United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water (WH-556F).
Office of Wetlands. Oceans.
and Watersheds (A-104 F)
EPA843-F-93-001n
March 1993
ŽEPA WETLANDS FACT SHEET # 14
Wetlands Mitigation Banking
i
more ecologically advantageous for maintaining
the integrity of the aquatic ecosystem.
Development of a mitigation bank can
Wetlands mitigation banking is the resto- also bring together financial resources, as well as
ration, creation, enhancement, or in certain cir- planning and scientific expertise not generally
cumstances, preservation of wetlands expressly practical for individual mitigation proposals,
for the purpose of providing compensation in thereby increasing the likelihood of success.
advance of proposed or future wetland impacts.
A wetlands mitigation bank is created when a
government agency, corporation ornon-profit or-
ganization, under a formal agreement, acquires a
long-term interest in a degraded wetland or an
appropriate upland area and restores or creates
the site into a functional wetland ecosystem. The
value of a bank is determined by quantifying the
wetland values restored or created in terms of
"credits," which may later be utilized to compen-
sate for wetland losses, or "debits," associated
with a permitted discharge. Banking has the
potential to play a significant role in the Section
404 regulatory program by reducing uncertainty
and delays for qualified projects, especially when
the project is associated with a comprehensive
resource planning effort. Agencies have received
commentsnotingbothbenefitsandconcemsabout
mitigation banking, some of which are noted be-
low.
A primary concern with the use of mitiga-
tion banking in the Section 404 regulatory pro-
gram is that establishment of a bank may be
wrongfully construed as direct or implied autho-
rization of specific projects, regardless of the
avoidability of wetland impacts associated with
the proposed project. Implementation of a bank-
ing agreement involves substantial administra-
tive and legal complexities. Moreover, the scien-
tific and technical expertise for creation and resto-
ration is limited for some wetland types.
With mitigation banking, compensatory
mitigation can be implemented and functioning
in advance of project impacts, thereby assuring
the success of compensation. In addition, it elimi-
nates the temporal losses of aquatic functions and
valuesr that typically occur when the compensa-
tion is intiated during or after the time wetlands
impacts occur.
In addition, consolidation of mitigation
for impacts to numerous small, isolated or frag-
mented habitats into a single large parcel is often
The 1990 EPA/Army Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) on Mitigation identifies miti-
gation banking as "an acceptable form of compen-
satory mitigation under specific criteria designed
to ensure an environmentally successful bank."
Approximately 100 mitigation banks are in opera-
tion or are proposed for construction in 34 States
across the country.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: tall the EPA Wetlands Hotline* at 1-800-832-7828
'contractor opcntad
, Printed on Recycled Paper
------- |