The State Water Resources Control Board, which oversees the water quality in California, is considering an expansion of its regulatory oversight of wetlands. This would likely subject a significant amount of California land to new restrictions on development and impose permit requirements for some pre-existing property uses. Pursuant to a Notice of Preparation of Environmental Impact Report on its proposed “Wetland Area Protection Policy and Dredge Fill Regulations” issued in early January, the SWRCB has requested comment on a new state definition of “wetlands” that is broader than the federal definition predominantly used within the state today. Adoption of a broader wetland definition by the SWRCB, along with the proposed permitting program, is expected to result in restrictions on land and activities that may have been unregulated by state and federal regulatory agencies in the past.

Since the late 1970s, the federal government — through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency — has taken the lead on regulating and permitting development in areas designated as wetlands pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act. The State of California has participated in this regulation of wetlands through a concurrence process built into federal law, but has otherwise relied largely upon the federal regulatory program for defining what properties are subject to regulation and issuing permits for development.

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