NEBA Chairwoman Donna Collier has recently joined the steering committee assembled by the U.S. Environmental Protection (USEPA) to produce workbooks and associated review worksheets to aide Inter-Agency Review Team (IRT) members in their efficient review and processing of Mitigation Banking Instruments and In-Lieu Fee Agreements.
This steering committee includes federal agencies, state agencies and industry representatives. Collier and other members are providing guidance and quality assurance/oversight along with reviews for the workbook and worksheet deliverables. Materials are expected to be complete in Spring/Summer of 2021.
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
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 This mindset is not only outdated—it is actively harmful to both outcomes.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
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