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Wetlands Comment Deadline Extension
Requested by RCRC
RCRC (Regional Council of Rural Counties) has joined a variety
of organizations in requesting the State Water
Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to extend the
comment
deadline by 90 days for the Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Initial Study (IS)
relating to the
State Water Board’s Wetland Area Protection Policy and Dredge
and Fill
Regulations. The existing deadline for comment is February 15.
In addition to the requested 90-day extension, the coalition
letter
urged the State Water Board to “…conduct at least one public
meeting in
each of the nine Regional Water Quality Control Board districts
during
the extended comment period.” The coalition extension request
letter can
be accessed at:
http://www.rcrcnet.org/pub/BarbedWire/2011/Wetlands2011-
CommentPeriodExtensionRequest.pdf
The first of three phases, the proposal by State Water Board
staff calls
for the adoption of a California specific wetlands definition
that is
broader than the federal definition used with the State today by
the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed definition: removes
the
vegetation criteria that exists in the federal definition;
departs from
the federal “hydric soil” definition to extend regulation to any
“hydric
substrate”; allows for the inadvertent creation of a defined
“wetland”
by human activity; and, extends wetland regulation to wholly
isolated
areas that meet the definition whether supporting an ecosystem
or not.
The IS states that while the “Project” will not address riparian
areas
until Phase 3, that Phase 1 would require a
“watershed approach” to mitigation panning, and that it is
expected that
riparian areas would be included in any
assessment of watershed resources. The watershed approach
involves
consideration of potential direct, secondary
(indirect), and cumulative adverse impacts of the proposed
alternative
on the physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics of the aquatic ecosystem.
Local land use agencies will be affected in two ways: 1) local
agency
projects will be subject to the State Water Board wetlands and
riparian
area policy; and, 2) when specific projects are proposed
requiring a
local permit.
The NOP can be accessed at:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/cwa401/docs/wrapp/notice_wetlands.pdf
Additional background information can be accessed at:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/cwa401/wrapp.shtml
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