Freshwater Wetlands - Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments - page 520

creation projects, human induced wetland losses continued to affect the trends of fresh-
water vegetated wetlands—especially freshwater emergent marshes which declined by an
estimated 142,570 acres.”

• The “Status and trends of wetlands in the conterminous United States 2004 to 2009” (Dahl

2011) reported that: “an estimated 110.1 million acres of wetlands in the conterminous
United States in 2009” and while “the difference in the national estimates of wetland acre-
age between 2004 and 2009 was not statistically signiicant. Wetland area declined by an
estimated 62,300 acres (25,200 ha) between 2004 and 2009.”

So, in over 50 years of studies by the Fish and Wildlife Service, some improvements have been
noted, or at least reductions in loss rates. However, there have been a number of regulatory changes
and judicial rulings, as will be discussed in the following sections, which have accelerated losses
in recent years.

19.5 WETLANDS AND THE CWA

19.5.1 f ederaL S tatuteS and a dMInIStratIVe L aw : r eGuLatIonS and G uIdance
Before discussing the CWA and federal law, let us make a brief divergence to discuss administrative
law and procedures deined by the Administrative Procedures Act. A simpliied version of the pro-
cess is illustrated in Figure 19.9. Federal laws are, of course, acts of Congress, which are typically
assigned to agencies for implementation. That is, the agencies are mandated to take some action,
such as promulgations or regulations, to enforce the intent of the statute. Administrative law deals
with the decision making of the administrative units of government, such as those agencies involved
in the development and implementation of those regulations.
Since these agencies are tasked with the implementation of the law, it is instructive to know how
they receive their powers. While part of the executive branch, the agencies are typically created by
Congress. An exception is the U.S. EPA, which was created by executive order (signed by President
Nixon). Regardless, the U.S. EPA and other agencies receive their authority to act, and their fund-
ing, from Congress. For example, an agency cannot generate or obtain funding for its own use, such
as from ines or fees, since that would diminish Congress's oversight and any funding so generated
must be directly added to the federal treasury.
Once a federal agency is mandated to take some action based on a federal statute, such as the
CWA, that action typically involves developing regulations and rules (rulemaking), based on the
intent of Congress, to enforce that statute. The regulations are drafted by the agency. The public
is then notiied and the proposed regulation is posted in the Federal Register (published daily and
presently available online). The agency receives and responds to public comments after which it

Federal statute
(Acts of Congress)

Federal agencies:
USFWS, USACE, USEPA,
etc.

Published in
Federal Register
for public
comment

Proposed
rules or
regulations

Final rules which
are published
(codified) in Code
of Federal
Regulations (CFR)

Guidance

FIGURE 19.9 Federal laws and regulations.