WETLANDS CONSERVATION WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1989 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:15 p.m., in room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Gerry E. Studds (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Members present: Representatives Studds, Carper, Bosco, Ortiz, Tallon, Pallone, Unsoeld. Hutto, Tauzin, Dyson, Schneider, and Weldon. Staff present: Gina DeFerrari, Bill Woodward, William Stelle, Lisa Murray, Joyce Sacco, Sue Waldron, Tom Melius, and Rod Moore. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GERRY E. STUDDS, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MASSACHUSETTS, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT Mr. STUDDS. The Subcommittee meets this afternoon to discuss the steps that our Nation should take to halt the continuing loss of wetlands. The value of wetlands has been well documented. They provide outstanding habitat for fish and wildlife, help control flooding in low-lying areas, maintain water quality by filtering out pollutants, control erosion, recharge aquifers, provide a source of timber, and are widely used for recreational purposes. They are also disappearing. We lecture the developing world every day about the need to conserve tropical forests, but wetlands are a priceless national resource in our part of the world, and I doubt we will ever succeed in persuading others to meet their environmental responsibilities if we do not meet our own. President Bush has proclaimed a policy of "no net loss" of wetlands. He has promised to create an interagency task force to carry out that policy, but in the first 120 days of his administration, that task force has not met, that policy has not gone forward, and those promises have not yet been kept. Our first panel this afternoon is made up of representatives from the Federal agencies that will presumably carry out the administration's policy, once the administration has a policy to carry out. Our second panel will focus on agricultural development, which is the number one cause of wetlands loss in our nation today. Our purpose is to begin a discussion that will lead either to legislation or to strong administrative action to protect the swamps, (1) marshes, bogs, fens savannahs, sloughs, swales, pocosins-in the Chairman's State-potholes, vernal ponds, bottomlands, and seeps-especially the seeps-that are so important to our country and so much a part of our culture and our way of life. Without objection, the statement by Mr. Davis will be in the record. [The statement of Mr. Davis follows:] STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT W. Davis, a U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MICHIGAN Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding these hearings for I am hopeful it will provide an opportunity for all of us to learn more about the regulatory regime governing wetland conservation in our Nation. The loss of wetlands throughout the United States has been a major concern of many of us on this Committee. Prior to settlement by the Europeans, it was widely accepted that the United States contained as many as 215 million acres of wetlands, but by mid-1970 only 99 million acres remained. The Nation had lost 54 percent of its wetlands, and losses to agriculture and to commercial and residential development have continued. This loss is also prevalent in my home state of Michigan, for prior to the arrival of European settlers there, it has been estimated that the State contained approximately 11.2 million acres of wetlands. A recent study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service though now estimates that only 3.2 million acres. remain-a loss of 71 percent of its wetlands. Some coastal areas have lost an even larger percent. Lake St. Claire, for example, has lost an estimated 80 percent of its wetlands. Long perceived as wastelands with few redeeming characteristics, wetlands today are being recognized as valuable natural resources. They provide habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals, probably the most commonly recognized value of wetlands. But they have been shown to provide many other valuable functions such as the maintenance of water quality. They can retain, at least temporarily, nutrients that would otherwise reach streams, rivers, or lakes and contribute to increased growth of algae. Sediments that are suspended in running water can also be removed by wetlands. Wetlands interconnected with the groundwater table can recharge groundwater while in other areas discharge groundwater. Wetlands also provide a valuable function by reducing the severity of floods. They are effective as a storage basin during times of heavy rainfall and ease in the flooding of rivers. Finally, wetlands provide a multitude of use for recreational activities; hunting, fishing, and a number of nonconsumptive uses of wetlands are enjoyed by many Americans. The major Federal regulatory program controlling the destruction of wetlands is authorized by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which requires the issuance of a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the waters of the United States, including most wetlands. Michigan, through its Department of Natural Resources, assumed administration of the Section 404 wetlands program in August of 1984, and for most waters only a state permit is required. At the center of Michigan's wetland management program is the Goemaere-Anderson Wetlands Protection Act of 1979. This Act, along with several other wetland conservation Acts, provides the regulatory regime for management of wetlands in the State of Michigan. Michigan is the only state in our Nation to have responsibility of state management of its wetlands. The program has been handled very successfully for it can respond effectively through the permitting process to the needs of its local constituents. The processing of applications and the enforcement of regulations does place an additional responsibility on state government though Michigan has been able to meet this challenge. Overall, the regulation of wetland use is typically the focus of most wetland protection efforts. This focus is generally at the Federal level, however, protection of wetlands is not only a Federal responsibility, for there are roles that many state and local governments, conservation groups, and individuals can play as we seek ways to best protect our valuable wetland resources. Our understanding of the public benefits inherent in these resources continues to grow as does our knowledge of the losses and expenses suffered by the public as these areas have been destroyed. As a Member who wants to assist in wetland conservation, I have introduced H.R. 2322, along with our Full Committee Chairman, Walter B. Jones, and Ranking Subcommittee Member, Don Young, to further the implementation of the North American waterfowl management plan. This plan, signed in 1986 by the Minister of Environment for Canada and Secretary of the Interior for the U.Š., outlines a far-reaching joint effort to identify the major management problems, establish objectives, and propose a series of strategies to protect waterfowl habitat, restore declining waterfowl populations, and enhance waterfowl research and management. Saving wetlands for waterfowl also protects these areas for hundreds of other species. Mr. Chairman, this legislation is but one part of our effort to protect wetlands. I am hopeful that the hearings that we have embarked upon will add to the overall understanding of the regulatory and nonregulatory processes available for protecting wetlands and will assist us as we become more involved with wetland conservation. Mr. STUDDS. Are there opening statements on this side? OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR., A U.S. Mr. PALLONE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to say that I am very pleased that you are having this hearing and that you are emphasizing solutions, possible legislative solutions, because I know that in my district in particular, in New Jersey, that the issue of wetlands destruction is of particular significance. Every day-I shouldn't say every day, but very often-I get complaints about wetlands that are being filled in, that are being destroyed, even though we supposedly have a Federal and even a State program that should not allow for that, and so I would like to see what we can do, as a Committee and as a Congress, to rectify the situation. Thank you. Mr. STUDDS. The gentlelady from Washington. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOLENE UNSOELD, A U.S. Mrs. UNSOELD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Just to say that the importance of this often-too often-overlooked issue is beginning to seep into the public consciousness, and I appreciate your leadership. Mr. STUDDS. Did the gentlelady say "seep"? Mrs. UNSOELD. Yes. [Laughter.] [The statement of Hon. Billy Tauzin follows.] STATEMENT OF HON. BILLY TAUZIN, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM LOUISIANA, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COAST GUARD AND NAVIGATION Mr. Chairman, I am very grateful to you and the Subcommittee for its efforts to focus attention on the serious national problem of wetlands loss. This hearing, while the first for the Subcommittee in this Congress, is not the first effort by the Subcommittee to investigate the issues related to wetlands loss. The subject of wetlands losses was part of the Subcommittee's extensive investigation of coastal pollution, included in amendments adopted by the Full Committee in other legislation, and the focus of numerous meetings at the staff level with Federal and State officials responsible for wetlands regulation and stewardship. I have a great personal interest in seeing progress on wetlands policy reform. From my earliest years in elected public office, I have been trying to rally local, state, and national support for a comprehensive national strategy to combat coastal wetlands losses, particularly in Louisiana. As the background memorandum correctly points out, the coastal wetlands loss in southern Louisiana is "an especially severe problem." The rate of loss of 50 square miles per year in this area represents eighty percent of the coastal wetland loss nationwide. But it is even worse than that-most of that loss occurs in a single congressional district. And it happens to be the one I represent. I may be the first Member of Congress to lose his district not by death, defeat or resignation, but by erosion! Mr. Chairman, America's largest wetland community is losing its marshes and swamps to the Gulf of Mexico. Wetlands are being replaced by open water, largely as a result of natural forces and the combined impact of Federal navigation policy, flood control systems and other activities, such as opening canals for the development of mineral resources. There is, perhaps, a need for clarification of the extent of wetlands losses in Louisiana. To underscore the severity of wetlands losses in Louisiana, the following passage may be instructive. It comes from an often-overlooked April, 1987 report by the Environmental Protection Agency entitled "Saving Louisiana's Coastal Wetlands": "If current trends continue, an ecosystem that supports the Nation's oldest bilingual culture, 25 percent of the Nation's fishing industry, and North America's largest fur-producing area, will be destroyed in the next century. This destruction could be further accelerated if sea level rises one or more feet as a result of the projected global warming from the greenhouse effect." That report made nine specific conclusions, which I have included at the end of my statement. I believe these conclusions support the notion that this Congress can and should act on legislation that deals only with the crisis we face, as a Nation, in Louisiana's coastal wetlands. That EPA report also concluded that "wetlands loss in Louisiana is a problem with national importance." In reaching that conclusion, it noted that, and I quote: "unlike wetland loss elsewhere which mostly results from private actions, the coastal wetlands loss in Louisiana results primarily from activities conducted or authorized by government agencies.' The same report called for a comprehensive plan of action. Senate Bill 630, authored by Senator John Breaux, the distinguished former chairman of this Subcommittee, goes a long way in setting up a framework within which an action plan can be developed. The funding mechanism provided in S. 630-a permanent appropriation of 5% of OCS revenues-may be controversial, but I must point out that most Federal OCS revenues come from activities directly off the Louisiana coast. In fact, 90% of all Federal OCS revenues comes from development in the Gulf of Mexico and represent the single largest source of Federal revenues after payroll tax deductions. Earlier this year, the Department of the Army, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Soil Conservation Service adopted the new "Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands," which became effective on March 20 of this year. It is the first time Federal agencies have attempted to use a single approach to determining wetlands subject to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. But the definition is so broad that most of the lands in coastal Louisiana, including the vast majority of those lands already developed, could fall within the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. To make matters worse, the EPA's 404(b)(1) guidelines which presume the availability of non-wetland sites for non-water dependent activities when considering of 404 permits is, at best, illusory when applied to coastal Louisiana. In dealing with the enormous and unique coastal wetland environment of Louisiana, if this Congress blindly adopts the Manual's expansive definition of jurisdictional wetlands and does not question the EPA's presumption that non-wetlands sites exist for non-water dependent development, then we might as well tell the two million people who live and work in coastal Louisiana to pack up and move. Even though the historic and continuing rationale for the existence of communities in coastal Louisiana is water-related, under currently emerging Federal policy they cannot hope to build schools, churches, highways, and other essential infrastructure needed to support their growing communities because those facilities are not waterdependent and they will have an impact on wetlands. Mr. Chairman, what is perhaps saddest about the emerging Federal regulatory regime is the fact that even if it is used to halt all developmental activity in coastal Louisiana and pronounce a death sentence for those communities who depend upon such development for their very survival, Louisiana will continue to suffer staggering coastal wetland losses. Even if every 404 permit application submitted for developmental activities in Louisiana was approved, the impact on wetlands would be insignificant and almost immeasurable compared to the wetlands losses caused by natural forces such as subsidence, salt water intrusion, tidal erosion, and the loss of sediments from the Mississippi River. The wetlands of coastal Louisiana were developed over thousands of years by sedimentation from the Mississippi River. Over two-thirds of the waterways of the lower 48 states drain through the Mississippi River, which the Federal Government has leveed for navigation and flood control purposes, without providing for sufficient |