President Trump, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate agreed upon the 2021 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act in a rare show of bipartisan cooperation and 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 should be proud of this achievement, especially given the frequently uncompromising nature of our country’s recent politics. 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 to adhere to the mitigation hierarchy in the Rule as it pertains to the preference for mitigation bank credits. The Corps is reminded that although the Rule provides some discretion, the Rule is clear that this discretion is limited and deviations from the mitigation hierarchy must be based on scientific and technical analysis. The Corps is directed to properly and consistently implement the Rule, including adherence to its mitigation hierarchy and documentation of decisions by the District Engineer regarding which mitigation mechanism is appropriate to offset impacts under the Rule and which sections of the Rule justify the particular decision. The Corps shall brief the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress not later than one year after the enactment of this Act on steps taken to ensure proper and consistent application of the Rule across districts, consistent with this direction.”
The direction to the agency should be understood across all 38 Districts of the Corps. NEBA recommends that every member take this opportunity to supply your regional and local regulators with this information in support of the Corps program.
Learn more by contacting info@environmentalbanking.org