[' ', 'EPA', 'WATCH', 'PAGE', '3', 'VOL', '2', 'NUMBER', '15', ' ', 'areas', 'established', 'in', 'uplands,', 'such', 'as', 'stock', 'ponds', 'and', 'areas', 'created', 'by', 'irrigation.', 'The', 'bill', 'provides', 'for', 'issuance', 'of', 'regulations', 'that', 'generally', 'authorize', 'under', 'section', '404', '--', 'through', 'a', 'so-', 'called', 'general', 'permit', '--', 'any', 'activity', 'found', 'by', 'the', 'Soil', 'Conservation', 'Service', '(SCS)', 'to', 'be', 'exempt', 'under', 'the', 'mitigation', 'and', 'minimal', 'effect', 'provisions', 'of', 'the', 'Food', 'Security', 'Act’s', 'swampbuster', 'program.', 'Consequently,', 'farmers', 'and', 'ranchers', 'will', 'be', 'dealing', 'with', 'the', 'SCS', 'on', 'these', 'determinations', 'and', 'to', 'the', 'extent', 'necessary,', 'SCS', 'will', 'be', 'dealing', 'with', 'the', 'Corps', 'of', 'Engineers.', 'Further,', 'S.', '1304', 'requires', 'that', 'EPA,', 'SCS,', 'and', 'the', 'Corps', 'of', 'Engineers', 'develop', 'consistent', 'policies', 'regarding', 'wetlands', 'determinations', 'on', 'agricultural', 'lands', 'under', 'both', 'the', 'Food', 'Security', 'Act', 'and', 'the', 'Clean', 'Water', 'Act,', 'so', 'that', 'as', 'much', 'as', 'possible,', 'a', 'determination', 'by', 'one', 'agency', 'under', 'one', 'of', 'these', 'laws', 'will', 'be', 'accepted', 'by', 'another', 'agency', 'under', 'the', 'other', 'law.', 'The', 'bill', 'also', 'clarifies', 'that', 'haying', 'and', 'grazing', 'are', 'included', 'in', 'those', 'normal', 'farming', 'activities', 'that', 'are', 'exempted', 'from', 'regulation', 'under', 'section', '404.', 'INTERIOR', 'DEPARTMENT', 'SUED', 'OVER', 'ENDANGERED', 'SPECIES', 'LISTING', 'Adding', 'fuel', 'to', 'an', 'already', 'simmering', 'environmental', 'debate,', 'the', 'U.S.', 'forest', 'products', 'industry', 'filed', 'a', 'lawsuit', 'on', 'August', '2', 'in', 'U.S.', 'District', 'Court', 'for', 'the', 'District', 'of', 'Columbia', 'challenging', 'the', 'listing', 'of', 'those', 'marbeled', 'murrelets', 'located', 'in', 'Washington,', 'Oregon,', 'and', 'California', 'as', 'a', 'threatened', 'species', 'under', 'the', 'Endangered', 'Species', 'Act', '(ESA).', 'The', 'marbeled', 'murrelet', 'is', 'a', 'small', 'sea', 'bird', 'which', 'exists', 'in', 'both', 'North', 'America', 'and', 'Asia.', 'The', 'North', 'American', 'subspecies', 'ranges', 'from', 'Alaska', 'to', 'northern', 'California.', 'The', 'bird', 'nests', 'in', 'cliffs', 'and', 'on', 'the', 'ground', 'in', 'Alaska', 'and', 'also', 'in', 'older,', 'larger', 'trees', 'within', '50', 'miles', 'of', 'the', 'coast', 'in', 'Federal-State', 'Partnership', 'A', 'novel', 'innovation', 'in', 'wetlands', 'regulation', 'is', 'contained', 'in', 'the', 'bill’s', 'provision', 'that', 'creates', 'a', 'Federal-State', 'partnership', 'that', 'grants', 'States', 'expedited', 'permit', 'processing', 'authority', 'and', 'provides', 'States', 'with', 'funding', 'for', 'wetlands', 'planning', 'and', 'management.', 'S.', '1304', 'also', 'establishes', 'a', 'Federal-', 'State-local', 'committee', 'to', 'coordinate', 'wetlands', 'conservation', 'and', 'restoration', 'efforts.', 'Finally,', 'to', 'enhance', 'wetlands', 'conservation', 'and', 'restoration', 'efforts', 'under', 'the', 'Clean', 'Air', 'Act,', 'the', 'Baucus/Chafee', 'bill', 'makes', 'such', 'efforts', 'a', 'specific', 'goal', 'of', 'the', 'Clean', 'Water', 'Act.', 'The', 'measure', 'expands', 'the', 'activities', 'subject', 'to', 'regulation', 'to', 'include', 'draining,', 'excavation,', 'ditching,', 'and', 'mechanized', 'land-clearing', 'of', 'wetlands.', 'To', 'help', 'Federal', 'and', 'State', 'wetlands', 'protection', 'efforts', 'to', 'look', 'beyond', 'impacts', 'to', 'a', 'specific', 'wetland', 'and', 'to', 'consider', 'the', 'effects', 'on', 'the', 'watershed', 'in', 'which', 'the', 'wetland', 'is', 'located,', 'the', 'bill', 'encourages', 'the', 'development', 'of', 'wetlands', 'and', 'watershed', 'development', 'plans.', 'Senator', 'Baucus', 'believes', 'such', 'plans', 'will', '"result', 'in', 'a', 'more', 'the', 'Pacific', 'Northwest.', 'Its', 'listing', 'as', 'a', 'threatened', 'species', 'would', 'likely', 'result', 'in', 'additional', 'reductions', 'of', 'timber', 'harvests', 'in', 'an', 'area', 'already', 'shaken', 'by', 'the', 'controversy', 'surrounding', 'the', 'northern', 'spotted', 'owl', '(See', 'EPA', 'WATCH,', 'July', '31,', '1993).', 'Since', 'its', 'inception', 'over', 'two', 'decades', 'ago,', 'the', 'ESA', 'has', 'been', 'at', 'the', 'center', 'of', 'numerous', 'conflicts', 'involving', 'Federal', 'efforts', 'aimed', 'at', 'protecting', 'threatened', 'or', 'endangered', 'flora', 'and', 'fauna.', 'The', 'controversy', 'surrounding', 'the', 'marbeled', 'murrelet', 'is', 'no', 'exception.', 'The', 'ESA', 'allows', 'the', 'Fish', 'and', 'Wildlife', 'Service', '(FWS),', 'which', 'comprehensive', 'and', 'integrated', 'approach', 'to', 'wetlands', 'protection."', 'To', 'ensure', 'the', 'continuity,', 'the', 'bill', 'directs', 'appropriate', 'Federal', 'and', 'State', 'r', ')', 'agencies', 'to', 'establish', 'a', 'National', 'Wetlands', 'Restoration', 'Strategy.', 'The', 'Subcommittee', 'on', 'Clean', 'Water,', 'Fisheries,', 'and', 'Wildlife', 'of', 'the', 'Senate', 'Committee', 'on', 'Environment', 'and', 'Public', 'Works', 'will', 'conduct', 'a', 'hearing', 'in', 'early', 'September', 'on', 'S.', '1304', 'as', 'well', 'as', 'on', 'other', 'wetlands-related', 'matters', 'as', 'they', 'pertain', 'to', 'the', 'Clean', 'Water', 'Act.', 'Senator', 'Baucus', 'has', 'announced', 'that', 'his', 'bill', 'will', 'be', 'combined', 'in', 'the', 'committee', 'markup', 'process', 'with', 'the', 'Clean', 'Water', 'Act', 'reauthorization', 'bill,', 'S.', '1114.', 'Senators', 'Baucus', 'and', 'Chafee', 'were', 'also', 'the', 'co-', 'sponsors', 'of', 'S.', '1114', '(See', 'EPA', 'WATCH,', 'June', '30,', '1993).', 'Congressional', 'observers', 'see', 'the', 'Baucus/Chafee', 'bill', 'as', 'a', 'compromise', 'between', 'two', 'competing', 'House-', 'sponsored', 'wetlands', 'bills,', 'H.R.', '1330,', 'introduced', 'by', 'Representative', 'Jimmy', 'Hayes', '(Democrat', 'of', 'Louisiana)', 'and', 'H.R.', '350,', 'sponsored', 'by', 'Represent-', 'ative', 'Don', 'Edwards', '(Democrat', 'of', 'California).', 'The', 'Hayes', 'bill', 'enjoys', 'the', 'support', 'of', 'farmers,', 'ranchers,', 'Td', 'developers,', 'and', 'private', 'property', 'owners,', 'while', 'the', 'Edwards', 'bill', 'is', 'backed', 'by', 'environmentalists', '(See', 'EPA', 'WATCH,', 'February', '15,', '1993).', '¢', 'OOSECEIFOZ', 'together', 'with', 'the', 'National', 'Marine', 'Fisheries', 'Service', '(NMFS)', 'implements', 'the', 'ESA,', 'to', '“determine', 'whether', 'any', 'species', 'is', 'an', 'endangered', 'species', 'or', 'a', 'threatened', 'species."', 'It', 'states:', '"The', 'term', '’species’', 'includes', 'any', 'subspecies', 'of', 'fish', 'or', 'wildlife', 'or', 'plants,', 'and', 'any', 'distinct', 'population', 'segment', 'of', 'any', 'species', 'or', 'vertebrate', 'fish', 'or', 'wildlife', 'when', 'it', 'interbreeds', 'when', 'mature."', 'Congress', 'added', 'the', 'reference', 'to', '“distinct', 'population”', 'in', 'a', '1978', 'amendment', 'to', 'the', 'ESA.', 'FWS', 'proposed', 'listing', 'the', '\\', 'Washington-Oregon-California', 'grouping', 'of', 'murrelets', 'as', 'a', 'threatened', 'species', 'in', 'June', '1991', 'in', 'response', 'to', 'a', 'petition', 'filed', 'by', 'the', 'National']