HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 277 RESOLUTION IRESoLunoiv FILE NO. ---?
WHEREAS, on March 27, 1975, the U. S. District Court for the District of
Columbia has ruled that under Section 404, Public Law 92-500, the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972, the responsibility and authority of the
Corps of Engineers to regulate the disposal of dredged and fill material extends
to "the waters of the United States"; and
WHEREAS, the term "Waters of the United States" as used in Public Law
92-500 has not been defined by the Congress or the Courts; and
WHEREAS, the Corps of Engineers has published in the Federal Register on
May 6, 1975, four alternative=regulations with varying scopes of application
for public comment; and
WHEREAS, alternative No. 1, the broadest of the four alternatives is
interpreted to require the Corps of Engineers to regulate the disposal of
dredged or fill material in virtually every wet land adjacent to coastal waters,
rivers, estuaries, lakes, streams and artificial waters regardless of whether
the wet lands are regularly or only occasionally covered by salt water, brackish
water or fresh water; and
WHEREAS, alternative No. 1 could require a permit from the Corps of Engineers
to construct a street, drainage system, utility lines, or any construction which
would require fill material behind a levee system, along inland waters or across
intermittently dry streams in the inland water ways; and
WHEREAS, such permits from the Corps of Engineers would require a minimum
of not less than three months or more processing time; and
WHEREAS, alternative No. 1 would require all new construction in many areas
of the City of Fort Worth to be delayed and probably abandoned due to the difficulty
in securing permits from the Federal Government and such delay would have an adverse
effect on employment; and
WHEREAS, such permit processing will be an ever increasing cost to the
tax payers without actual benefits; and
WHEREAS, since alternatives No. 4 is the least restrictive of the four
alternative definitions, will cause the least delay, and will allow the State
to maintain certain rights over control of its waters and appears to be the
least objectionable; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS:
That its Congressional representatives be requested to investigate and
amend the application of Public Law 92-500 in its reference to the "Waters of
the United States" as defined and ordered by the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia and to clarify the intent of Congress with respect
to extending the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers , the Environmental
Protection Agency, or any Federal Agency to all the "Waters of the United States"
for the purposes stated in the Federal Register dated May 6, 1975, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that for the present and until Public Law 92-500
is amended, alternative Number 4 as described in the Federal Register dated
May 6, 1975, be applied.