U.S. Code > Title 16 Conservation > CHAPTER 59—WETLANDS RESOURCES (§§ 3901—3932) > SUBCHAPTER IV—WETLANDS INVENTORY AND TREND ANALYSIS (§§ 3931—3932) > § 3931. National wetlands inventory project

§ 3931. National wetlands inventory project

(a) In general
The Secretary, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall continue the National Wetlands Inventory Project and shall—
(1) produce, by September 30, 1988, National Wetlands Inventory maps for the areas that have been identified by the Service as top priorities for mapping, including—
(A) the entire coastal zone of the United States;
(B) floodplains of major rivers; and
(C) the Prairie Pothole region;
(2) produce, by September 30, 1998, National Wetlands Inventory maps for those portions of the contiguous United States for which final maps have not been produced earlier;
(3) produce, by September 30, 2000, National Wetlands Inventory maps for Alaska and other noncontiguous portions of the United States;
(4) produce, by September 30, 1990, and at ten-year intervals thereafter, reports to update and improve the information contained in the report dated September 1982 and entitled “Status and Trends of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitat in the Coterminous United States, 1950’s to 1970’s”;
(5) produce, by April 30, 1990, a report that provides—
(A) an assessment of the estimated total number of acres of wetland habitat as of the 1780’s in the areas that now comprise each State; and
(B) an assessment of the estimated total number of acres of wetlands in each State as of the 1980’s, and the percentage of loss of wetlands in each State between the 1780’s and the 1980’s;
(6) produce, by September 30, 2004, a digital wetlands data base for the United States based on the final wetlands maps produced under this section; and
(7) archive and make available for dissemination wetlands data and maps digitized under this section as such data and maps become available.
(b) Notice
The Secretary shall notify the appropriate State and local units of government at such time as he proposes to begin map preparation under subsection (a) of this section in an area. Such notice shall include, but is not limited to, the identification of the area to be mapped, the proposed schedule for completion, and the identification of a source for further information.