Emergency Wetlands Resources Act

Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986

Long title	Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 was enacted to protect and promote conservation of the Nations wetlands and establish National Wildlife Refuges for waterfowl.
Acronyms (colloquial)	EWRA
Enacted by	the 99th United States Congress
Effective	November 10, 1986
Citations
Public law	P.L. 99-645
Statutes at Large	100 Stat. 3582
Codification
U.S.C. sections created	16 U.S.C. § 3901-3902, § 3911-3912, § 3921-3932, & § 3931-3932
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1985 by John Breaux (D–LA) on February 21, 1985 Committee consideration by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House Interior and Insular Affairs Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 10, 1986
Major amendments
P.L. 100-418, P.L. 101-233, P.L. 102-440, P.L. 103-437, P.L. 104-4, P.L. 104-28, P.L. 105-18, P.L. 105-83, P.L. 108-447

The Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 became a United States federal law (P.L.) 99-645 (100 Stat. 3582) on November 10, 1986. Prior to the Act the purchase of wetlands by the Federal Government had been prohibited. The Act allocated funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for the purchase of wetlands by the Secretary of Interior, who is head of the United States Department of the Interior. The Act also instituted a National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan which was to be established and set up by the Secretary. Included in this plan was a requirement for all States to include wetlands as part of their Comprehensive Outdoors Recreation plan. The plan also transferred the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund amounts which were to be equal to the import duties on arms and ammunition.^[1] The main purpose of the Act was to ensure a follow through on international obligations and fulfillment of these obligations on the various past and future migratory bird treaties. It also promoted the conservation of wetlands so the benefits they provide could be maintained.

An extension of the Wetlands Loan Act of 1961 which had been established and approved on October 4, 1961 was also provided by the Act. Under this extension wetlands loan advances would be forgiven and the appropriation extended through September 30, 1988.^[1][2] A requirement was outlined in the Act which instructed the Secretary to report to the United States Congress on all losses of wetlands. The Secretary was to also investigate these losses and outline his findings in these reports to provide information as to whether or not federal programs and/or policies contributed to any of the wetland losses. Other responsibilities tasked to the Secretary were to complete the mapping of all the wetlands in the contiguous United States and those in the non-contiguous portions of the U.S. by September 30, 1990. This was to be done in conjunction with inventorying all of the National Wetlands which were to be completed eight years later on September 30, 1998 with continuation at ten-year intervals thereafter. Updates were to be provided to previous reports to help update and improve the “Status and Trends of Wetlands and Deep-water Habitat in the Coterminous United States, 1950s to 1970s” from September 1982.^[1]

Included within the Act were several provisions to establish entrance fees to all National Wildlife Refuges and to also establish the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Funds collected from these entrance fees were to be split, with 70% going to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund and 30% to the maintenance and operation of the refuges. The cost of Federal Duck Stamps were also increased from $7.50 to $15.00, this was to be phased in through 1991. The sale of Federal Duck Stamps to raise money for the conservation of migratory birds was established in 1929 by the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.^[1][2]

Later amendments to the Act allowed the establishment of Demonstration Fee programs. These fee programs established entrance and recreational use fees that allowed refuges and area agencies that participated in the programs to retain 80% of all fees collected. This of course superseded the 70/30 fee allocation that was first set up by the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986. The amendments were added to the Act through the Interior Appropriation Act Sec. 315 FY 1996 (P.L. 104-4; 110 Stat. 1321), as amended by P.L. 104-28 (110 Stat. 3009), P.L. 105-18, (111 Stat. 158) and P.L. 105-83 (111 Stat. 1543).^[1]