(June 1996)
The United States Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has developed a National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands (National List). The National List was prepared by wetland ecologists and botanists to support the Service's definition of wetland contained in the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States. Regions were adopted to permit the assignment of wetland indicators to distinct areas of the United States. The National List represents the combination of the Regional Lists into a single list.
Changes to the National List have been made in response to new ecological information and revisions to botanical nomenclature. New National and Regional Lists will be prepared by a National and Regional Panels made up of representatives from the Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The National and Regional Lists will be released as Service publications and will be made available to the other agencies and the public.
Regional Lists will be advertised separately in the Federal Register in the future as changes are made by individual Regional Interagency Review Panels. The production of new National Lists will not occur any more often than every 5 years. If changes to the Regional lists become necessary outside the 5-year cycle, those changes will be made in compliance with these procedures.
To facilitate the development of the new National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands, the four principal agencies involved in its preparation agree to work cooperatively at achieving their collective goal by adhering to the following steps:
1. The Regional Panels prepare an updated draft of the Regional List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands.
2. The Regional Panels submit proposed changes to the Regional List to the National Panel and identify those changes to taxa in the updated draft that have potentially significant impact for wetland identification and/or delineation in the region.
3. The National Panel reviews proposed changes in close consultation with the Regional Panels. This review includes all technical input and rationale that formed the basis for proposed changes to each Regional List
4. The National Panel makes additions/deletions/corrections as needed based on their review, and in consultation with the Regional Panels. As part of National Panels work, agency representatives to the Panel inform the appropriate Headquarters officials in their respective agencies, of the status of the effort during all phases of the process. This will include a briefing by the National Panel.
5. The Service prepares a draft National List and prepares a Notice of Availability in Federal Register (FR) for public review and comment.
6. Public comments come back to the Service. The National Panel will evaluate the comments to define which merit scientific review and input
7. Comments meriting scientific review are submitted to the Regional Panels, which will prepare draft responses and clarify any discrepancies.
8. The National Panel, in close consultation with the Regional Panels, reviews the comments and file Regional Panel responses, resolves differences, and prepares responses, including modifications of the proposed changes, if needed.
9. The Ecology Section of the National Wetlands Inventory Center summarizes all responses at each stage of the process and presents the final National List to the National Panel. The National Panel members will inform the appropriate Headquarters officials in their respective agencies of the status and effects of the effort.
10. When the National Panel completes its work on the National List, final technical determinations, and the effects of those determinations are provided to each agency Headquarters by their respective National Panel members.
11. The Service, as chair of the National Panel, summarize all National and Regional Panel responses and prepares a Notice of Availability in the FR for the final revised National List.