Florida Expands Mitigation Bank Credit Use Beyond Traditional Service Areas
In 2025, Florida made the most consequential updates to its wetland mitigation banking framework since the program’s inception in the 1990s. Writing in The Florida Bar Journal, Susan Roeder Martin provides a practical overview of two major changes: a new pathway for mitigation bank credits to be used outside of a bank’s traditional service area, and a standardized credit release schedule across the state. The following is a summary of what changed and what it means for developers, consultants, and permit applicants navigating Florida’s mitigation credit markets.
Background on the Service Area Model
Florida’s mitigation banking framework has long required that credits be used within a defined mitigation service area, determined by reference to regional watersheds. This system has been highly successful, but persistent credit shortages in certain parts of Florida, including South Florida, portions of the Panhandle, and Southwest Florida, have created project delays and limited compliance options for applicants in credit-deficient basins.
Out-of-Service-Area Credit Use
Chapter 2025-191 of the Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2025, amended Florida Statute §373.4136 to address this directly. Under the new framework, if an impact applicant is not located within the service area of a mitigation bank or there are no available credits of the appropriate type, the applicant may now use credits from a bank outside the traditional service area on a one-time basis.
Before out-of-service-area credits can be used, DEP or the relevant water management district must confirm that the mitigation service area lacks credits of the appropriate type. Once that is confirmed, a tiered decision-making framework applies, giving priority to banks whose permitted service area fully includes the impact site. Proximity multipliers are then applied, increasing the number of credits required the farther the bank is from the impact site.
This is the same general structure that MBG has been navigating for clients through the state and federal proximity factor frameworks. The new legislation formally codifies a state-level pathway that was previously unavailable.
Standardized Credit Release Schedule
Chapter 2025-191 also established a uniform credit release schedule for mitigation banks statewide under §373.4136(5). The tiered schedule is as follows:
30% released when a conservation easement is recorded and financial assurances are provided. Another 30% released following completion of initial construction activities. Then 20% released in increments as monitoring confirms interim performance criteria are met. Finally, 20% released upon meeting final success criteria established in the permit.
Mitigation bank applicants may propose an alternative release schedule, which DEP or the water management district must consider. Existing permitted banks that have not yet had credits released for construction activities may also request a permit modification to align with the new schedule.
What This Means for MBG Clients
For developers in credit-deficient basins, the new out-of-service-area pathway creates compliance options that did not previously exist under state law. For mitigation bankers and landowners, the standardized release schedule provides more predictable timelines for credit availability.
MBG works with both credit buyers and mitigation banking professionals across Florida. If your project is in an area where credits are limited or unavailable, contact Victoria Bruce directly to discuss what options may now be available under the new framework.
Source:
Martin, Susan Roeder. “Expanding the Reach: New Opportunities for Mitigation Bank Credits.” The Florida Bar Journal, March/April 2026. Susan Roeder Martin is a shareholder with Nason Yeager Gerson Harris and Fumero, board certified in state and federal administrative law, and former counsel at the South Florida Water Management District.
