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“CONCERNS ABOUT WETLAND REGULATIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1260 on July 11, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CONCERNS ABOUT WETLAND REGULATIONS
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HON. DOUG BEREUTER
of nebraska
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 11, 1996
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member commends to his colleagues the following letter to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman concerning the increased amount of proposed wetland regulations.
Congress of the United States,
House of Representatives,
July 9, 1996.Hon. Dan Glickman,Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.
Dear Dan: While visiting with my constituents, I have been advised of several concerns about wetland regulations, particularly a concern that actions by Federal Agencies with wetland responsibilities and jurisdiction are proposing actions that amount to ``regulatory creep'' by proposing to expand the amount of lands defined as Federally protected wetlands.
I am told that three changes are being considered by the four Federal agencies with wetland responsibilities (USDA, Corps of Engineers, EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) that would expand the criteria used in the Federal delineation process by making changes to the 1987 delineation manual and by adopting a functional assessment process known as the hydrogemorphic (HGM) approach.
One of the specific concerns has been that NRCS, without public notice and comment, is expanding its list of field indicators of hydric soils, which in turn would result in an expansion of areas and sites that would meet the hydric soil criteria. Mr. Secretary I want to ask whether it is the view of NRCS that all hydric soils are wetland soils? (I understood that wetland soils are a function of wetland hydrology, and that wetland delineation requires the independent verification of all three wetland criteria--soils, water, and plants.)
Secondly, I am told that the Fish and Wildlife Service is about to enter into an agreement to expand the hydrophytic plant list, also without the benefit of public notice and comment. Is the interagency wetland team recommending that Federal agencies be allowed to delineate wetlands based only upon two criteria (soils and plants) instead of the three essential wetland criteria? Such an action would seem to allow regulators to `assume' hydrology based on the presence of an expanded list of hydric soil indicators and an expanded list of hydrophytic plants. It is already very difficult for many of my constituents to accept wetlands defined under present rules without wetlands being defined without the apparent presence of water for a significant period of time during the year.
Finally, I am curious about the interagency wetland team's implementation of a new methodology for the functional assessment of wetlands using the hydrogemorphic (HGM) approach. There is a concern that this method would arbitrarily assign functions to various types of wetlands located within a watershed or ecological region by combining the subjective nature of wetlands science with the ambiguity of professional judgment.
Mr. Secretary, I am particularly alarmed by the appearance that no one in the Administration nor the Congress is currently in charge of wetland delineation. With no one designated for a leadership role on this subject I fear that the bureaucracy is once again free to initiate regulatory creep. That would leave the most important regulatory decisions to be accomplished behind the political scene by interagency fiat without public input.
Dan, I would appreciate it very much, and feel more comfortable, if you would take a personal role in overseeing the activities of the interagency wetland group to insure that the general public, including those which would be subject to these regulations, have adequate opportunity for involvement in any changes in wetland regulations.
Thank you very much for your consideration and assistance on this matter.
Best wishes,
Doug Bereuter,Member of Congress.
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