NEBA Submits Proposed Changes to Federal Rule that Established Wetland Mitigation Banking Framework

Danny Moran

BATON ROUGE, LA - The National Environmental Banking Association (NEBA) has issued recommendations that directors say can help stabilize and strengthen the $4 billion industry in its effort to combat an “alarming continuation of environmental destruction.”

Privately funded mitigation banks have established a record of success for decades restoring and preserving wetlands and other environmentally sensitive land and, with a few adjustments to a 2008 federal rule, the sector could solidify and expand the gains, NEBA says in a proposal submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Banking is the only solution to environmental impacts that does not in some way involve increased costs to taxpayers,’” NEBA said in the document filed in August.  NEBA Vice Chairman Danny Moran, who helped draft the recommendations, said a solid set of rules that investors can rely on will vastly increase private investment flowing to restore and protect the environment through mitigation banks.

“The 2008 Wetland Mitigation Rule has served the industry well and now is the time to improve and make changes to the Rule to incorporate what we have learned over the past decade,” said Moran, who is also Managing Director of EcoSystem Renewal LLC, based in Baton Rouge.

Mitigation banks are tracts of land, typically hundreds or thousands of acres, professionally restored to function as part of an integrated ecosystem, with proper hydrology, or water flow, and native, natural landscaping with the appropriate species of trees and vegetation.

Developers of public and private projects can purchase credits in a wetland mitigation bank to mitigate, or offset, their own unavoidable impact to wetlands.

Once restored to its original, natural state, the land is protected by a permanent easement and maintained with a dedicated fund for future generations.

The 2008 Wetland Mitigation Rule (33 CFR §§ 332.1-332.8), which NEBA says helped provide a framework for successful mitigation banking, is being reviewed for changes and strengthening.

CONTACTS:

Danny Moran

Vice Chairman

National Environmental Banking Assn. and

Managing Director, EcoSystem Renewal, LLC,

 (toll free) 888-294-8101 ext   802 

dmoran@ecosystemrenewal.com;  

We invest in the environment so you can bank on the future.™  Visit ecosystemrenewal.com

Will Beaty

Director of Sales and Marketing

 EcoSystem Renewal, LLC

 888-294-8101 ext 802

wbeaty@ecosystemrenewal.com

To view the complete comment filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, please visit the NEBA website at:https://environmentalbanking.org/

Beth Payan,

 Larry Vershel Communications, Inc.

  407-644-4142

or 407-461-3781

 Beth@LarryVershel.com