Group Wants Local Control of Wetlands

By Sally Francis

A state advisory committee is recommending that local governments have more control in wetland and stream management to stop the further destruction of wetlands.

The Statewide Wetland Stream Management Strategy, which the committee revised last month, is a plan to improve and simplify state wetland protection policies by replacing federal jurisdiction with control at the local level.

SWSMS hopes to have approval of its final strategy by March 2001. The proposal will then be submitted to the N.C. General Assembly's Environmental Review Commission.

In addition to giving regulatory power to local governments, the advisory committee's recommendations include improving wetland maps, which often are incomplete or nonexistent so wetlands can be considered when construction occurs, said Dottie Coplon, a spokeswoman for SWSMS.

"Wetlands are natural protective elements that protect against flooding and contamination," Coplon said. "By destroying wetlands, protection is destroyed. Had there been local wetland control, Hurricane Floyd's floods might not have been as bad."

Coplon said wetland destruction contributed to flooding in the wake of Hurricane Floyd last September because wetlands act as a barrier to absorb large amounts of runoff.

Supporters of the strategy claim that federal staffing is insufficient for policing wetlands, and local involvement would lessen the problem. Coplon said that if local governments gain control, cities and counties would have to provide additional staffing.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently has ultimate authority over wetland protection. Wayne Wright, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief regulator for North Carolina, was skeptical that local governments would successfully protect wetlands.

"The success of local control depends on how it would be exerted," Wright said. "The wetlands need to be regulated in the same way the federal government currently regulates."

Wright said the only way handing power over to local governments will help the federal government is if local governments manage the land in the exact same way the federal government did - something Wright says will never happen in North Carolina because too many political issues are involved.

"Not many local governments want to assume the burden of regulating," he said. "From a political perspective, they are reluctant to exert regulations because they do not want to interfere with economic development."

Federal regulators are not the only ones reluctant to see local governments gain control of wetlands. Opposition from the N.C. Association of Home Builders, a major lobbying group for developers, could stall the plan.

NCAHB officials oppose local control because of the possible inconsistencies in local applications for building permits. "We support the delegation of federal programs to the state," said Paul Wilhms, spokesman for the NCAHB. "The Corps of Engineers program is working well as it is."

Despite opposition, Coplon remains optimistic that the committee will find a way to better protect the state's wetlands.

"You must consider the future prevention of the problems," she said. "(Wetlands) are a natural protective element created by God."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.