August 21, 2023

Live Industry Update from Washington – Report on Briefing to Congress by USACE

Please join the National Environmental Banking Association(NEBA) for a live event highlighting what is going on in and around Washington with regard to Mitigation Banking. This LIVE 1-hour session will be held Wednesday, April 13, at 3pm Eastern. 

John Paul Woodley, former Assistant Secretary for the Army (Civil Works) will discuss the recent report to Congress responding to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act in Support of Mitigation Rule which The President, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate agreed upon in the 2021 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. In a recently rare show of bipartisan cooperation, they acted in support of the 2008 Mitigation Rule (The Rule). 

“This is the most significant step forward for the mitigation banking industry in more than a decade,” said Donna Collier, Chairwoman of the National Environmental Banking Association’s (NEBA’s) board of directors.  “Our membership and Board of Directors are especially proud of this achievement, and given the frequently uncompromising nature of our country’s recent politics, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the legislators and to the President, who supported this effort,” she said.

The Act includes the following language: “Compensatory Mitigation Rule.- There is concern that the Corps may not be consistent in its implementation of the 2008 Compensatory Mitigation Rule, based on the Corps’ publicly available data. There are concerns that particular districts have failed…”  >Read the Act

As per reporting requirements for both houses of the U.S. Congress, the Corps provided a briefing, along with identifying steps for improving consistent implementation of the Rule including the mitigation hierarchy.

To register for the April 13 Special Session:

About the Presenter:

JP Woodley of Advantus Strategies

John Paul Woodley issued the 2008 Final Rule for Mitigation (The Rule) on behalf of the Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Woodley has developed insights and abilities in service at the highest levels of State and Federal Government. He served as Deputy Attorney General of Virginia for Government Operations, then as Secretary of Natural Resources for Virginia, with overall responsibility for all environmental protection and permitting, outdoor recreation and open space management, inland and marine fisheries and historic resources in the Commonwealth. In 2001, he was appointed by Pres. George W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Defense as principal environmental advisor to the Secretary of Defense. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Woodley served as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, responsible for the civil works functions of the Dept. of the Army, including the civil works activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and Arlington National Cemetery. He implemented a major business process transformation within the Corps starting with the first use of performance-based budgeting in Corps history.

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