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The Compleat Wetlander: Proposed Changes to “Principles and Guidelines” Need Public Input
Posted By Jeanne Christie | February 2, 2010
Proposed Changes to “Principles and Guidelines” Need Public Input
“The distempered floods that are usually in that season
Would suffer him to take no rest,
But carry him headlong to mills and weirs, to his confusion.”
–The Compleat Angler
On December 3, 2009 the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published proposed new national objectives for water resources planning. It forwarded the proposal to revise the “Principles and Guidelines” to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for their review and simultaneously published it for review and comment 
by the public. The purpose of the new proposal according to CEQ was to “improve the economic well-being of the Nation for present and future generations, better protect communities from the effects of floods and storms, help communities and individuals make better choices about where to build understanding risk, and protect and restore the environment.” The public comment period ends March 5, 2010.
The old Principles and Guidelines (P&G) were last revised in 1983. The P&G are used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Civil Works) as well the Bureau of Reclamation, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to determine which water resource projects will be eligible for federal funding. Over the years many of these projects have been controversial. These include the Yazoo River Pumping Station project which was vetoed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/Yazoo_Final_Determination_Signed_8-31-08.pdf and the Delaware River deepening project, which is currently in the news. Many interest groups have asked for changes to the existing P&G with a goal of eliminating expensive structural projects that have been subject to cost overruns and detrimental to natural resources and support selection of nonstructural projects that could reduce flooding and also restore and enhance natural rivers and streams.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 directed the modernization of the P&G and established a new national water policy that requires all water projects to protect and restore the environment. The Act stated that the new planning guidelines must implement this new national policy, ensure compliance with current laws and policies, require the use of modern environmental and economic sciences in project planning, and ensure that water resources planning is capable of addressing the nation’s many water resources challenges including those wrought by climate change. The problem is the proposed changes to the P&G seem unlikely to achieve these goals because there is no guidance within the document with respect to which considerations—economic development, climate change adaptation, avoidance of the floodplains or restoration of natural systems—are more or less important than the other. It is left for the agencies to decide and this makes it likely that there will be little change in the status quo.
There is positive language in the proposed revision about wise use of the floodplains and the importance of planning to accommodate climate change, but it’s not at all clear how these new priorities stack up against the old ones which are still there. In addition the proposed changes to the P & G would extend the reach of the new guidelines to cover all federal water resource projects (such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) that include significant structures and landform changes and any nonstructural plans. The proposed P&G appears to require that all projects including restoration projects must support sustainable economic development.
These proposed changes could have a very significant impact on national water policy and it is important for wetland experts and other water professionals to review and comment on the proposals. Below are links to the proposal and other relevant information including the link to the website where comments are being accepted through March 5.
The proposed changes to the old Principles and Guidelines do include language encouraging
Proposed National Objectives, Principles and Standards for Water and Related Resources Implementation Studies
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/091203-ceq-revised-principles-guidelines-water-resources.pdf
The current Principles and Guidelines (issued in 1983) are available at: http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Documents/pgr/pg_1983.pdf
The CEQ website with the press release and links to the draft guidelines and other relevant material
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/PandG
Comments on the draft P&S can be submitted online at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/PandG/submit
Past proposed revisions and comments can be found at: http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/pgr.aspx
Project Summary for the National Academies Study: Improving Principles and Guidelines for Water Resources Planning by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=48957
List of Committee Members for the National Academies Study
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/CommitteeView.aspx?key=48957
Topics: The Compleat Wetlander |