Government Faulted on Wetlands
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
June 26, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government fails to enforce laws requiring developers who fill in wetlands to restore old ones or create new ones in return, according to a report released Tuesday.
The National Academy of Sciences found that no federal agencies are accurately tracking the nation's marshes, swamps and bogs to see if the losses to development each year are adequately compensated. Because of that, a panel of academic and government experts found, there is no way to assess whether the nation's goal of ``no net loss'' of wetlands -- in terms of both acreage and functions -- is being met.
Between 1993 and 2000, developers were required to replace every acre of wetlands destroyed or damaged with an average of 1.78 acres of similar habitat. Based on its own field trips and other research, the academy panel said those environmental goals are not being met.
``Some required mitigation projects are never undertaken or are not completed,'' the report said.
Wetland ecosystems have long been a subject of dispute between environmental groups and builders, who have battled over the extent of protections and requirements mandated under the Clean Water Act.
The study found 24,000 acres of wetlands annually were allowed to be filled in between 1993 and 2000 nationwide. More than 42,000 acres of wetlands should have been added somewhere to comply with the goal of ``no net loss'' of wetlands that former President Bush set in 1989.
But the report found that goal ``is not being met'' and the full impact of the losses on wildlife habitat, water quality and flood control remain unknown.
``Because of insufficient data, it was impossible for the committee to determine whether there has been no net loss of wetland acreage,'' the panel reported.
But the panel was more certain that the ``no net loss'' goal for maintaining fish and wildlife habitats was not being met.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency are responsible for enforcing the section of the Clean Water Act that prohibits the discharge of soil and sand into waters without a permit.
``It's clear from this report that we have a lot of work remaining to offset the damages to important wetlands systems,'' said John Meagher, director of the EPA's wetlands division. ``The study's emphasis on watershed scale, evaluation and long-term sustainability should help us meet the goals of the Clean Water Act.''
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimated the nation was losing 58,500 acres of wetlands annually as of 1997, only one-fifth the amount that was being lost each year a decade earlier.
Joy Zedler, a University of Wisconsin botany professor who chaired the committee that wrote the report, said federal regulators must consider ``a broader geographic area'' before granting permits to developers so wetlands ``continue to serve the ecological needs of the entire watershed and have a higher chance of long-term survival.''
The committee also recommended the Corps establish a national database to track wetlands gains and losses and require developers to join with conservation groups, like the Nature Conservancy, which could hold easement or title to the site.