The Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act 2024 was signed into law recently by President Biden, making explicit Congress' wish to see mitigation bank credits released by the U.S. Army Corps into service areas across the United States.
"Mitigation Bank Credits — The Committee appreciates the promise of mitigation banks for accelerating project delivery. The Corps is encouraged to approve mitigation bank credits expeditiously, consistent with existing laws and regulations. Additionally, the Corps is encouraged to continue making progress to improve its application of the mitigation hierarchy in the 2008 Compensatory Mitigation Rule."
As those in our industry well know, there are often long regulatory delays in the release of bank credits and/or the review of documentation needed to support credit releases. The National Environmental Banking Association thanks both Houses of Congress and the Biden Administration for this continued bipartisan support to our industry, and especially for this directive intended to address the problem of slow mitigation bank credit releases.