I just downloaded the letter that the Corps has written to withdraw from the MOA with the NRCS on delineation of wetlands. Has anyone seen the NRCS letter that provided the reasons for such a withdrawal?
Posts: 5 | Location: San Anselmo, CA | Registered: 07 September 2003
Thank you for posting this information. I read the 1994 MOA between the Corps, EPA, Dept. of Agriculture, and Dept of Interior. This MOA is a lengthy and complicated document covering rules and procedures for delineating wetlands on land that is in agricultural use.
This MOA, like most of the Corps guidance documents and offical memoranda, was issued before SWANCC. There are significant changes in the definition of federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction as a result of SWANCC, and the legal basis for this MOA has changed.
Apparently, the Corps and other agencies decided it was better to abandon the MOA than revise it to comply with SWANCC. The Corps will return to its pre-1994 role in delineating agricultural wetlands. I doubt this change will make much difference in the over scheme of wetlands regulation.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Johnny Stevens,
New Guidance Document issued on 2/25/05 for conducting wetland determinations on agriculatural land. This document describes procedures to be used by the Corps and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Actually, the recent letters from NRCS and the Corps to formally withdraw from the MOA are just "bureaucratic fluff". When the MOA was signed in 1994, it had only minimal value, at best at that time. With changes in the Food Security Act published in 1997, the MOA lost any value it might have had. In order to understand the MOA, you need to review some history. With the infamous Swampbuster provision in the 1985 Farm bill, NRCS generated the term "prior converted cropland" (PC). The Corps of Engineers accepted the NRCS definition of PC in a guidance letter in 1990 (RGL90-7). The Corps incorporated this policy into the regulations in August 1993. The agencies agreed to share responsibilities for field work in 1994 based upon the PC criteria at that time. In 1997, NRCS changed the criteria for PC designations. Their change eliminated the abandonment criteria. Since this change only affected the farming community, it had little or no effect on the overall Section 404 program. Every aspect of the Corps' regulations has some type of expiration limit. As such, the Corps could not and did not accept the NRCS PC changes in 1997. So techincally, the MOA became non-functional in 1997. This particular issue had no connection to SWANCC. Although you might be able to find some connection for a few individual farm sites across the country. In reality, these formal withdrawal letters simply allow the Washington offices to feel as though they are in control of their respective programs.
However, if I were a builder or developer I would be concerned about this issue, because bureaucrats across the country are trying to figure out what to do in response to these recent withdrawal letters. Beware, the process is about to become even more complicated.
Posts: 75 | Location: Wouldn't you like to know! | Registered: 06 January 2004
Hey, you can also download the new Regulatory Guidance Letter regarding financial assurances in relation to mitigation (in case there were some folks that didn't know).
