The main problem that regulators have in regulating wetlands is that the set of laws that are designed to protect wetlands are full of loop holes and were not designed to be used for the purpose they are now being used for. The Clean Water Act, although a major improvement from nothing, is not a comprehensive law protecting wetlands. The permit system, explained in section 2.A, leaves too many holes for developers and farmers to develop without having to actually protect wetlands. The national permits are the worst offenders, allowing for exemptions to the rules in all sorts of cases. Even when a individual permit is required, the law is rarely enforced that a project can only go forward if there is no economic alternative. And under the individual permit system, all developers have to do in order to destroy wetlands is buy 1.5 acres of mitigated wetland for every one acre they destroy. In some areas, especially around dense urban areas or in very environmentally conscious states like California, mitigated wetlands are somewhat expensive, but in most areas they are a very small portion of the total cost of development.
The best way to fix the problem of lax federal regulations is to replace the Clean Water Act with a new set of regulations concearning wetlands. At a minimum, the permit system should be greatly changed, or elimnated, and it should be much clearer how serious the government is about protecting wetlands. The Army Corps of Engineers should not be in the business of issuing permits for wetlands destruction. Instead, the EPA should take a greater role, witht he Corps providing help and guidance. The Corps of Engineers is an example of an agency that never was designed to be regulating anything, but is now in charge of the wetland regulation in the US. A comprehnsive solution to the problem of wetlands regulation, as envisioned by the authors of this project, is presented at the end of the project.