Glossary
33 CFR 331—
Regulations of the USACE that govern how the Corps implements its regulatory program.
40 CFR 230—
Regulations promulgated by the EPA that the Corps applies when determining whether to issue a Section 404 permit.
Abiotic—
Refers to nonliving components of an ecosystem.
ADID—
Advance identification.
Advance identification (ADID)—
Process of the CWA in which studies are undertaken by EPA in cooperation with the Corps and in consultation with states and tribes to collect information on the location and functions of wetlands in specified areas.
Avoidance—
Design of a facility so as to have no impact on wetlands; first and most desirable of the sequencing steps in wetland mitigation.
California Coastal Act—
1976 act that regulates coastal development, with specific guidelines for wetland habitat impacts.
CEQ—
Council on Environmental Quality.
Clean Water Act (CWA)—
Primary federal law that establishes a dredge-and-fill permit program to protect the waters of the United States, including many wetlands. When originally enacted, the statute was formally known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). In 1977 amendments to the FWPCA, Congress adopted the statute's more popular name, the Clean Water Act.
Compensation wetlands planning—
Process using a watershed-based approach that involves advance planning to protect and restore wetland resources within the watersheds.
Compensatory mitigation—
Final step in the mitigation sequencing process to offset the loss of wetland or other aquatic resources if adverse impacts remain after avoidance and minimization.
Connectivity—
The extent of terrestrial habitat between wetlands that is suitable for overland migration by animals.
Constructed wetland—
A created wetland that has been developed on a former upland environment with poorly drained soils for the primary purpose of contaminant or pollution removal from wastewater or runoff; also referred to as a treatment wetland.
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)—
A federal agency that has promulgated NEPA regulations, which are binding on other federal agencies.
Cropped wetlands (CW)—
Agricultural lands with hydric soils.
CWA—
Clean Water Act.
CZMA—
Coastal Zone Management Act.
EPA—
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ephemeral wetland—
A wetland in which water is present for short intervals between periods in which the wetland has no water.
ESA—
Endangered Species Act.
Exotics—
Nonnative species of plants or animals that have been introduced to a region.
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act—
Federal law that requires federal agencies to consult with the USFWS about habitat loss.
Food Security Act—
Federal law that contains the Swampbuster provision.
FWPA—
Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.
FWPCA—
Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
GAO—
General Accounting Office.
General permit—
Regional, nationwide, and programmatic permits issued by the Corps pursuant to Section 404(e) for activities that should result in only minimal individual and cumulative impacts.
GIS—
Geographic information system.
HGM—
Hydrogeomorphic.
Hydric soils—
Soils that remain wet at least part of the year and that support hydrophytic vegetation.
Hydrogeomorphic (HGM)—
Referring to a wetland's location in the landscape, the source of water for the wetland, and the hydrodynamics of the system.
Hydrological conditions—
Characteristics of a habitat in terms of the structure and dynamics of the water.
Hydroperiod—
A measure of the aquatic character of a wetland based on the timing and duration of water in the wetland during designated intervals.
Hydrophytic vegetation—
Plants associated with wetland soils.
Individual permit—
Standard permit or letter of permission issued by the Corps pursuant to Section 404 of the CWA.
In-kind compensation—
Creation, restoration, enhancement, or preservation of wetlands similar to those being impacted.
In-lieu fee—
Defined by the Corps and EPA as a payment “to a natural resource management entity for implementation of either specific or general wetland or other aquatic resource development projects” for projects that “do not typically provide compensatory mitigation in advance of project impacts.”
Invasive species—
Species of normative plants or animals that have become established in a region and are detrimental to one or more indigenous species.
Management-oriented planning—
Process in a watershed-based approach involving in-lieu fees in the planning of wetlands to solve existing management problems.
MBRT—
Mitigation Banking Review Team.
Metapopulation—
Suite of populations of a species among which genetic exchange occurs in the landscape.
Minimization—
Second most desirable of the sequencing steps in wetland mitigation, in which an activity that cannot avoid some impact on wetlands is designed in a manner to have minimal impact.
Mitigation—
Avoiding, minimizing, rectifying, reducing, or compensating for resource losses.
Mitigation banking—
Defined by the Corps and EPA as restoring, creating, enhancing, or preserving wetlands and other aquatic resources for purposes of providing compensatory mitigation in advance of authorized impacts to similar resources at another site.
Mitigation performance standards—
Measurable, legally enforceable special conditions contained in a Section 404 permit that will lead to successful completion of the overall mitigation goals and objectives.
MOA—
Memorandum of Agreement.
Mycorrhizae—
Soil fungi that enable and enhance nutrient uptake by plant roots.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—
Federal law that requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of their proposed actions.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)—
A federal permit program under the CWA pertaining to discharges of pollutants other than dredge-and-fill material.
NEPA—
National Environmental Policy Act.
NMFS—
National Marine Fisheries Service.
NPDES—
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
NRCS—
Natural Resources Conservation Service, formerly the Soil Conservation Service.
NWP—
Nationwide permit.
Out-of-kind compensation—
Restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of wetlands that provide different functions than those of wetlands being adversely affected by a project.
PCN—
Preconstruction notification.
PN—
Public notice.
Prior converted cropland (PC)—
A delineation of agricultural land with hydric soil that was planted to a crop at least once between 1983 and 1985 and was previously drained at an intensity consistent with the local NRCS standards.
Programmatic general permit (PGP)—
Under a PGP issued by the Corps, a state or local government assumes primary responsibility for the issue of dredge-and-fill permits.
Protection-oriented planning—
Process in a watershed-based approach involving the identification of high-quality wetlands that will be used for protection.
Rivers and Harbors Acts (RHAs)—
Federal laws enacted in the 1890s that regulate work conducted in traditionally navigable waters.
SAMP—
Special Area Management Plan.
SCWRP—
Southern California Wetland Recovery Project.
Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899—
One of the earliest regulations governing the placement of dredge-and-fill material in waters of the United States.
Section 404—
Provision of the CWA that governs the discharge of dredge-and-fill material into waters of the United States, including many wetlands.
Section 404 permit of the CWA—
Permit issued by the Corps, or a state with an EPA-approved program, that authorizes the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including many wetlands.
Section 404(b)(1) of the CWA—
Provision of the CWA that authorizes the EPA to promulgate guidelines for the Corps to apply when making Section 404 permit decisions.
Sequencing—
Permit review process for mitigation that involves the consideration of mitigation in three steps: (1) seeking avoidance of the impact, (2) minimizing any unavoidable impacts, and (3) compensating for any remaining impacts.
Soil macrofauna—
Animals living in salt marsh sediments on which wading birds feed by probing into the bottom of shallow water habitat.
SOPs—
Standard Operating Procedures.
Source-sink—
Concept in which populations forming a metapopulation contribute disproportionately to the numbers of individuals comprising various populations.
Southern California Wetland Recovery Project (SCWRP)—
A partnership of public agencies that work to acquire, restore, and enhance coastal wetland and watersheds between Point Conception and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Swampbuster—
Provision of the FSA under which landowners who planted an agricultural commodity crop in wetlands that had not been cropped prior to December 23, 1985, may lose USDA benefits.
USACE—
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
USDA—
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USFWS—
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
USGS—
U.S. Geological Survey.
Watershed—
Land area that drains into a stream, river, or other body of water.
Wetland—
An ecosystem that depends on constant or recurrent shallow inundation or saturation at or near the surface of the substrate.
Wetland creation—
The conversion of a persistent upland or open water area into a wetland by human activity at a site where a wetland did not previously exist.
Wetland enhancement—
An increase in one or more functions of an existing wetland by human modification.
Wetland preservation—
Protection of an already existing and well-functioning wetland; wetland preservation has been used in some instances as mitigation for the loss of wetlands elsewhere.
Wetland restoration—
Return of a wetland from a disturbed or altered condition by human activity to a previously existing condition.
Wetland Restoration Fund (WRF)—
Funds for initiating the planning of a wetland restoration program in North Carolina.
WRP—
National Agricultural Wetland Reserve Program.