Lake Jesup Wetland Mitigation

Lake Jesup Wetland Mitigation in Seminole County, Florida

If your project in Sanford, Oviedo, Winter Springs, Longwood, Casselberry or anywhere else in the Lake Jesup Basin will affect wetlands, you will probably need compensatory mitigation before you can get your permits. A 2025 change in Florida law made that much simpler for this basin.

What Changed With SB 492

There are no mitigation banks located inside the Lake Jesup Basin (SJRWMD Basin 23). For years that meant tight options for projects there: permittee-responsible mitigation on offsite land, or a split between in-basin and out-of-basin mitigation backed by a cumulative impact analysis.

Florida’s CS/CS/SB 492 (Chapter 2025-191, Laws of Florida), effective July 1, 2025, amended section 373.4136(6), Florida Statutes. The law now says that when a mitigation bank uses credits to offset impacts within its permitted mitigation service area (MSA), it automatically meets Florida’s cumulative impact requirement. Where a bank is physically located no longer matters. What matters is whether its service area covers your project.

Several state-permitted banks have service areas that cover the Lake Jesup Basin, including the Colbert Cameron Mitigation Bank and the Farmton Mitigation Bank. That means Lake Jesup projects can buy bank credits the same way projects in other basins do.

SB 492 also added a fallback. If the banks serving your area don’t have enough credits of the right type, the agency will check availability with them. If there’s a confirmed shortfall, you may make a one-time purchase of credits from outside the service area, adjusted by a “proximity factor” multiplier.

How Buying Mitigation Credits Works Now

  1. Figure out your impact. Your environmental consultant identifies the wetlands affected and calculates how many credits you need, usually with the UMAM method.
  2. Find the banks that serve your site. MBG checks which banks’ service areas cover your project and which ones have the right credit type available, whether forested, herbaceous, state or federal.
  3. Reserve your credits. MBG secures a credit reservation letter for your permit application.
  4. Permit and purchase. After your permit is issued, you complete the purchase and the bank’s credit ledger is updated.

Permits: ERP and Section 404

  • State: Environmental Resource Permit (ERP). Most projects affecting wetlands or surface waters in Seminole County need an ERP from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). State mitigation credits are applied through this permit.
  • Federal: Clean Water Act Section 404. If the wetlands are federally regulated “waters of the United States,” you will also need a Section 404 permit, and federal mitigation credits may be required. Florida’s state-run 404 program is currently paused by court order, so 404 permits in Florida are issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A bank’s federal service area can differ from its state service area, so we confirm both.

Get Lake Jesup Mitigation Credits From MBG

The Mitigation Banking Group helps developers, engineers, consultants and public agencies find and secure the right credits for projects in the Lake Jesup Basin and across Central Florida.

Pricing: Call for Pricing. Visit our Mitigation Credit Pricing page or contact Victoria Bruce directly:

Mitigation Credit Pricing