8 Reasons to Care About Wetlands
Wetlands play an important role in the well-being of the environment.
Benefits of Wetlands
Wetlands provide:
- Water purification where water is filtered, cleaned and stored
- Flood control where flood waters are collected and held
- Habitat to a wide range of plant and animal life
- Shoreline stability where the wind and tidal forces are absorbed
- Downstream waters restored with fresh supplies
- Pollution removal
- Groundwater recharge with fresh supplies
- Providing fish and wildlife a habitat
Wetland Protections
Ohio regulates wetlands primarily through water quality certification to federal 404 permits. In addition, Ohio enacted the Isolated Wetland Law. The law makes it illegal for a person to engage in the filling of an isolated wetland or to discharge dredged material into isolated wetlands without a permit. The law establishes three tiers of regulation. They are associated with different levels of review, different criteria for approval or disapproval of a permit and different mitigation requirements.
Requirements
Anyone who wishes to discharge, dredge or fill materials into the waters of the US regardless of whether private or public property must obtain a Section 404 permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers and a Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) from the state. If it is an Isolated Wetland in Ohio then an Isolated Wetland Permit from Ohio EPA is in order.
Turn-Key’s professional staff assists clients with the wetlands permitting process.
