Wetland Mitigation Banking

Wetland Mitigation Banking

First, a little background:

In 1948, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was established, paving way for the establishment of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Essentially, the CWA sets regulations for water quality by regulating pollution discharges into waterways such as sewage and fertilizers, wetland take, and clean water standards. As it relates to wetland mitigation (and subsequently mitigation banking), the CWA has a provision - Section 404 - that establishes regulations for the discharge of dredge material to fill wetlands that would otherwise be unavoidable, this includes any sort of damage/alteration of the quality of the wetland as well. Evidence has to be provided by the organization requesting the 404 permit showing that 1) steps have been taken to avoid impacts to wetlands/waterways, 2) potential impacts have been minimized, and 3) all unavoidable impacts will be compensated. These applications are reviewed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). General permits exist - those resulting in smaller impacts (minor road maintenance, utility rights of way) some of which can be used through statewide programs. More information on these specific matters can be obtained on the USACE website.

Wetland Mitigation is the compensation for the destruction of wetlands (as permitted by the CWA as discussed above). This facilitates an 'offset' of the loss of wetlands by restoring, creating, or enhancing wetlands, resulting in a 'no net loss' of wetlands. While that sounds all well and good, at times, this is fatal for certain species, especially those that breed in ephemeral wetlands. I'm unsure of the exact requirements, but I from conversations I have had, I do not believe that these wetlands are required to be 'mitigated' within the same general area.

With wetland mitigation banking, credits can be purchased to offset adverse wetland impacts from an organization. Often, sponsors design, create, establish and maintain wetland mitigation banks, then sell these 'credits' to organizations looking to offset wetland destruction (take). There are a finite number of credits per 'bank'; once these credits have all been purchased, this bank can no longer be used to offset wetland take. This can be extremely advantageous in that in an area such as Fourmile Creek (see video below), sponsors and conservation groups can work together to establish wetland mitigation banks for their own purposes: in this case, restoring the Fourmile Creek Watershed by creating wetlands along the creek, which then help reduce the adverse impact flooding events have. In this situation, Polk County Conservation and JEO are working together to restore stream flows to their native directions (oxbow restoration) and restore native vegetation to the area. While I don't have experience these types of projects, this does seem like an excellent way to handle wetland restoration in that it allows managers to determine what the need is and establish effective plans proactively rather than retroactively. I'm unsure of the timeline companies have to mitigate wetlands in the event banks don't exist. Mitigation facilitates this, possibly making timelines more rapid, but also providing an immediate solution for the needs of conservation groups.

JEO Consulting Group, an engineering firm conducted a stream assessment for the Fourmile Creek Watershed, also creating a simulation video of what a portion of the stream would look like with wetland mitigation banking.

For more information on wetland mitigation banking, see NRCS: Mitigation Banking.

Additionally, NRCS has created a story map that explains more on Wetland Mitigation Banking.

Sources:

EPA Clean Water Act Summary: https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act
EPA Clean Water Act, Section 404: https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/permit-program-under-cwa-section-404#:~:text=Section%20404%20of%20the%20Clean%20Water%20Act%20(CWA)%20establishes%20a,the%20United%20States%2C%20including%20wetlands.&text=Proposed%20activities%20are%20regulated%20through,required%20for%20potentially%20significant%20impacts.

USDA NRCS Wetland Mitigation Press Release: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ia/newsroom/releases/NRCSEPRD1330430/

USDA NRCS Conservation Compliance and Wetland Mitigation Banking
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/programs/farmbill/?cid=NRCSEPRD362686

United States Army Corps of Engineers:
https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Portals/48/docs/regulatory/mitigation/Iowa%20Mitigation%20Banking%20Guidance%20Package_reduced.pdf

US EPA - Wetlands
https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetlands-restoration-definitions-and-distinctions