Abstract |
The report discusses the proposed revisions to the 1989 'Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands' (1989 Federal Manual) and provides a brief overview of the history and current status of the proposed revisions. The 1989 Federal Manual describes how to delineate vegetated wetlands for the purpose of determining areas regulated as 'waters of the United States' under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act as well as for the purpose of implementing Swampbuster provisions under the Conservation Title of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended. Major revisions to the 1989 Federal Manual have been proposed to address technical concerns identified in implementing the Federal Manual over the past two years, to reduce misinterpretations and the possibility of erroneous wetland determinations, and to better explain the 1989 Federal Manual's usage. |