Mitigation Banking 101
What is a Mitigation Bank?
Mitigation Banks are large-scale wetland and/or stream restoration and enhancement projects that are established in areas where continued development will require impacts to these important aquatic resources.
The restoration work completed at a mitigation bank generates a net gain of wetlands and/or stream in a given area, which is quantified based on the resulting ecological benefit to generate a number of mitigation “credits” . The mitigation bank is protected in perpetuity, via a conservation easement.
The mitigation bank owner can then sell those credits to a developer whose project is impacting those types of resources elsewhere in the same or adjacent watershed/basin.
How are Mitigation Banks Regulated in Florida?
The technical aspects of mitigation banking are regulated through the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Water Management Districts (WMD) that your project falls within or The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). There are Five Water Management Districts in Florida: South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), North Florida Water Management District (NFWMD), St. John’s River Water Management District (SJRWMD) and Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD).
These agencies provide guidance, authorize establishment of and certify compliance of mitigation banks within their jurisdiction to guarantee that the restoration and enhancement efforts associated with a mitigation project are carried out successfully before credits are released to be sold.
Development projects that involve wetland impacts require permits from the applicable regulatory agencies before construction can begin.
The agencies ensure impacts are offset by requiring a developer to provide mitigation for loss associated with a project through a special condition of the permit.
Per the condition, the type of mitigation must be “in-kind” and the number of credits required, based on the size of the impact, must be purchased before a permit is considered to be fully authorized.
Each regulatory district has a set of approved worksheets that are used to calculate the number of credits a bank generates and credits required for project impacts, serving as a basis for ensuring that the improvement each credit provides at a bank is equal to (or greater than) the loss associated with each credit required for a given project.
Victoria K. Bruce
The Mitigation Banking Group, Inc.
407-960-5787
