State Water Quality Certification and Wetlands Protection

In recent years, a growing number of states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies have moved to pace a higher priority on wetlands protection. While public and private parties have improved the functioning of the §404 Clean Water Act permit program, enacted new permitting programs at the state level, and removed a number of legislative incentives to convert wetlands they have largely overlooked the states' "water quality certification" process under §404 of the Clean Water Act.