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STERN S WATEROJ . 00"1'')1 .lO~ , August 27, 1993 Issue No. 1006 THE WEEKLY NEWSLETfER OF THE WESTERN STATES WATER Creekview Plaza, Suite A-201/942 East 7145 So./ Midvale, Utah 84047 / (801) 561'5300 / FAX (801) 255-%42 editor - Tony Willardson typist - Carrie Curvin ADMINlSTRA110N UPDAiE/ENV,RONMENT Wetlands . The White House Office on Environmental Policy has announced the new Administration's policy on national wetlands protection. It refers to a plan developed by a White House-directed task force that included nine federal agencies and that incorporates some 40 changes in past policy. Among other things, the new policy policy: (1) affirms the national goal of no net loss of wetlands; (2) rejects the exemption of one percent or 1.7M acres of Alaskan wetlands from federal protection as the Bush Administration had proposed; (3) outlines development of a new appeals process for permit applications that are rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404 (but apparently, the same appeal process will not be available to environmentalists and others desiring to challenge the granting of a permit); (4) exempts 53M acres of former wetlands drained and converted to agricu~ural use before 1985; (5) grants authority for the Soil Conservation Service to determine which agricu~ural lands are wetlands; (6) eases the permit review requirements for small projects; (7) establishes a standard procedure for identifying wetlands, using a 1987 manual, until after completion of a report on wetlands delineation to be prepared by the National Academy of Sciences; (8) encourages wider use of wetland mitigation banks; (9) expands the USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program to restore wetlands on private lands; and (10) provides incentives for states, tribes and localities to utilize watershed planning, not 'piecemeal permit-by-permit decisions on wetlands.' . Kathleen McGinty, Director of the Office of Environmental Policy, said, 'By bringing together the interested parties, we have moved beyond polarization and paralysis and arrived at a plan that is flexible and chairman - Dave Kennedy executive director - Craig Bell effective.' The plan has received mixed reviews. While the National Wildlife Federation called the package 'a net loss for America's wetlands,' the National Association of Conservation Districts commended the policy as 'fair, flexible and technically feasible.' Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has introduced a wetlands protection bill. He said the plan 'addresses the legitimate concerns of both those who work our lands and those who care about them.' WATER RESOURCES OregooJWatershed Management On August 5, Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts signed H.B. 2215, which the legislature enacted to authorize the governor's new watershed management proposal (WSW #1002). The act encourages the formation of voluntary partnerships for watershed management among local, state and federal interests. It authorizes creation of local watershed councils and directs the state's StrategiC Water Management Group, in cooperation with the Governor's Watershed Management Enhancement Board, to initiate a program and projects to 'focus state resources on the achievement of sustainable watershed hea~h...' High priority watersheds have already been identified. Related legislation, S.B. 1112, was shortened and included in a measure adopted by the legislature that allocates state lottery revenues (S.B. 81). Specific water management sections direct the Oregon Water Resources Department to administer a watershed management program to coordinate various agencies' activities and provide project grants. The act directs that the Department'...where practicable and feasible, shall foster and encourage cooperation with joint public and private ventures, including local watershed