Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G

Publisher: BiblioGov

Published: 2013-06

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13: 9781289146290

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In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army Corps of Engineers' administration of section 404 of the Clean Water Act to determine the extent to which the Corps: (1) coordinated with federal resource agencies during the permit process; (2) identified violations of permit conditions; and (3) imposed sanctions against those who failed to obtain required permits or violated permit conditions. GAO found that: (1) although the section 404 program protected some wetlands, it did not regulate many activities, such as normal farming and wetlands draining, which caused most of the wetlands losses; (2) resource agencies believed that the Corps could protect more wetlands if it delineated wetland boundaries more broadly and gave greater consideration to practicable alternatives to placing dredged and fill materials in wetlands; (3) neither the Corps nor the resource agencies maintained comprehensive information on the program's impact on wetlands; (4) although the Corps considered resource agency recommendations in issuing permits, in many cases its district offices did not require applicants to address recommendations and did not provide feedback to the agencies; (5) resource agencies rarely appealed cases when they disagreed with district offices because they believed that the appeal process was cumbersome and ineffective; (6) neither the Corps nor the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had systematic surveillance programs to detect unauthorized activities on wetlands; (7) the districts did not investigate many suspected unauthorized activities for months and did not monitor issued permits for compliance with permit conditions; (8) the Corps rarely pursued civil or criminal remedies against violators and did not often suspend or revoke permits; and (9) EPA rarely used its authority, even though most violations involved failure to obtain permits.

Download or read book Wetlands written by U S Government Accountability Office (G and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army Corps of Engineers' administration of section 404 of the Clean Water Act to determine the extent to which the Corps: (1) coordinated with federal resource agencies during the permit process; (2) identified violations of permit conditions; and (3) imposed sanctions against those who failed to obtain required permits or violated permit conditions. GAO found that: (1) although the section 404 program protected some wetlands, it did not regulate many activities, such as normal farming and wetlands draining, which caused most of the wetlands losses; (2) resource agencies believed that the Corps could protect more wetlands if it delineated wetland boundaries more broadly and gave greater consideration to practicable alternatives to placing dredged and fill materials in wetlands; (3) neither the Corps nor the resource agencies maintained comprehensive information on the program's impact on wetlands; (4) although the Corps considered resource agency recommendations in issuing permits, in many cases its district offices did not require applicants to address recommendations and did not provide feedback to the agencies; (5) resource agencies rarely appealed cases when they disagreed with district offices because they believed that the appeal process was cumbersome and ineffective; (6) neither the Corps nor the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had systematic surveillance programs to detect unauthorized activities on wetlands; (7) the districts did not investigate many suspected unauthorized activities for months and did not monitor issued permits for compliance with permit conditions; (8) the Corps rarely pursued civil or criminal remedies against violators and did not often suspend or revoke permits; and (9) EPA rarely used its authority, even though most violations involved failure to obtain permits.