Section 353.04. Eligibility for a shortform wetland conservation permit.

 

(1)  To be eligible for a shortform wetland conservation permit, the department shall determine that all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The project purpose is wetland conservation.

(b) The project proponent has demonstrated that site conditions exhibit impacts to topography, soils, native vegetation or hydrology that have degraded a wetland and are potentially reversible.

(c) The project proponent has demonstrated that the project involves only listed wetland conservation activities as specified in s. NR 353.05 or that the proposed activity is maintenance of a preexisting wetland conservation project under s. NR 353.10 .

(d) The project does not involve any activities in navigable waters with prior stream history, or is otherwise determined to not cause significant adverse impacts to those waters.

(e) The project does not cause significant adverse impacts to a cold water community, as defined in s. NR 102.04 (3) (a) .

(f) The project does not cause significant obstruction of fish passage to existing spawning areas.

(g) The project does not cause significant adverse impacts to state threatened or endangered resources.

(h) The project does not cause significant adverse impacts to historical or cultural resources and will comply with s. 44.40 , Stats.

(i) Any proposed dikes, embankments or low berms as defined in s. NR 353.05 (3) , will have a height of less than 6 feet measured from natural ground to design top of the structure and will result in less than 50 acre-feet total storage, and have been designed by a professional engineer registered in the state of Wisconsin or submitted by a county, state or federal agency. A project with a design embankment height 2 feet or less above the natural ground and with less that 50 acre-feet of storage does not have to be designed a professional engineer.

(j) The project does not involve the planned introduction of non-native or invasive wetland plants.

(k) The project does not involve the control of native wetland plant species unless the project proponent has demonstrated that the activity is to maintain a wetland community or to diversify a monoculture or a monotypic stand of invasive wetland plants. Removal of monotypic stands of invasive herbaceous vegetation may include excavation only if incidental soil removal and deposition occurs on uplands or like monoculture adjacent to the area of removal.

(2)  Project proposals which include activities listed in s. NR 353.05 (3) to (5) and have existing wetlands on or adjacent to the project area are eligible for the shortform wetland conservation permit only if both of the following conditions are met:

(a) Agricultural crops, invasive wetland species or early successional hydrophyte species dominate the project area.

(b) The proposed activities will not cause significant adverse impacts to undisturbed wetland plant communities on-site or adjacent to the project area.

History: CR 01-144 : cr. Register January 2003 No. 565 , eff. 2-1-03.

Note

This provision applies only to incidental soil associated with plant removal and is not intended to allow conversion of wetlands to uplands. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1