Conservation Bank Credit Ledger
Q: When a developer buys mitigation or conservation credits from the mitigation/conservation bank, does he need to keep the credit in perpetuity or can he resell the credits once the negative impact is considered offset so that the conservation bank can resell it after to another who needs to mitigate for negative impacts on the environment?
A: When you purchase a Conservation/Mitigation bank credit, the credit is debited from the conservation/mitigation bank ledger which is held by the Army Corps of Engineers and overseen by the US Fish Wildlife Service. The credits will be deducted with the assignment of your permit number for your project and therefore the credits are assigned to your project in perpetuity.
The credits can never be resold. And once you purchase mitigation/conservation credits you transfer all of the responsibility and the liability to the mitigation banker to perform the mitigation and you are able to move forward with your project as your permit authorizes you to do.
Here is an example of a Conservation Bank Credit ledger which lists all the projects that credits are assigned to, once there are deducted from the ledger.
https://ribits.ops.usace.army.mil/ords/f?p=107:ALIAS_LEDGER::ledger::RP,43:P43_BANK_ID:4731
