Officials from U.S. Agencies – including DOI, USACE, USFWS, BLM, and USFS – focused their comments on ‘consistency’ and ‘equivalency’ for all forms of mitigation today at the National Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking Conference in Fort Worth, TX.

Representatives from across the country highlighted sound mitigation principles including ‘durability’ and ‘additionality,’ critical to the success of all stream, wetland, and species habitat mitigation efforts. As experience has shown, high ecological standards and performance metrics in the context of consistent and transparent mitigation programs, can drive measurable environmental outcomes.

The concept of holding all compensatory mitigation to the same high standards, regardless of the source of the offset, has become increasingly vital as new broad government initiatives have begun requiring offset for various unavoidable environmental impacts.

Some of the new plans and experiments by states, NGO’s and others, including ‘habitat exchanges’, have brought the need for equivalency to the forefront, requiring regulators to consider carefully a need for effective and consistent standards.

Following the morning regulatory plenary, there were also discussions about In-Lieu Fee programs and requirements for these programs to fully implement the 2008 Mitigation Rule. This topic has become a source of concern for both policy and regulatory officials, especially since the November 2015 Presidential Memorandum which Corps officials reflect is wholly consistent with the Mitigation Rule. The Presidential initiative and the Rule both clearly prioritize mitigation done in advance of any permitted impact.