What is the Arkansas
Wetland Mitigation Bank Program?
The Arkansas Wetland Mitigation Bank Program
is a state-sponsored initiative aimed at providing off-site mitigation
opportunities to Section 404 permit recipients required to provide compensatory
mitigation for impacts of approved wetland projects. Arkansas statutes
allow the state to acquire degraded wetlands and restore the wetland functions
that previously occurred on the areas. This is accomplished by reestablishing
the wetland hydrology and vegetation.
What is Mitigation Banking?
Mitigation banking is the restoration,
creation, enhancement, or in exceptional circumstances, preservation of
wetlands for the express purpose of providing compensating for unavoidable
wetland losses in advance of development actions, when such compensation
cannot be achieved at the development site or would not be as environmentally
beneficial.
Who can use the Arkansas
Wetland Mitigation Bank?
Individuals required to provide compensatory
mitigation as a requirement of a Section 404 permit are eligible to use
the mitigation bank if its use is approved by the permitting agency, and
the impact site is within the bank site’s geographic service area (i.e.,
the area wherein a bank would provide appropriate compensation for impacts
to wetlands). The geographic service area for the Arkansas Wetland Mitigation
Bank is the wetland planning region (see map) in which the site is located.
Consideration may be given to allowing mitigation at a bank site adjacent
to the planning region of the impact site, but higher credit ratios would
be required.
Who administers the Arkansas
Wetland Mitigation Bank Program?
The Arkansas Wetlands Mitigation Bank is
administered by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The
Director of ANRC, in consultation with the Wetland Technical Advisory
Committee, has the authority to: set sales price and sell credits, acquire
and accept title for approved mitigation sites from willing sellers, and
conduct other activities necessary to administer the mitigation bank program.
How are Mitigation Bank Sites
Selected?
The location of mitigation bank sites are
based on consideration of areas ability to offer potential wetland functions
and values most needed for compensatory mitigation, the potential to link
corridors or small areas into larger ones, areas that offer the most feasible
conditions for successful establishment of a viable wetland, areas that
will incorporate land adjacent to or near other public lands, and State-wide
wetlands plans or strategies.
After the area for a wetlands bank has
been selected, individual sites are evaluated according to criteria developed
by the Wetlands Technical Advisory Committee, including:
Historical wetland trends, included estimated
rate of wetlands loss of the respective wetland types
Current and potential contributions to wildlife,
fisheries, ground-water quality, diversity, etc.
Location of sites in relation to permit actions
where mitigation might be useful, probability of success, etc.
Economic impact of establishing the site
Costs of land acquisition, establishment and
maintenance, and cost effectiveness of each site based on percentage of
land in prior converted wetlands to be restored, existing wetlands, etc.
Requirements of permitting agencies
What are Mitigation Banking
Credits and Debits, and How Are They Determined?
Credits and debits essentially represent
"currency" or units of trade. Credits represent the accrual or attainment
of wetland functions at the bank site resulting from the restoration being
done, while debits represent the loss of functions at the project site.
The Corps of Engineers, in conjunction
with the Mitigation Bank Review Team, determine the number of credits available
at a bank site based potential for restoring or enhancing the wetland functions
as compared with existing conditions. The potential for restoring wetland
functions is determined by applying an appropriate functional assessment
technique, such as the Hydrogeomorphic Wetland Assessment Method.
What are the Advantages of
Mitigation Banking?
Mitigation banking can have several advantages
over traditional compensatory mitigation. Mitigation banks can consolidate
many small scattered compensatory mitigation sites into one larger site
that may be more advantageous for maintaining the integrity of the aquatic
ecosystem. Mitigation banks bring together financial resources, planning
and scientific expertise not practicable to many small compensatory mitigation
projects, thus increasing the probability of success. Typically, mitigation
banks are functioning at some level prior to project impacts, thereby reducing
temporal losses of aquatic functions. Consolidation of compensatory of
mitigation within a bank increases the efficiency of limited agency resources
needed to review and monitor mitigation projects for compliance.
