Making No Assumptions

As Congress settled down to the task of amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1977, Senator John Chafee (R-RI), addressing §404- the controversial wetlands provision program of the act- predicted; "Most real problems with section 404 [will be solved] by providing general delegation authority to the states." Four months after Senator Chafee's statement, Congress included §404(g) in the 1977 Act as a response to the seemingly contradictory charges that the army Corps of Engineers was not processing wetland fill permits fast enough and was failing to stem national wetland losses. Under §404(g), states that have fulfilled specific criteria may assume the Corps' §404 permit program for regulating dredge and fill activities in some waters within state boundaries.