section 303 permits the 

 acquisition of wetlands of at least equal fair market value and of 

 reasonably equivalent location to be used as replacement lands. 



D. CONSULTATION 



As specified in section 301 of the Act. the NWPCP is being developed m 

 consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

 Agency (EPA), the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Agriculture 

 and the chief executive officer of each State. The NWPCP also is bemg 

 coordinated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and 

 environmental groups. 



E. WETLANDS ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 



The following discusses the minimal wetlands assessment criteria that 

 must be considered in evaluating wetlands for acquisition potential and 

 background information supporting the selection of these criteria. 



Section 301(c) of the Act directs the Department in establishing the 

 NWPCP to consider specific factors. These factors may be summarized 

 as: (1) historic wetland losses, (2) threat of future wetland losses, and (3) 

 wetland functions and values. Wetlands assessment criteria have been 

 established for each of these major categories to assist Federal and State 

 decisionmakers in determining which types and locations of wetlands 

 warrant priority attention for acquisition. In summary, priority 

 consideration for acquisition will be given to: 



1) wetland types that are rare or have declined within an ecoregion 

 (one half or more of the wetland site consists of rare or declining 

 wetland types); 



2) wetland sites subject to identifiable threat of loss or degradation; 

 and 



3) wetland sites with diverse and important functions and values 

 and/or especially high or special value for specific wetland 

 functions. 



National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan 



