Under the USACE and EPA’s  Final Rule  on Compensatory Mitigation of Aquatic Resources  and Washington State’s rule on wetland mitigation banking, mitigation credits are the preferred solution to satisfy aquatic resource impacts. This new hierarchy promotes mitigation banking as the first solution “based on administrative and environmental considerations, to reduce risk and uncertainty associated with compensatory mitigation projects, as well as temporal losses of aquatic resource functions and services”. To view important excerpts from the Final Rule Click Here.

Consultants and applicants wishing to propose the use of mitigation bank credits for unavoidable wetland and critical area impacts should review guidance from the USACE and Department of Ecology for submitting “Bank Use Plans”.  A template for creating Bank Use Plans can be found here. 

MBS can provide a consultant working on a development project the technical information nessesary to write a complete “Bank Use Plan”. After a Bank Use Plan has been approved by the agencies,  credits are purchased from MBS and transferred to the applicant’s permit numbers. The applicant can then proceed with their project without further delay or mitigation liability. The mitigation bank and mitigation bank sponsors are now responsible for the success of the mitigation project and the monitoring, maitenance and long term protections that are required of it.

*Pricing for wetland credits, buffer credits and other resource credits supplied by the banks can be obtained by contacting MBS directly.