Michael Lissack an attempt to explain his problem. At one point during the tour the senator asked how long it would take them to get to the wetland. Mr. Piazza replied You’re standing in it.” “The biggest tragedy of Mr. Piazza’s situation is that draconian command-and control wetland regulations are no longer necessary. In the past 10 years the federal government has made dramatic changes in its wet- land policy. The result is that the U.S. is currently restoring more wetlands every year than it is converting to other uses. (It does this for example by buying fallow land from farmers and flooding it.) The U.S. has effectively achieved what former President Bush repeatedly called for no-net-loss of wetlands.” “In 1994 the government’s top three wetland restoration programs will restore a combined total of 157,000 acres of wetlands. At the same time data from the governments National Resource Inventory conclude that the U.S. will convert only 66,000 acres of wetlands to other uses. In other words by the end of 1994 there should be tens of thousands more acres of wetlands than there were at the beginning. What is more government agencies have developed cost-effective ways to restore large tracts of wetlands without trampling on the rights of property owners. For example the Agriculture Department’s Wetland Reserve Program will restore 75,000 acres of wet- lands for less than $1000 an acre. This figure includes the cost of purchasing a permanent easement on the land to ensure that it remains a wetland. It would have cost the Agriculture Department $89 to restore wetland acreage equivalent to what would be lost due to Mr. Piazza’s development. In con- trast Mr. Piazza and thousands of developers homebuilders and property owners across the country are wasting millions of dollars hiring experts filling out permit applications and paying loans and taxes while they wait for the Corps to reach a decision. Unfortunately, after three years of waiting Mr. Piazza still does not have a permit. Unless Congress acts to change the broad wording of the 1972 Clean Water Act, the American people may have to wait even longer for rational wetland regulation. The phenomenon we are witnessing here is that when no clear limits are placed on a government’s authority, it is very likely to run out of control eventually. If Washington
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