Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Wetland Mitigation Compliance in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan

  • Forum
  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) is generally responsible for the implementation of federal Clean Water Act wetland regulations. It therefore plays an important role in the protection of wetlands within the United States. Unfortunately, past evaluators of ACE’s implementation of these regulations found low rates of regulatory compliance. However, the fact that two states have taken responsibility for the implementation of these regulations within their boundaries provided the opportunity to assess whether one of these states might be doing a better job of enforcement. This paper reports on compliance with some of these regulations within one Michigan region. We evaluated permittee compliance with paperwork filing requirements related to wetland mitigation projects. Sixty-seven percent of county road commission permittees were out of compliance with at least one filing requirement. Forty percent of private and non-county government permittees were out of compliance. Our results therefore suggest that serious problems exist with Michigan’s implementation of wetland regulations. They do not suggest that compliance in this state is significantly better than in states under ACE administration. We believe that increased agency monitoring and enforcement would improve compliance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dahl, T. E. 1990, Wetlands losses in the United States: 1780’s to 1980’s. United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC. Jamestown, MD: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/ resource/othrdata/wetloss/wetloss/htm (version 16Jul97).

  2. Dahl, T. E., and Allord, G.J. 1994. History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States. Part of the National Water Summary on Wetland Resources. United States Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 2425. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.

  3. J. D. Esseks S. E. Kraft (1993) ArticleTitleMidwestern farmers’ perception of monitoring for conservation compliance. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 48(5) 458–466

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. Frank M. Lombness (1988) ArticleTitleGaining regulatory compliance: law enforcement and power in an interactionist perspective. Administration and Society 20(1) 71–91

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. K. Gaddie J. L. Regens (2000) Regulating wetlands protection: environmental federalism and the states. State University of New York Press Albany, New York 155 pp

    Google Scholar 

  6. M. Goodenough (1995) ArticleTitlePublic participation in a state-assumed wetlands permit program: the Michigan example. Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation 10 224–283

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hornyak, M. M. (2001) Wetlands Permitting in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan: A Study of Mitigation and Monitoring. Unpublished Masters Thesis. Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Johnson, P. A., Mock, D. L. Teachout, E. J. and McMillan, A. 2000. Washington State wetland mitigation evaluation study—phase 1: compliance. Washington State Department of Ecology Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program, Lacey, Washington, Publication 00-06-016.

  9. M. E. Kentula J. C. Sifneos J. W. Good M. Rylko K. Kunz (1992) ArticleTitleTrends and patterns in Section 404 permitting requiring compensatory mitigation in Oregon and Washington, USA. Environmental Management 16 IssueID1 109–119

    Google Scholar 

  10. MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality). 1999. Administrative Rules for Wetlands Protection, under Part 303 Wetland Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended. Most recent amendments effective 27, April 2000.

  11. MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality). 2000, Fiscal year 2000–2001 MDEQ resource guide.http://www.deq.state.mi.us/fbsd/2001ResourceGuide.htm

  12. MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality). 2001, Michigan wetland mitigation and permit compliance study, final report. Land and Water Management Division. http://www.deq.state.mi.us/lwm/grt_lakes/wetlands/mitstudy.html

  13. J. T. Scholz (1984) ArticleTitleVoluntary compliance and regulatory enforcement. Law and Policy October 385–403

    Google Scholar 

  14. WaterShedds, A., 1999, Decision Support System for Nonpoint Source Pollution Control. 1999. Successful mitigation. North Carolina State University Water Quality Group. http://h20sparc.wq.ncsu.edu/info/wetlands/mitsucc.html

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan Technological University, Social Sciences, 209 AOB, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA

    Melissa M. Hornyak & Kathleen E. Halvorsen

Authors
  1. Melissa M. Hornyak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathleen E. Halvorsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathleen E. Halvorsen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hornyak, M., Halvorsen, K. Wetland Mitigation Compliance in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Environmental Management 32, 535–540 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-2851-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-2851-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation