Army Corps changes wetlands rules

Posted 8:19AM on Tuesday 15th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

WASHINGTON - To conservationists, new government regulations on wetlands will allow homebuilders to put up single-family dwellings in flood plains and reroute miles of narrow streams. For developers, the Army Corps of Engineers' reduced requirements for speedy government approval of draining and filling permits is a long-overdue relaxation of changes ordered by Congress. The regulations, announced Monday, revoke some requirements for winning expedited permits that the Clinton administration imposed on developers during its last year in office. The rules were adopted without formal comment from the Interior Department, despite objections to several of the measures by the department's Fish and Wildlife Service. Its protests were not forwarded to the corps, said department spokesman Mark Pfeifle, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton sent word that she supported the new plan. Instead of requiring acre-for-acre restoration on each project, for example, the new regulations state only that there be ``no net loss'' of wetlands in any of the corps' 38 U.S. districts, which are established on the basis of watersheds rather than state boundaries. John Studt, chief of the corps' regulatory branch, said the new permit requirements ``will do a better job of protecting aquatic ecosystems while simplifying some administrative burdens for the regulated public.'' The National Association of Home Builders described the new permits as a positive first step, though it also said the process still was insufficiently streamlined. ``This is the first time in the 25 years of the program that the corps has not added further limitations or more paperwork requirements,'' said Susan Asmus, a vice president for the group. Left in place was a Clinton-era requirement that developers get a permit for any project involving more than a half-acre of wetlands. Until 2000, developers had to get government approval only if more than three acres of wetlands were affected. The new regulations eliminate some restrictions on development in flood plains and revoke a prohibition on filling more than 300 feet along any stream. Developers will be able to seek waivers allowing them to fill up to a half-acre of any stream that doesn't flow year-round. ``The inevitable result will be increased floods, more water pollution and greater loss of wildlife habitat,'' said Daniel Rosenberg, an attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council. Coal mines will have to get a written determination from a district engineer that dumping mine wastes in wetlands will have a minimal impact. Such fills will have to be replaced with new wetlands elsewhere. The Fish and Wildlife Service complained in an Oct. 15 memo that the ecological effects of the changes had not been assessed adequately. The agency said it ``does not believe the corps has sufficient scientific basis to claim'' that the new, expedited permits will ``cause only minimal impact on the nation's natural resources.'' Norton's staff ``did not have enough time'' to reconcile that memo with contrary remarks by the Office of Surface Mining, spokesman Pfeifle. Thus, no formal recommendation was made, he said.

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