Wetlands Protection and Management Act

Wetlands Protection and Management Act - Prohibits the revision of the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual before the Committee on Wetlands Characterization of the National Research Council publishes a specified report. Permits revisions afterward if the revisions: (1) take into account the findings and recommendations of the report; and (2) are made after field testing and public notice and comment. Requires wetlands identification and delineation to be carried out through the Manual until revised in accordance with this Act. Directs the Chief of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Secretaries of the Army and the Interior to issue a memorandum of agreement which sets forth procedures for identifying and delineating wetlands on agricultural lands. Requires the SCS Chief, after the issuance of the memorandum, to carry out such activities on agricultural lands and on non-agricultural lands which are contiguous to, or contained within, agricultural lands. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize grants to States for wetlands conservation planning. Requires the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to ensure, in issuing permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters, that there is no net loss of wetland acreage, functions, and values. Establishes procedures for the issuance of permits for minor discharges into wetlands. Creates a Small Landowners Assistance Account to provide technical assistance to private landowners to aid in compliance with permit requirements. Authorizes the issuance of general permits on a State or nationwide basis for any category of activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material if the activities are similar in nature and will cause only minimal adverse environmental effects when performed separately and cumulatively. Exempts prior converted cropland (unless abandoned) and certain waters and activities from regulation under dredged and fill permit provisions. Establishes administrative appeal procedures for determinations of regulatory jurisdiction over property, permit issuance or denial, and imposition of administrative penalties. Requires the Administrator to establish compensatory wetlands mitigation guidelines. Provides for mitigation banks (wetlands restoration projects that provide advance mitigation to offset foreseeable wetlands losses from future discharges of dredged or fill material). Establishes wetlands delineator training and certification programs and wetlands education and outreach programs. Includes "wetlands" in the definition of navigable waters. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Wetlands Reserve Program is an effective program and should be fully funded.