Overn View of Wetland Mitigation

Overview

What is a mitigation bank and why might I need one?

The development of vast parcels of land across the country destroys or threatens thousands of acres of wetlands and other sensitive habitats every year. Recognizing that the potential loss of many sensitive plant and animal species could be irreversible and could affect other species that coexist for part or all of the year in these areas, the State and Federal governments has enacted laws and regulations designed to preserve these sensitive habitats. A policy of "no-net-loss" of wetlands has been dictated by the President of the United States. Although the agencies prefer that these areas remain undisturbed, they recognize that this is not always practical. Wetlands substitution or replacement at another site is an acceptable solution where avoidance is not possible. However, until recently, a developer or landowner had only two options open to him/her:

The landowner could mitigate the lost habitat or wetlands on a portion of the site he was developing; a loss of expensive development land, or
The landowner could purchase another piece of land on which to develop compensatory habitat.Unfortunately, both of these options require long-term monitoring and maintenance of the habitat to ensure its viability. They must meet regulatory agency standards at construction, and then must continue to meet said standards for a minimum of 5 years. If the habitat should begin to fail, the developer would be required to correct that aspect of the habitat which has failed, replant and/or restock the habitat to the standards set by the agencies. This can be very costly in terms of time and money, and if the developer is not qualified to maintain or monitor the habitat, he faces the additional expense of hiring a professional to perform this task.Now a new solution called Mitigation banking is simplifying the process for the development community.Mitigation banks are preserves of protected, restored or constructed wetlands or other habitats, set aside to meet governmental requirements for compensatory mitigation of impacts to wetlands and other habitats which occur with development.

When a landowner or developer needs to substitute habitats for those being lost to development, he can purchase "credits" in a mitigation bank. Credits are a term used for a habitat value that is predetermined by an agreement between the mitigation bank developer and Sate and Federal agencies. The mitigation bank is authorized to sell credits to developers or landowners where on-site mitigation or avoidance of the wetlands or other habitat is not feasible.Mitigation banks are a better solution ecologically, because they allow for mitigation before impact to existing wetlands, are generally of much larger size and they consolidate financial resources and biological expertise to provide a more focused approach.

By creating the wetlands or other habitat and proving its viability before impacting an existing habitat, the bank assures both governmental agencies and the developer that "no-net-loss" of habitat or loss of habitat function will occur. Consolidating wetlands and resources from many smaller isolated projects into larger mitigation banks better protects the threatened ecosystem, and improves the successful establishment and long term management of these habitats.