Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 5.djvu/109

 PUBLIC LAW 99-645—NOV. 10, 1986

100 STAT. 3583

(7) wetlands constitute only a small percentage of the land area of the United States, are estimated to have been reduced by half in the contiguous States since the founding of our Nation, and continue to disappear by hundreds of thousands of acres each year; (8) certain activities of the Federal Government have inappropriately altered or assisted in the alteration of wetlands, thereby unnecessarily stimulating and accelerating the loss of these valuable resources and the environmental and economic benefits that they provide; and (9) the existing Federal, State, and private cooperation in wetlands conservation should be strengthened in order to minimize further losses of these valuable areas and to assure their management in the public interest for this and future generations. (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to promote, in concert with other Federal and State statutes and programs, the conservation of the wetlands of the Nation in order to maintain the public benefits they provide and to help fulfill international obligations contained in various migratory bird treaties and conventions with Canada, Mexico, Japan, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and with various countries in the Western Hemisphere by— (1) intensifying cooperative efforts among private interests and local. State, and Federal governments for the management and conservation of wetlands; and (2) intensifying efforts to protect the wetlands of the Nation through acquisition in fee, easements or other interests and methods by local. State, and Federal governments and the private sector. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

For the purpose of this Act: (1) The term "Committees" means the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. (2) The term "designated unit" means a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System designated by the Secretary under secL tion 201(a)(2). (3) The term "hydric soil" means soil that, in its undrained condition, is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during a growing season to develop an anaerobic condition that supports the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation. (4) The term "hydrophytic vegetation" means a plant growing in— (A) water; or (B) a substrate that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen during a growing season as a result of excessive water content. ' (5) The term "wetland" means land that has a predominance of hydric soils and that is inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.

International agreements. Canada. Mexico. Japan. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

16 USC 3902.

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