Corps of Engineers ignores "no net loss" wetlands policy
November 02, 2001: In a letter dated October 31 but released today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a new policy regarding compensation or "mitigation" for destroyed wetlands that essentially ignores the national goal of achieving "no net loss" of wetlands -- a goal that has been the guiding principal of the national wetlands regulatory program since being established during the first Bush administration. The Corps issued its new wetlands mitigation policy without any public notice or coordination with other federal agencies that share responsibility for wetlands protection.
Mitigation involves construction of new wetlands to replace those destroyed by development activities. The Corps is supposed to place highest priority on avoiding harm to wetlands, rather than mitigating damage after it has occurred. But the Corps often overlooks avoidance and allows destruction of wetlands based on speculative promises of mitigation. The Corps has come under increased criticism over the past year for its failure to ensure that compensatory mitigation adequately replaces the functions and acreage lost when wetlands are destroyed. Last spring, the General Accounting Office and the National Academy of Science published reports that found that Corps' mitigation policy was not providing for "no net loss" of wetlands within the regulatory program and that serious improvements were needed.
NRDC joined other groups in expressing outrage over the Corps' new "anything goes approach" to wetland replacement. The new policy allows for wetland mitigation to consist of preservation or enhancement of existing wetlands, small buffer strips along streams, upland areas, ponds and other waters, or simply deepening existing wetlands for swimming or fishing. None of these types of "mitigation" can compete for the loss of natural wetlands and will contribute to a continued net loss of our nation's valuable wetlands, according to NRDC attorney Daniel Rosenberg.
"It is bizarre that the Corps proposes to weaken their inadequate program further, given the recent studies detailing the widespread failure of the agency's current mitigation policies to adequately protect wetlands and achieve the goal of 'no net loss'," said Rosenberg. "Apparently, when it comes to wetland protection, there is no success like failure for the Corps of Engineers."
Rosenberg noted that in April, the Bush administration allowed a Clinton-era wetlands protection rule to take effect and pledged that it would continue to take responsible steps to ensure the protection of wetlands. "Either the Corps didn't get the memo or the Bush administration's policies regarding wetlands protection have been reversed without notice to the public," added Rosenberg.
© 2009 Natural Resources Defense Council
