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STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD PONDERS
WIDESPREAD CRITICISM OF ITS PROPOSED NEW PROGRAM
TO REGULATE WETLANDS
The State Water Resources Control Board has gotten an earful about its recent proposal of a major new regulatory program to govern discharges of dredged or fill material into wetlands. Under its proposal, issued June 17, 2016, the State Board would (1) adopt a new definition of “wetlands” differing from the definition long used by the State Board and regional water quality control boards and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) under the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”), (2) establish a new, more complex permit process, and (3) adopt new standards for deciding whether to permit projects and, if so, what mitigation to require for impacts to wetlands.
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