History of Federal Wetland Regulation

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• 1967 - Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
  This law required for the first time that the US Army Corps of Engineers take into account ecological considerations in their activites.

• 1969 - National Environmental Policy of 1969
  Requires for the first time that the federal government has to file Environmental Impact Statements for all major federal projects. The Environmental Impact Statement must list all environmental damage, and any alternatives.

• 1972 - Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972
  This is the first incarnation of the Clean Water Act. Section 404 made the EPA and the Corps of Engineers responsible for all wetlands regulations. The division of authority was the following: the Corps were in charge of issuing permits and the EPA is to review and veto all permits.

• 1973 - Endangered Species Act
  This prohibited the killing of any endangered or threatened animal, as well as requiring federal agencies not to kill or destroy any animal or it's habitat that is endangered.

• 1973 - Flood Disaster Protection Act
  Created a national flood insurance program that offered special federal flood insurance to states if they discouraged development in flood plains.

• 1977 - Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
  Created exemptions for certain activites in the Clean Water Act of 1972. These exemptions included forestry, farming and mining.

• 1977 - Executive Order 11990 - Protection of Wetlands
  This executive order ended all federal assistance for wetland conversation and ordered the various branches of goverment to do everything possible to minimize the destruction and loss of wetlands.

• 1980 - Section 401 Guidelines
  Final guidelines issued by the EPA for issuing 404 permit applications.

• 1985 - Food Security Act of 1985
  Stated that farmers that converted wetlands to farmland after December 23, 1985 would no longer be bale to receive federal price supports, loans, crop insurance or disaster payments.

• 1986 - Emergency Wetlands Resources Act
  Required the development of something called the National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan. It allowed the government to purchase wetlands in the plan, and authorized money to do so. Also funded the National Wetlands Inventory mapping project.

• 1989 - North American Wetlands Conservation Act of 1989
  Increased protection of wetlands under a previous government initiative, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Revenues were generated by a tax on hunting equipment and hunting fines.

• 1990 - Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act
  Provided federal cost sharing for projects designed to restore coastal wetlands.

• 1990 - Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990
  Established a goverment program to purchase easements on wetlands. Also changed to wetlands provisions of a number of other federal laws.

• 1990 - Water Resources Development Act
  Required the federal goverment to develop an action plan for NO NET LOSS of WETLANDS. Also repealed new wetlands delination manual, which had severly limited the definition of a wetland.