Recognizing the importance of wetland protection, the Bush administration in 1988 endorsed the goal of "no net loss" of wetlands. Specifically, it directed that filling of wetlands should be avoided, and minimized when it cannot be avoided. When filling is permitted, compensatory mitigation must be undertaken; that is, wetlands must be restored, created, enhanced, and, in exceptional cases, preserved, to replace the permitted loss of wetland area and function, such as water quality improvement within the watershed. After more than a dozen years, the national commitment to "no net loss" of wetlands has been evaluated. This new book explores the adequacy of science and technology for replacing wetland function and the effectiveness of the federal program of compensatory mitigation in accomplishing the nation's goal of clean water. It examines the regulatory framework for permitting wetland filling and requiring mitigation, compares the mitigation institutions that are in use, and addresses the problems that agencies face in ensuring sustainability of mitigated wetlands over the long term. Gleaning lessons from the mixed results of mitigation efforts to date, the book offers 10 practical guidelines for establishing and monitoring mitigated wetlands. It also recommends that federal, state, and local agencies undertake specific institutional reforms. This book will be important to anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the "no net loss" issue: policy makers, regulators, environmental scientists, educators, and wetland advocates.

Focusing on the Clean Water Act's Section 404 permitting program, this comprehensive analysis of the government's evolving role in protecting wetlands covers the scientific, social, and legal implications of Section 404, and includes chapters detailing wetlands ecology, the states' role in implementing these policies, takings issues, judicial review, and agricultural programs.

This article was an early assessment of the operation and significance of the wetlands protection permit program authorized by section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The article was written five years after the courts had ruled that the jurisdiction of the program was broader than that of program upon which it was built, the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act permit program under section 10 of that statute. The article was also the first assessment of the effects of the 1977 Clean Water Act Amendments which, among other things, authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant states the right to issue certain 404 permits. In addition to examining the permit program's scope and permit process, the article discusses interagency relations between the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers--tension between the program administrators would characterize wetlands protection for years--as well as the role of the states and the relationship of section 404 with the other provisions of the Clean Water Act and state land and water use controls.