Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday. June 20. 1997 / Notices
33607
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of
Engineers
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation
Service
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
The National Action Plan To Implement
the Hydrogeomorphic Approach To
Assessing Wetland Functions
AGENCIES: Corps of Engineers,
Department of the Army, DOD; Natural
Resources Conservation Service,
Department of Agriculture; Federal
Highway Administration, Department of
Transportation; Environmental
Protection Agency; and Fish and
Wildlife Service, Department of the
Interior.
ACTION: Notice. _
SUMMARY: Through the National Action
Plan the Corps of Engineers is
announcing the strategy the Corps and
other Federal agencies will follow to
implement the Hydrogeomorphic
Approach for Assessing Wetland
Functions (HGM Approach) through the
development of regional guidebooks.
The National Action Plan was
developed by a National Interagency
Implementation Team. Agencies listed
herein. The HGM Approach was
designed to satisfy the need for better
information on wetland functions
within the programmatic requirements
of the Clean Water Act Section 404
regulatory program. This methodology
will increase the accuracy of wetland
function assessments, allow for
replicability, and reduce the amount of
time required to conduct a wetland
function assessment.
ADDRESS: Information may be obtained
by writing to: The Chief of Engineers,
Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN:
CECW-OR, Washington, DC 20314-
1000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Colleen Charles, Corps of Engineers, at
(202)761-0199; Ms. Sandra Byrd-
Hughes, Natural Resources Conservation
Service, at (202)690-3501; Mr. Thomas
Kelsch, Environmental Protection
Agency, at (202)260-8795; Mr. Paul
Garrett, Federal Highways
Administration, at (202) 366-2067; Mr.
Donald MacLean, Fish and Wildlife
Service, at (703)358-2201; and Ms.
Susan-Marie Stedman, National Marine
Fisheries Service at (301)713-2325 or
access the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Home Page at: http://
wetland.usace.mil/ or the U.S. Army
Engineer Waterways Experiment Station
Home Page at: http://
www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/
wetlands/html/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HGM
Approach is a wetland assessment
procedure that is based on three
fundamental factors that influence how
wetlands function: position in the
landscape (geomorphic setting), water
source (hydrology), and the flow and
fluctuation of the water once in the
wetland (hydrodynamics). The HGM
Approach first classifies wetlands based
on their differences in functioning,
second it defines functions that each
class of wetland performs, and third it
uses reference to establish the range of
functioning of the wetland. Regional
assessment models are developed based
on the functional profile that describes
the physical, biological, and chemical
characteristics of a regional wetland
subclass. The goal of the National
Action Plan is to implement, through
the development of regional guidebooks,
sufficient assessment models to address
80 percent of the section 404 permit
workload requiring wetland function
assessments. To achieve this goal,
approximately 25-30 regional
guidebooks will be required to be
developed. Given the magnitude of the
effort, and the need for interdisciplinary
expertise, implementation of the HGM
Approach will require participation
from several Federal, State, Tribal and
local agencies, academia, and the
private sector. This involvement will
occur at all stages of regional guidebook
development.
Discussion of Public Comments and
Changes
On August 16, 1996 the draft National
Action Plan to Develop the
Hydrogeomorphic Approach for
Assessing Wetland Functions (Action
Plan) was published in the Federal
Register to which we received
approximately 20 comments. In
response to these comments, we have
made a few revisions to the Action Plan
as discussed below. The comments of
greatest concern addressed issues
regarding public involvement,
communication/public outreach,
training, potential uses, applicability,
and accuracy of models in predicting
functions.
Overall, commenters were very
supportive of the development of the
Hydrogeomorphic Approach for
Assessing Wetland Functions (HGM
Approach). However, some commenters
were concerned that the National Action
Plan is policy, not guidance, and that
the HGM Approach will preclude and
undermine the section 404(b)(l) review.
These concerns come from lack of
understanding of the HGM Approach.
The HGM Approach is a tool for
assessing wetland functions and does
not replace the need for delineating a
wetland boundary nor supersede the
Section 404(b)(l) Guidelines analysis or
public interest review. Based on these
comments this has been explained more
clearly in the Action Plan.
The majority of comments indicated
the need for more public involvement.
A few commenters indicated concern
with consultant involvement in
developing regional guidebooks,
suggesting that their involvement may
influence how the models are
developed. We have emphasized
throughout the Action Plan that regional
guidebook development is an iterative
process that involves not only Federal,
State, Tribal and local agencies but also
academia, the private sector and the
public. Regional guidebooks, developed
by A-teams and having undergone peer
reviews, will be published as
operational drafts for a two year period.
During this time the operational draft
models will be subjected to further
testing by the Federal agencies and the
public with review comments solicited
from the public. These review
comments will be incorporated into the
final models of the regional guidebooks.
The final regional guidebooks will
undergo review and revision every five
years or less if needed. Again, this is
explained in further detail in the Action
Plan. We believe that the level of review
prior to final publication is more than
adequate to disway any possible
influence by consultant involvement.
Also the models in the regional
guidebooks are based upon scientific
data and this data will be available for
review and in the guidebooks
themselves.
Several commenters were concerned
with HGM policy. As indicated in the
Action Plan, the Federal agencies will
develop a policy statement and publish
it in the Federal Register for comment.
The National Action Plan or HGM
Approach in itself is not policy. The
Action Plan is a document that states
the strategies the Federal agencies will
follow in developing regional HGM
Approach guidebooks. The HGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 1997 / Notices
Approach is a tool to be used in making
regulatory decisions, at a Federal, state.
or local level. It can also be used in the
decision making process for
applications such as mitigation banking
and watershed planning. We believe
that this has been fully addressed in the
Action Plan.
Other commenters stated that the
HGM Approach does not assess wetland
values. The HGM Approach is based on
the best available science and thus does
not assign value to a wetland. Value
represents the significance of wetland
functions to spciety or individuals, and
often reflects local priorities or policy
Issues beyond the scope of the HGM
Approach. The functional capacity
indices resulting from the HGM
Approach cannot be equated to the
societal or economic value of that
wetland function. However, this
information can be used when assigning
values to wetland functions in terms of
economic or other value units as
required by the Corps public interest
review process.
A few commenters indicated the need
for more Federal funding to help model
development. At present there are
approximately 15 separate efforts
ongoing (see Table 3 of the Action Plan)
that were initiated through Federal
funding and approximately 15 efforts
initiated by various States, mainly
through the U.S. EPA State/Tribal
Wetland Grant Program. There is a need
for more funding. The Corps and other
Federal agencies will continue to look
for additional funding opportunities.
Our efforts will continue to focus on
reaching the goal of developing regional
guidebooks to address 80 percent of the
Corps permit workload for wetlands
requiring wetland function assessment.
A few commenters thought the
Federal government was moving too
quickly In developing regional
guidebooks and were concerned with
the quality of those being developed.
They would rather see an accurate,
reliable guidebook rather than one that
gave questionable results. We agree with
this and have assessed the progress of
regional guidebook development. As
previously stated there are
approximately 15 Federal national/
regional guidebook development efforts.
We have reassessed our goal of having
approximately 20-25 regional
guidebooks developed by the end of
1998. To ensure a reliable, accurate,
scientifically based product we have
decided that regional guidebook
development to reach the 80 percent
goal will take longer than two years. We
have found through early guidebook
development efforts that initial
development takes longer than
anticipated. We have learned a great
deal in the pilot phases of guidebook
development. The regional guidebook
development process is now more
efficient, taking less time than the initial
efforts while still maintaining scientific
reliability. Regional guidebook
development is time and resource
Intensive, generally taking
approximately 1-2 years to develop.
However, the actual application of these
regional guidebooks to a specific project
is rapid and will take approximately 1
day or less to assess a wetland. The
Action Plan explains In greater detail
the regional guidebook development
process. Our goal remains the same—to
have approximately 20-25 regional
guidebooks developed which would
address 80 percent of the Corps permit
workload for wetlands requiring
wetland function assessment. However,
we acknowledge that It will take'longer
than our initial anticipated two year
timeframe. As regional guidebooks
become available, development of
additional regional guidebooks will be
expedited more efficiently.
A few commenters addressed the
need for training. Two HGM courses, as
described in the Action Plan, are under
development by WES. In response to
one commenters concern regarding the
Federal agencies as the sole provider of
HGM training there is no intent on the
part of the Federal agencies to be the
sole training source for the HGM
Approach. However, it Is the intent of
the Corps to hold public meetings as
regional guidebooks become available
within a geographic area, where the
guidebook and it's application will be
explained.
Several commenters questioned
whether the models can accurately
predict functions. This is being
addressed in the guidance being
developed by Waterway Experiment
Station (Guidelines for Developing
Hydrogeomorphic Approach Regional
Guidebooks) stating the protocol for
regional guidebook development and is
further explained in Section HI A of the
Action Plan.
Charles M. Hess, P.E.,
Chief, Operations. Construction and
Readiness Division, Directorate of Civil
Works.
Thomas Ptak,
Associate Administrator for Program
Development, Federal Highway
Administration.
Lawrence E. Clark,
Deputy Chief for Programs, Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
Jamie Clark,
Assistant Director, Ecological Services, Fish
and Wildlife Service.
Robert H. Wayland III,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and
Watersheds, Environmental Protection
Agency.
National Action Plan To Implement the
Hydrogeomorphic Approach for Assessing
Wetland Functions
I. Executive Summary
II. Overview of Hydrogeomorphic Approach
III. Implementation Strategies of the HGM
Approach
A. Goals and Objectives for
Implementation
B. Policy Statement
C. Implementation of the HGM Approach
D. Agency Roles and Coordination
1. National Interagency Implementation
Team
2. Regional Assessment Teams
3. WES as Technical Support Center
4. Coordination with State, Tribal and local
agencies, academia and the private sector
5. Public Involvement
E. Quality Control for Regional Guidebook
Development
F. Training and Outreach
1. Training
2. Outreach
IV. HGM Documents
A. HGM Classification of Wedands
B. Procedural Document
C. Guidelines for Developing
Hydrogeomorphic Approach Regional
Guidebooks
D. National Guidebooks
E. Regional Guidebooks
V. Application of HGM Approach
VI. Schedule
A. Phase I—Pilot Projects—1995
B. Phase II—Expanded Nationwide Effort
C. Phase III
VII. Funding
References
Appendix—Definition of Terms
National Action Plan To Implement the
Hydrogeomorphic Approach for
Assessing Wetland Functions
I. Executive Summary
This National Action Plan (Action
Plan) Identifies the strategy the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.
Department of Agriculture—Natural
Resources Conservation Service, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal
Highway Administration, and National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration—National Marine
Fisheries Service will follow to
implement the Hydrogeomorphic
Approach for Assessing Wetland
Functions (HGM Approach) through the
development of regional guidebooks.
This Is a plan to guide Federal agency
activities and inform the public on how
the federal agencies will be developing
regional guidebooks for use with the
HGM Approach. The HGM Approach is
a procedure for measuring the capacity
of a wetland to perform functions. It was
designed to satisfy the need for better
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 1997 / Notices
33609
information on wetland functions
within the programmatic requirements
of the Clean Water Act Section 404
regulatory program. Information
obtained using the HGM Approach can
assist project proponents and regulators
in assessing the level of environmental
impact of a proposed project, in
determining the appropriate level of
regulatory review, and in assessing
compensatory mitigation required for
offsetting environmental impacts. The
hierarchical and modular nature of the
approach makes it adaptable to a variety
of other regulatory, planning,
management,'and educational situations
where information on wetland functions
is needed.
The HGM Approach is characterized
and differentiated from other wetland
assessment procedures in that it first
..classifies wetlands based on their
hydrogeomorphic characteristics (i.e.,
landscape setting, water source,
hydrodynamics), second it uses
reference to establish the range of
functioning of the wetland, and third it
uses a relative index of function,
calibrated to reference wetlands, to
assess wetland functions. This increases
the resolution, allows for replicability,
and reduces the amount of time needed
to conduct the assessment. The HGM
Approach utilizes reference wetlands as
the means for establishing the scale, or
index, against which other wetlands of
the same type in a particular geographic
area (reference domain) can be
compared to determine their functional
capacity. Reference wetlands are
selected to reflect the range of
conditions in a particular geographic
area that a particular wetland type may
exhibit, from relatively undisturbed to
highly degraded.
Under the HGM Approach, national
guidebooks are being developed for each
of the major classes of wetlands:
riverine, depressional, slope, flats
(mineral soil and organic soil), and
fringe (estuarine and lacustrine). The
national guidebooks provide a template
for developing regional guidebooks for
regional wetland subclasses. Regional
guidebooks include a definition and
characterization of the regional wetland
subclass, models for assessing selected
functions, and methods for applying the
assessment models. Interdisciplinary
teams of wetland specialists from
Federal, State, Tribal, and local
agencies, as well as the private sector
and academia, will coordinate the
development of regional guidebooks. To
ensure the technical accuracy of the
effort, regional guidebooks will be
developed following specific protocols
and subjected to a rigorous peer review
process involving wetland experts from
Federal, State, Tribal, and local
agencies, academia, and the private
sector. Regional guidebooks will be
published initially as ah operational
draft for a two year period to provide
agencies, academia, the private sector,
and the general public an opportunity to
review, apply, and comment on the
procedure. Issues raised during this
time will be addressed in the final
publication. To ensure the best available
science is incorporated, the final
regional guidebooks will be subject to
review and revision for a period not to
exceed five years.
Regional guidebooks are being
developed in three phases: a pilot
phase, an expanded nationwide effort to
develop 15 to 20 additional regional
guidebooks, and an effort to develop
additional models based on priorities
established by the Federal agencies.
Efforts will be prioritized so that at the
end of Phase II there are a sufficient
number of regional guidebooks to
address 80 percent of the permit
workload for wetlands requiring a
functional assessment. Given limited
agency resources, such an undertaking
will require the coordinated
participation of Federal, State, Tribal,
and local agencies, as well as
individuals from academia, and the
private sector. State agencies and others
who choose to initiate development of
regional guidebooks on their own will
be encouraged to coordinate with the
Federal agencies to ensure consistency,
quality, and maximum applicability by
Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies
in their wetland programs.
Technical support and coordination
for the development of the HGM
Approach is being provided by the U.S.
Army Engineer Waterways Experiment
Station (WES). To facilitate
development of the regional guidebooks,
WES, in conjunction with other Federal
and State agencies and other wetland
experts, has developed, and will
continue to develop, the necessary
support documents, technical
information and training materials.
Experts from WES will oversee the
development of regional guidebooks to
ensure consistency and accuracy in
these efforts.
To support implementation of the
HGM Approach, the Federal agencies
will be preparing a policy statement to
clarify the application of the HGM
Approach within the Section 404
regulatory program and the Food
Security Act Swampbuster program.
The HGM Approach is a procedure for
determining the level at which a
proposed project will affect wetland
functions. An assessment using the
HGM Approach is not a substitute for
the Section 404(b)(l) Guidelines or the
public interest review; rather the HGM
Approach is a tool to be used in the
permit review process. It may be used
to rapidly and consistently determine
the level of environmental impact of a
proposed project, to compare project
alternatives, to identify measures that
would minimize environmental
impacts, to determine mitigation
requirements, and to establish standards
for measuring mitigation success. The
policy statement will indicate the
manner in which such applications can
provide greater certainty and
consistency within the decision making
process.
II. Overview of the Hydrogeomorphic
Approach
The Hydrogeomorphic Approach for
Assessing Wetland Functions (HGM
Approach), developed by scientists at
the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways
Experiment Station (WES), is a
procedure for measuring the capacity of
a wetland to perform functions. The
procedure was designed to satisfy the
need for better information on wetland
functions within the programmatic
requirements of the Clean Water Act
Section 404 (Section 404) regulatory
program. The HGM Approach is a tool
that can be used in the alternatives
analysis and in assessment of
compensatory mitigation within the
Section 404 permit review process. The
hierarchical and modular nature of the
approach make it adaptable to a variety
of other regulatory, planning,
management, and educational situations
requiring the assessment of wetland
functions.
The HGM Approach is characterized
and differentiated from other wetland
assessment procedures in that it first
classifies wetlands based on their
ecological characteristics (i.e., landscape
setting, water source, hydrodynamics),
second it uses reference to establish the
range of functioning of the wetland, and
third it uses a relative index of function,
calibrated to reference wetlands, to
assess wetland functions. HGM uses a
hierarchical classification with seven
major hydrogeomorphic wetland
classes. These classes are : riverine,
depressional, slope, flats (organic soil
and mineral soil), and fringe (estuarine
and lacustrine). The hydrogeomorphic
classification is based on three
fundamental factors that influence how
wetlands function: position of the
wetland in the landscape (geomorphic
setting), water source (hydrology), and
the flow and fluctuation of the water
once in the wetland (hydrodynamics).
Within a specific geographic area
wetland classes can be further divided
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday. June 20, 1997 / Notices
OVft
IDENTIFY A -TEAM
MEMBERS
TRAIN A -TEAM
MEMBERS IN HQMA
-H IDENTIFY REGIONAL WETLAND SUBCLASSES |
CHtft I
—•jPfUORlTIZE REGIONAL WETLAND SUBCLASSES |
OUft
DEFINE REFERENCE DOMAIN
J
CHAM
IDENTIFY FUNCTIONS FOR
REGIONAL WETLAND SUBCLASSES
IDENTIFY VARIABLES
AND MEASURES
REVIEW EXtSTJNG
FUNCTIONAL
ASSESSMENT MODELS
DEVELOP ASSESSMENT
MODE IS
CXAP4
OUTLINE SAMPLING PROTOCOL
ttvft
WRITE DRAFT REGIONAL
GUIDEBOOK
CONDUCT WORKSHOP
TO CRITIQUE GUIDEBOOK
CHAM
\ OBATAIN PEER REVIEW
1 H REVISE GUIDEBOOK \~> ,
CHtft \
\ IDENTIFY REFERENCE WETLAND SITES |
ctw4as f
| COLLECT DATA FROM REFERENCE STTES |
fHlft \
\ CALIBRATE ASSESSMENT MODELS |
YES
OBTAIN PEER REVIEW OF
DRAFT GUIDEBOOK
IMPLEMENT OPERATIONAL
DRAFT GUIDEBOOK
ourt
FINALIZE OPERATIONAL
DRAFT GUIDEBOOK
Figure 1. The HGM regional guidebook development process. Chapter numbers reference chapters
of the "Guidelines for Developing Hydrogeomorphic Approach Regional Guidebooks".
BILLWO CODE 3710-92-C
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday. June 20, 1997 / Notices
33615
At a minimum, regional guidebooks
must contain the following information
to be complete:
• Purpose and format of the regional
guidebook
• An introduction to the HGM
Approach
• A functional profile of the regional
wetland subclass
• Guidance for selecting reference
wetland sample locations
• Guidance for selecting and
sampling of reference standard wetlands
• Documentation of the functions of
the regional wetland subclass
• Guidance on the application of the
regional guidebook models in the field
including the materials needed to take
to the field.
• Any appendices addressing
reference data sites and the field sheets
used to collect the data, any raw/
summarized information needed to
support the model or calibration of the
model, and any other information that
may be specific to the regional
guidebook.
Regional guidebooks developed by A-
teams other than those formed by the
Federal agencies are required to follow
the guidance developed by WES for
developing regional guidebooks if these
regional guidebooks are to be used
within Federal programs. Entities
undertaking separate efforts to develop
HGM functional assessment models are
encouraged to inform the Corps
promptly of their intent and provide
timely opportunities for agency
participation and review. Any regional
guidebook developed by an entity other
than the Federal agencies must be
reviewed and approved by the Federal
agencies prior to application under
Federal programs to ensure consistency
with quality assurance steps outlined in
this document, including agency and
private sector peer review.
F. Training and Outreach
1. Training
Training in the HGM Approach will
be necessary to ensure consistent
development and application of regional
assessment models. Different training
courses, ranging from an introductory
course to familiarize program
administrators and field personnel with
the HGM Approach to technical training
in regional subclass model development
and the application of the HGM
Approach are proposed as follows:
A. "Introductory Course to the HGM
Approach to Wetland Assessment"—
This course will be designed for
executive and management personnel
who need to understand the basics of
the HGM Approach. The course will be
approximately three days in length and
provide background on the HGM
Approach, including the conceptual
basis of HGM regional guidebook
development and application.
B. "HGM Application Course"—A
second course will be offered to those
individuals directly responsible for
assessing wetland functions in the field
using a regional guidebook. The course
objective will be to ensure students are
as proficient as possible in applying
regional subclass models and in
evaluating their results. The course will
focus on the application of models
under different scenarios such as project
impact assessment, alternative analysis,
and mitigation design/monitoring. It
will require a full five days to complete
with considerable emphasis on field
work. This course will be offered
through the Corps regulatory training
curriculum. (Under development.)
C. "HGM Regional Guidebook
Development"—This course will be
designed for personnel responsible for
drafting and testing new regional
guidebook models. Students will be
provided information on the sequence
of steps necessary to develop models
and the lessons learned from prior
development efforts. The course will be
approximately three days long and
include field exercises on identifying
and collecting data from reference
wetlands. (Under development.)
D. "Train the Trainers"—A fourth
course will be offered to train those
individuals who will be responsible for
local training. The course objective will
be to enable students who are proficient
in the HGM Approach and regional
guidebook development to train others
in the HGM Approach, regional
guidebook development, and
application. This course will be two
days in length with a prerequisite of
having extensive experience in the HGM
Approach.
2. Outreach
In addition to this Action Plan and
the training courses the Federal agencies
are proposing, additional outreach
efforts are planned to ensure that State,
Tribal, local agencies and the general
public are informed on the HGM
Approach, including the direction the
Federal agencies will follow in
developing and implementing the HGM
Approach. The following efforts will be
made over the next few years to meet
that objective.
All technical publications included
under the HGM Approach (e.g., national
and regional guidebooks, and
supporting technical documents) will be
published by WES under an interagency
logo. Once published, these documents
may be obtained by interested parties
through an appropriate Federal
publications office, including the
National Technical Information Service
(NTIS). In addition, WES has developed
a homepage on the Internet dedicated to
the HGM Approach to make pertinent
documents available electronically. The
homepage will include a quarterly
publication to update interested readers
on the status of efforts to develop and
implement the HGM Approach. Among
the information included in this
publication will be a current listing of
completed national and regional
guidebooks (including both operational
and final drafts), as well as information
concerning the status of other models
under development. The homepage can
be accessed by the following address:
http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/
wetlands.html.
WES will also serve as the Federal
lead for keeping the scientific
community informed about the HGM
Approach through the presentation of
information at appropriate professional
meetings and through technical
publications. Similarly, the Federal
agencies will make information
available to professional trade
organizations and journals to ensure
that the regulated community and
others are informed on the development
of the HGM Approach. EPA's Wetlands
Information Hotline (1-800-832-7828)
will also serve as a distribution center
for HGM materials. In addition to the
Federal agency training programs
described above, it is anticipated that
private wetland training institutes will
begin to provide additional training
opportunities for both the public and
private sectors. In addition to these
formal training programs, the agencies
anticipate sponsoring short seminars on
the HGM Approach to respond to local
interests or needs.
IV. HGM Documents
The following documents have been
or are expected to be published by WES
as part of the development strategy.
Published documents are available
through the NTIS at (703) 487-4650.
A. "HGM Classification of Wetlands"
(Brinson 1993)—This document lays out
an approach for classifying wetlands
into similar functional types (classes
and subclasses) based on their
hydrogebmorphic characteristics.
Wetlands are initially classified based
on three major characteristics: (1)
geomorphic setting, (2) water source,
and (3) hydrodynamics. The seven
major wetland classes are depression,
slope, flats, fringe, and riverine. The
classification is not intended to
supersede or replace other wetland
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 1997 / Notices
TABLE 3.—STATUS OF DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL GUIDEBOOKS—Continued
Component
Regional Depressional Guidebooks:
Prairie Potholes — North Dakota
Depressions In South and Central Florida
Vernal Pools of the Central Valley of Cali-
fornia.
Herbaceous Depressions of the Northern
Rockies — Montana.
Regional Fringe: Coastal Guidebooks:
Coastal Wetlands of the Texas Coast
Regional Fringe: Lacustrine Guidebooks:
Tulsa
Regional Flats Guidebooks:
Herbaceous Flats In South and Central
Florida.
Flats In the East Everglades of Florida
Pine Flatwoods of the Southeastern US ...
Contributing
agency(ies) *
NRCS/COE/WES
COE/WES
COE/WES
COE/WES/EPA/
States/Private/
FHWA.
COE/WES/EPA
COE/WES/EPA
COE/WES
COE/WES
FHWA/EPA
Product
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Projected completion
Deo 97
Oct. 97 .
Sep 98
Oct. 97
Oct. 98
Oct 98
Oct 97
Oct. 97
Dec. 97
Current status
Workshop Jun 95
Draft completed.
Workshop held Feb
96.
96.
Workshop held Apr.
96.
Initiated Jan 97
Workshop sched-
uled for Nov. 97.
Initiated Jan 97
Workshop held Feb
96.
Workshop held Apr
96.
Initiated Mav 96.
Note: '-Agency abbreviations are listed below.
COE—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters and Districts.
WES—U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station.
EPA—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters and/or regional offices.
NRCS—U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
FHWA—Federal Highway Administration.
FWS—U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
TN DEC—Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation,
Five regional guidebooks are currently
under development representing
depressional wetlands (prairie potholes
in the northern plains states and vernal
pools in the Central Valley of
California), riverine wetlands (low
gradient streams in western Kentucky/
Tennessee), flats (flats in the East
Everglades of Florida), and flat/
depressional mosaics in Florida. Table 3
Identifies the current status of these
regional guidebooks and their
anticipated completion dates.
B. Phase II—Expanded Nationwide
Effort
Phase II, initiated during 1996,
consists of an expanded nationwide
effort to develop regional guidelines in
approximately 15-20 additional
regional wetland subclasses. Regional
guidebooks developed in Phase II will
use the same protocol as described for
Phase I. As identified in Table 3, efforts
currently underway as part of Phase II
include the development of assessment
models for riparian systems, herbaceous
depressional and slope wetlands in the
northern Rocky Mountains, forested
slope wetlands in New England, and
coastal fringe wetlands of the Gulf of
Mexico. In addition to the efforts being
led by the Federal agencies, there are
also efforts in regional guidebook
development being led by various states.
under EPA's State Grant Program. These
efforts to date are listed in Table 4.
However, it should be recognized that
expanded efforts in this Phase will not
address all regional wetland subclasses.
The number of efforts initiated is
dependent upon the availability of
personnel, time, and financial resources.
TABLE 4.—STATUS OF OTHER HGM EFFORTS, FUNDED BY THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (INCLUDING
EPA STATE/TRIBAL WETLAND GRANT PROGRAM)
Component
Regional Riverine Guidebooks:
Low gradient riverine wetlands in the
lower Mississippi River Valley.
Riverine Wetlands of the Santa Margarita
Watershed in Southern California.
Riverine/slope wetlands of southeast
Alaska.
Riverine wetlands In 1st — 2nd order head-
water reaches In Pennsylvania and
Maryland.
Riverine wetlands along broad floodplains
associated with streams greater than
2nd order In Pennsylvania and Mary-
land.
Contributing
agency(ies)
EPA/COE-WES
EPA
Alaska DEC/SGP
EPA
EPA
Product
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Projected completion
Sep. 98
Oct. 98
Oct. 97
Mar 99
Mar 99
Current status
Initiated Apr 97.
Draft complete, un-
dergoing peer re-
view prior to work-
shop review.
Draft undergoing peer
review.
Initiated May 94.
Initiated May 94.
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday; June 2O, 1997 / Notices
33819
TABLE 4.—STATUS OF OTHER HGM EFFORTS, FUNDED BY THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (INCLUDING
EPA STATE/TRIBAL WETLAND GRANT PROGRAM)—Continued
Component
Flow through and impounded riverine wet-
lands in Washington.
Low gradient riverine wetlands of the
Great Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mt.
region.
Riverine wetlands of Kenai watershed
Alaska.
Regional Slope Guidebooks:
Slope wetlands in Pennsylvania
Regional Depression Guidebooks:
Flowthrough and closed depression wet-
lands in Washington.
Depression wetlands in Pennsylvania
Depression wetlands in Guam
Regional Flats Guidebooks:
Flats wetlands on discontinuous perma-
frost in interior Alaska.
Regional Fringe Guidebooks:
Tidal freshwater marshes of the Hudson
River, New York.
Other:
Characterization and functional assess-
ment of reference wetlands of the
southern and central Rocky Mountains.
Contributing
agency (ies)
Washington Dept of
Ecology/SGP. -
Utah Governor's Of-
fice of Planning/
SGP.
AK DEC/FWS/ Kenai
Peninsula Borough/
SGP.
EPA
Washington Dept of
Ecology/SGP.
EPA
EPA
AK DEC/NRCS/DOA/
SGP.
NY DEC/COE/Hudson
River Improvement
Fund/SGP.
Colorado Geological
Survey/SGP.
Product
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Operational Draft
Grant Report
Projected completion
Jan. 98
Mar. 98
Sep. 98
Dec 98
Jan. 98
Dec 98
Dec 99
Jul. 97
Dec. 98
Jun. 98
Current status
Workshop held May
97.
Data collection
Fieldwork Jul 97.
Workshop held May
• 97.
Workshop held Apr
97.
Pre-draft guidebook
completed.
Initiated Aug 96
Note: *=Agency abbreviations are listed below:
COE-WES—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
EPA—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
SGP—EPA's State/Tribal Wetland Grant Program.
NRCS—U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
AK DEC—Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
NY DEC—New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
DOA—Department of the Army.
In addition to the development of
regional guidebooks, the Corps and the
other Federal agencies, will work
together during Phase II, to develop
necessary guidance on how the HGM
Approach may be applied in the review
of Section 404 permit applications. The
intent of the guidance is to clarify how
information from an assessment can be
used to determine the level of
environmental impacts a proposed
project may cause and the appropriate
regulatory response.
C. Phase III
Based on the needs of the Federal
agencies and work conducted to date by
others, the agencies will establish a
priority listing of additional models to
be developed.
VII. Funding
Primary funding for the Federal effort
to develop the HGM Approach has been
and will continue to be provided
through the Corps, with additional
support being provided by other federal
agencies, including EPA, NRCS, FWS,
NMFS, and FHWA. As development of
the approach continues, limited Federal
funds will be available for the
development of each regional guidebook
to support tasks such as the collection
of data, training, and technical
workshops. The cost for developing
regional guidebooks is expected to vary
depending on the scope of the effort and
the level and nature of participation by
Federal, State, Tribal and local agencies
and the private sector. For State, Tribal
and certain local efforts, EPA's State
Wetlands Grant Program has made
funding available for those agencies
wishing to pursue an HGM Approach
within their wetlands program.
Interested State, Tribal and local
agencies should contact the local EPA
office for further information.
References
Brinson, M.M. 1993. A
Hydrogeomorphic Classification for
Wetlands. Wetland Research
Program Technical Report WRP-
DE-4. U.S. Army Engineer
Waterways Experiment Station,
Vicksburg, MS.
Brinson, M.M., F.R. Hauer, L.C. Lee,
W.L. Nutter, R.D. Smith, D.
Whigham, 1995. Guidebook for
Application of Hydrogeomorphic
Assessments to Riverine Wetlands
(Operational Draft). Wetland
Research Program Technical Report
WRP-DE-11. U.S. Army Engineer
Waterways Experiment Station,
Vicksburg, MS.
Davis, M.M., E.J. Clairain, Jr, W. Ainslie,
M. Gilbert, M.A. Schwinn, M.
Sheehan, G. Sparks, K. Trott, and
M. Whited. May 1996 (Draft).
Development of Regional Wetland
Subclass HGM Functional
Assessment Model Guidebooks.
Smith, R.D. 1993. A Conceptual
Framework for Assessing the
Functions of Wetlands. Wetland
Research Program Technical Report
WRP-DE-3. U.S. Army Engineer
Waterways Experiment Station,
Vicksburg, MS.
Smith, R.D., A. Ammann, C. Bartoldus,
and M.M. Brinson. 1995. An
Approach for Assessing Wetland
Functions Using Hydrogeomorphic
Classification, Reference Wetlands,
and Functional Indices. Wetland
Research Program Technical Report
WRP-DE-9. U.S. Army Engineer
Waterways Experiment Station,
Vicksburg, MS.
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 119 / Friday. June 20, 1997 / Notices
Clalrain, E.J., Jr. (ed). In prep.
Guidelines for Developing
Hydrogeomorphic Approach
Regional Guidebooks. Wetland
Research Program Technical Report
WRP-DE-_. U.S. Army Waterways
Experiment Station. Vicksburg, MS.
Appendix A
Definition of Terms
Assessment Model: A simple model
that defines the relationship between
ecosystem and landscape scale
attributes and processes and functional
capacity of a wetland. The model is
developed and calibrated using
reference wetlands from a reference
domain.
Assessment Objective: The reason
why an assessment of wetland functions
is being conducted. Assessment
objectives normally fall into one of three
categories. These include: documenting
existing conditions, comparing different
wetlands at the same point in time (e.g.,
alternatives analysis, and comparing the
same wetland at different points in time
(e.g.. Impact analysis or mitigation
success).
Assessment Team (A-Team): An
interdisciplinary group of regional and
local scientists responsible for
identifying regional wetland subclasses,
identification of reference wetlands,
construction of assessment models,
definition of reference standards, and
calibration of assessment models.
Functional Assessment: The process
by which the capacity of a wetland to
perform a function is measured or
estimated. The Hydrogeomorphic
Approach measures capacity using an
assessment model to determine a
functional capacity index.
Functional Capacity: The rate or
magnitude at which a wetland
ecosystem performs a function.
Functional capacity is dictated by
characteristics of the wetland ecosystem
and the surrounding landscape, and
interaction between the two.
Functional Capacity Index (FC1): An
Index of the capacity of a wetland to
perform a function relative to other
wetlands within a regional wetland
subclass in a reference domain.
Functional capacity indices are by
definition scaled from 0.0 to 1.0. An
Index of 1.0 Indicates the wetland
performs a function at the highest
sustainable functional capacity, the
level equivalent to a wetland under
reference standard conditions In a
reference domain. An index of 0.0
indicates the wetland does not perform
the function at a measurable level, and
will not recover the capacity to perform
the function through natural processes.
Highest Sustainable Functional
Capacity: The level of functional
capacity achieved across the suite of
functions by a wetland under reference
standard conditions in a reference
domain. This approach assumes that the
highest sustainable functional capacity
is achieved when a wetland ecosystem
and the surrounding landscape are
undisturbed.
Hydrogeomorphic Wetland Class: The
highest level in the hydrogeomorphic
wetland classification. There are seven
basic hydrogeomorphic wetland classes
including depressional, fringe—
lacustrine and coastal, slope, riverine,
and flat—mineral and organic.
Project Target: The level of
functioning identified for a restoration
or creation project. Conditions specified
for the functioning are used to judge
whether a project reaches the target and
is developing toward site capacity.
Project Standards: Performance
criteria and/or specifications used to
guide the restoration or creation
activities toward the project target.
Project standards should include and
specify reasonable contingency
measures if the project target is not
being achieved.
Red Flag Features: Features of a
wetland or the surrounding landscape to
which special recognition or protection
Is assigned on the basis of objective
criteria. The recognition or protection
may occur at a federal, state, regional, or
local level, and may be official or
unofficial.
Reference: Standard for measuring,
reckoning, or constructing.
Reference Domain: The geographic
area from which reference wetlands are
selected. A reference domain may or
may not include the entire geographic
area in which a regional wetland
subclass occurs.
Reference Standard Wetlands: The
sites within a reference wetland data set
from which reference standards are
developed. Among all reference
wetlands, reference standard sites are
judged by an interdisciplinary team to
have the highest level of functioning.
Reference Standards: Conditions
exhibited by a group of reference
wetlands that correspond to the highest
level of functioning (highest, sustainable
level of functioning) across the suite of
functions performed by the regional
wetland subclass. The highest level of
functional capacity is assigned an index
score of 1.0 by definition.
Reference Wetlands: Wetland sites
that encompass the variability of a
regional wetland subclass in a reference
domain. Reference wetlands are used to
establish the range of conditions for
construction and calibration of
functional Indices and establish
reference standards.
Regional Wetland Subclass: Wetlands
within a region that are similar based on
hydrogeomorphic classification factors.
There may be more than one regional
wetland subclass identified within each
hydrogeomorphic wetland class
depending on the diversity of wetlands
in a region, and assessment objectives.
Site Potential: The highest level of
functioning possible, given local
constraints of disturbance history, land
use, or other factors. Site capacity may
be equal to or less than levels of
functioning established by reference
standards for the reference domain, and
it may be equal to or less than the
functional capacity of a wetland
ecosystem.
Wetland Functions: The normal
activities or actions that occur in
wetland ecosystems, or simply, the
things that wetlands do. Wetland
functions result directly from the
characteristics of a wetland ecosystem
and the surrounding landscape, and
their Interaction.
[FR Doc. 97-15959 Filed 6-19-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-92-P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[DockVt No. EA-48-L]
Issuance of Temporary Order; El Paso
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AGENCY: (Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of Issuance of Temporary
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