THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, August 24, 1993 NEW FEDERAL WETLANDS POLICY OFFERS FAIR, FLEXIBLE APPROACH ENDS AGENCY INFIGHTING AND GRIDLOCK WITH STRONG AGREEMENT WASHINGTON -- A new federal policy that offers a fair, flexible and comprehensive approach to managing America's wetlands was unveiled today (8/24) by nine federal agencies, ending years of agency infighting and gridlock. "This plan is balanced and fair. By bringing together all the interested parties, we've moved beyond polarization and paralysis and arrived at a plan that is flexible and effective," said Kathleen McGinty, Director of the Office on Environmental Policy. Nine federal agencies were involved in the development of the new wetlands initiative announced today, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Since June, an interagency group convened by the White House Office on Environmental Policy has heard from farmers, environmentalists, developers, scientists, state and local public officials, and members of Congress about our nation's wetlands. The interagency working group was formed in response to a request to President Clinton from seven U.S. Senators asking that the White House take the lead in resolving the contentious wetlands issues that have been the center of controversy and disagreements for years. "The new agreement is a significant advance in protecting American wetlands, which are currently being lost at a rate of nearly 300,000 acres per year," said Carol M. Browner, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "The agreement is fair to landowners at the same time that it protects our water quality and wildlife." Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy said, "This new wetlands policy is meaningful reform -- for the environment and for the farmers and ranchers of America. It is a fair and flexible policy that simplifies the process of identifying wetlands and provides farmers a simpler method for identifying federal requirements for wetland conservation." (MORE) The wetlands initiative includes more than 40 changes to current wetlands policy, including establishing a more effective process so that landowners and farmers can seek review of permit decisions without having to go to court. Wetlands protection efforts in recent years have been controversial, leading to years of protracted disagreements between federal agencies that undercut the effectiveness of the program and caused confusion and frustration among the states and with the public. The plan unveiled today breaks the gridlock caused in the past by warring federal agencies and reflects a new consensus on a wide-ranging set of improvements to the program. "The cooperation fostered in the interagency working group will translate into better coordination in the field, more effective wetlands protection, and a more efficient regulatory program," said G. Edward Dickey, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Gerald B. Digerness, President of the National Association of Conservation Districts and a dairy farmer said, "After years of confusion and conflict regarding wetlands protection and regulation, America's conservation districts welcome what appears to be a fair, flexible and technically feasible approach that recognizes the environmental, economic and social benefits of these valuable resources." The plan will better protect wetlands by closing a loophole in regulations that allowed certain destructive activities, such as draining wetlands, to go unregulated. It also expands a wetlands reserve program to allow farmers to sell easements to the government for wetlands restoration purposes. The plan includes several administrative actions that will take effect over the next several months, as well as legislative recommendations for Congress this fall as part of the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act. Specifically, the wetlands plan will: -- Establish a new, efficient, money- and time-saving administrative appeals process so that farmers and other landowners can seek review of permit decisions without going to court; -- Continue use by all agencies of the 1987 wetlands delineation manual pending completion and review of the National Academy of Sciences study, expected in September 1994. Any future revisions to the manual will be subject to a public rule- making process; (MORE) -- Impose deadlines and provide additional guidance so that permitting decisions will be made in a timely and more predictable fashion; -- Increase emphasis on state, tribal and local government roles, as well as voluntary wetlands protection and restoration programs with landowners; -- Reduce duplication and inconsistency for American farmers, by designating the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the lead agency for wetlands determinations on agricultural lands; -- Withdraw a proposed rule that would have left critical Alaskan wetlands unprotected. ##