WETLAND MITIGATION BANK

An arrangement whereby private developers buy credits of an acre or so each for the right to drain and build on Wetlands on their own property. The practice is generally permitted under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), which requires developers to provide an equal amount of Constructed Wetlands for each acre of wetland destroyed. As an additional requirement, the mitigating wetlands must be created on land that historically was a wetland at one time or another. Developers are also required to both restore and maintain the mitigating wetlands. In states without enabling legislation for such banks, jurisdiction falls under the authority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE). Also see Wetland Banking, Wetland Clumping (Aggregation), and Wetland Mitigation.