Facilitated by:
The Environmental Law Institute and The Nature Conservancy

May 9, 2017
National Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking Conference

In 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released regulations on compensatory mitigation under § 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Each year more than 40,000 acres of wetlands are restored, established, enhanced, and preserved to compensate for the approximately 20,000 acres of losses permitted through the federal wetlands regulatory program. Nationwide, an estimated $2.9 billion is spent annually on these compensatory mitigation projects. However, it is not clear whether this significant investment in compensation yields projects that are effectively replacing lost wetlands.

Success of Wetland Mitigation Projects