Over the past year, NEBA has continued to press Washington for improvement in processing times for Mitigation Banking Instruments (MBIs) which according to U.S. Army Corps study take well longer than any other type of permit processed by the Agency. From these ongoing discussions with senior regulatory officials, new movement is underway to remedy some apparent bottlenecks. The legislative committee of NEBA has been receiving member reports of recent improvements in some Districts.
While the 2008 Final Mitigation Rule (Rule) gave the U.S. Army Corps clear regulatory guidance, challenges with implementation of the Rule continue through today. Important steps have recently been made in Congress to reinforce the mitigation hierarchy and to protect the mitigation banking industry's standards for environmental quality and reliability.
NEBA, The Trusted Voice of the Mitigation Banking Industry, is continuing to actively track and respond to the efforts by those who wish to undermine quality environmental offsets.
Looking back over 2024, it is incredible how far things have come for the environmental banking industry, and still how much work remains.
In the year ahead, NEBA will continue to provide access to the experts, with opportunities for questions from our members. We will be working directly with regulatory agencies to improve the implementation of existing policies and practices. We will work on legislative issues, while providing the best available tools and information to our industry.
We welcome questions and feedback from our members. We are all stronger - together!A newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report is shining a spotlight on a concern many in the mitigation banking industry have raised for years: inconsistent implementation of the federal compensatory mitigation program across U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps requires compensatory mitigation when permitted
Read MoreFor too long, environmental policy debates have been framed around a false and unproductive premise: that economic growth and environmental protection are inherently at odds. This mindset is not only outdated—it is actively harmful to both outcomes. Mitigation banking offers a clear path forward. By design, it aligns economic incentives with ecological restoration, proving that well-functioning
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