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Federal Compensatory Mitigation: Opportunities for Financing Conservation Yale Conservation Finance Camp June 18, 20

Federal Compensatory Mitigation: Opportunities for Financing Conservation Yale Conservation Finance Camp June 18, 2008. Jessica Wilkinson Environmental Law Institute. Outline. Federal compensatory mitigation program investments Emerging trends in §404 compensatory mitigation demand

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Federal Compensatory Mitigation: Opportunities for Financing Conservation Yale Conservation Finance Camp June 18, 20

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  1. Federal Compensatory Mitigation: Opportunities for Financing ConservationYale Conservation Finance Camp June 18, 2008 Jessica Wilkinson Environmental Law Institute

  2. Outline • Federal compensatory mitigation program investments • Emerging trends in §404 compensatory mitigation demand • Opportunities for conservation non-profits under the §404 compensatory mitigation rule • Questions

  3. Mitigation of Impacts: Cost Estimate • Annualized dollar amount of damages to habitat and the environment captured under major federal compensatory mitigation programs

  4. Compensatory Mitigation: Definition The restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of natural resources to compensate for impacts pursuant to a regulatory program that: • prospectively issues permits or licenses for activities that affect fish and wildlife habitat or other natural resources; or • assesses after-the-fact damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of habitat or natural resources.

  5. Programs Included • Clean Water Act §404 • Endangered Species Act §10 • Federal Natural Resource Damage Programs • Federal Power Act • Northwest Power Act

  6. Estimated Annual Compensatory Mitigation Costs Environmental Law Institute. October 2007. “Mitigation of Impacts to Fish and Wildlife Habitat: Estimating Costs and Identifying Opportunities.” Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute. Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

  7. I. Clean Water Act §404 • Objective of the Clean Water Act: • “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters.” • Section 404 of the Clean Water Act regulates: • discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands

  8. I. Clean Water Act §404 • The §404 Program is guided by the goal of achieving: • “no overall net loss” of aquatic resources acres and functions • Before a permit may be issued, impacts must first be: • Avoid • Minimize • Compensate

  9. I. Clean Water Act §404 • Compensation is achieved through: • Restoration • Enhancement • Establishment • Preservation • The mechanisms approved by the agencies for meeting compensatory obligations are: • Permittee-responsible mitigation • Wetland mitigation banking • In-lieu fee mitigation

  10. Wetland Impacts and Mitigation *The values for FY 01, FY 02, and FY 04-06 Requested acres are estimates only, errors in data reporting are being investigated. More accurate data will be provided when available. (USACOE HQ, 2007)

  11. I. Available Data – Mitigation Methods

  12. I. Available Data – Mitigation Mechanisms

  13. I. Available Data – The Cost of Mitigation • Wetland compensation: 5 of the 38 Corps districts (39%) • Estimates varied widely, from ~$3,000/acre to $350,000/acre • Steam compensation: 9 of the 38 Corps districts (24%) • Estimates ranged from $75 to $400/linear foot and averaged about $100 to $250/linear foot

  14. I. Available Data – The Cost of Mitigation

  15. Wetland Compensation Stream Compensation Low High Mid $1.7 billion $2.4 billion $3.1 billion Low High Mid $179 million $955 million $573 million I. Clean Water Act §404: Cost Estimates

  16. Estimated Annual Compensatory Mitigation Costs Environmental Law Institute. October 2007. “Mitigation of Impacts to Fish and Wildlife Habitat: Estimating Costs and Identifying Opportunities.” Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute. Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

  17. I. Clean Water Act §404: Financing Conservation • Opportunities • The watershed approach • Ecological performance standards • Limitations • No net loss • Site selection is applicant-driven

  18. II. Federal Endangered Species Act • Section 7 • Federal agencies must consult with FWS or NMFS on activities that may jeopardize a listed species • Section 10 • Non-federal entities must secure a permit for the “take” of listed species California sea-blite Photo: Margo Bors Valley elderberry longhorn beetle Photo: Jon Katz and Meghan Gilbart

  19. II. Federal Endangered Species Act §10 • Requires permittees to minimize and mitigate their impacts “to the maximum extent practicable.” • Examined 65 HCP/ITPs approved by FWS from 2003-2006 • Required $1.5 billion in mitigation from 2003-2006 • $370.3 million/year

  20. Estimated Annual Compensatory Mitigation Costs Environmental Law Institute. October 2007. “Mitigation of Impacts to Fish and Wildlife Habitat: Estimating Costs and Identifying Opportunities.” Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute. Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

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