ELI Banks and Fees Study

ELI’s mitigation study, “Banks and Fees,” was launched in 2000 and is designed to provide citizen groups, local, state, and federal agencies, the public, and the regulated community with the information they need to evaluate the ability of wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu-fee mitigation to achieve their regional wetland conservation and land use planning objectives. The study was made possible by generous grants from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, Banks and Fees: The Status of Off-Site Wetland Mitigation In the United States, was designed to determine the extent and nature of wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu-fee mitigation activities in the nation. It examines all wetland mitigation banks now in operation, as well as many proposed banks and newly emerging banking approaches, such as umbrella banks. It looks at mitigation banks recognized by the Corps, state agencies, and local governments. The study analyzes the in-lieu-fee programs currently administered by the Corps, states, and local governments. It summarizes existing state and local guidance and legislation that relate to wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu-fee mitigation. Portions of the study are available through this web site below.

The full report, Banks and Fees: The Status of Off-Site Wetland Mitigation In the United States, provides the reader with in-depth analysis on the status of wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu-fee mitigation in the United States, as well as conclusions and recommendations on how more effective and uniform standards for off-site compensatory wetland mitigation - in particular, wetland mitigation banking and in-lieu-fee mitigation can be adopted and implemented.

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Background and General Information

• More on the ELI Study Methodology and Summary Findings
• Background on Compensatory Mitigation, Wetland Mitigation Banking, and In-Lieu-Fee Mitigation

The State and Federal Context for Banking and In-Lieu-Fee Mitigation

• The Federal Context for Wetland Mitigation Banking
• The Federal Context for In-Lieu-Fee Mitigation
• The State Context for Wetland Mitigation Banking and In-Lieu-Fee Mitigation

Banks and Fees Searchable Databases

• Search the Wetland Mitigation Banks database
• Search the Umbrella Banks database
• Search the In-Lieu-Fee database
• Search across all three databases by state
• Search across all three databases by US Army Corps of Engineers District

Other Links on Wetland Mitigation Banking and In-lieu-fee Mitigation

Last updated July 2002.

Cite: Environmental Law Institute. 2002. “Banks and Fees: The Status of Off-Site Wetland Mitigation In the United States” Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute. <www2.eli.org/wmb>. July 2002.