Wetlands Protection State Law Survey


This Wetlands Protection State Law Survey provides a summary of state laws and regulations governing wetlands protection. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) defines wetlands as those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. See 33 U.S.C. § 1344. Federal wetlands regulations are implemented by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, all states provide some means of wetlands protection. Some states have their own definition of wetlands while others use Section 404's definition. State delineation criteria generally follow the Corps Wetlands Delineation Manual.