Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 1.djvu/1013

 PUBLIC LAW 104-127—APR. 4, 1996 110 STAT. 989 "(iii) circumstances beyond the control of the person. "(H) A converted wetland, if— "(i) the converted wetland was determined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to have been manipulated for the production of an agricultural commodity or forage prior to December 23, 1985, and was returned to wetland conditions through a voluntary restoration, enhancement, or creation action subsequent to that determination; "(ii) technical determinations regarding the prior site conditions and the restoration, enhancement, or creation action have been adequately documented by the Natural Resources Conservation Service; "(iii) the proposed conversion action is approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Service prior to implementation; and "(iv) the extent of the proposed conversion is limited so that the conditions will be at least equivalent to the wetland functions and values that existed prior to implementation of the voluntary wetland restoration, enhancement, or creation action. "(2) For the conversion of the following: "(A) An artificial lake or pond created by excavating or diking land that is not a wetland to collect and retain water and that is used primarily for livestock watering, fish production, irrigation, wildlife, fire control, flood control, cranberry growing, rice production, or as a settling pond. "(B) A wetland that is temporarily or incidentally created as a result of adjacent development activity. "(C) A wetland on which the owner or operator of a farm or ranch uses normal cropping or ranching practices to produce an agricultural commodity in a manner that is consistent for the area where the production is possible as a result of a natural condition, such as drought, and is without action by the producer that destroys a natural wetland characteristic. "(D) A wetland previously identified as a converted wetland (if the original conversion of the wetland was commenced before December 23, 1985), but that the Secretary determines returned to wetland status after that date as a result of— "(i) the lack of maintenance of drainage, dikes, levees, or similar structures; "(ii) a lack of management of the lands containing the wetland; or "(iii) circumstances beyond the control of the person. "(E) A wetland, if— "(i) the wetland was determined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service to have been manipulated for the production of an agricultural commodity or forage prior to December 23, 1985, and was returned to wetland conditions through a voluntary restoration, enhancement, or creation action subsequent to that determination;

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