January 17, 2023

ILF Workbook Contains Potentially Damaging and Misleading Language

Industry News, resources

During the past year, the National Environmental Banking Association (NEBA) became aware of some problematic language in the draft In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument Review Workbook which indicated that released in-lieu fee (ILF) credits were to be considered equivalent to mitigation bank credits under the mitigation hierarchy.

NEBA raised the concerns with the EPA Office of Water, and the Workbook language was amended to more accurately state the relationship between actual mitigation bank credits and released in-lieu fee credits under the mitigation hierarchy. However, NEBA continues to be concerned that the Workbook language does not adequately reflect the precedence of mitigation banking credits over released in-lieu fee credits under the 2008 Mitigation Rule.

This week, the Board of NEBA sent a letter to the Acting Chief of Regulatory for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in response to concerns that language within the workbook is not compliant with the 2008 Final Mitigation Rule or even more recently, U.S. Congressional support to the Rule.

"The discretion to establish equivalency between released ILF credits and mitigation credits clearly does not exist in the 2008 Compensatory Mitigation Rule and mitigation hierarchy without first meeting the strict criteria mandated in the Rule," writes John Paul Woodley, Chairman of NEBA.

Read More >

 Previous
Next

You may also like

Why Should You Join The National Environmental Banking Association?

The National Environmental Banking Association (NEBA) is a professional organization focused on integrity, transparency, and accountability, promoting the highest standards in the environmental banking industry. Its members include mitigation banking professionals, industry vendors, and government officials, ensuring cost-effective outreach and support.Joining NEBA benefits you and your business, helping to grow the industry and improve its

Read More

The Risk of Advance Credits

According to US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) data, there are more than 8 million Advance Mitigation Credits sitting on the ledgers of the many dozens of In-Lieu Fee (ILF) Programs across the United States today, nearly all of which are exempt from any financial assurance that the mitigation projects will actually be performed. These credits

Read More
View Comments

Subscribe to our newsletter now!