CWD Wetland Mitigation & Banking Flashcards

What document formally establishes the terms and conditions of a mitigation bank?

Answer: Banking Instrument

A banking instrument is the legal agreement between the Corps of Engineers and the bank sponsor that establishes a mitigation bank's terms and conditions.

What is a 'service area' in the context of a mitigation bank?

Answer: The geographic region within which a bank's credits may be used to offset permitted impacts

A service area defines the geographic boundary within which a mitigation bank's credits can be used to compensate for permitted wetland impacts.

Which term describes the functional uplift achieved by a mitigation bank expressed as units available for sale?

Answer: Mitigation credits

Mitigation credits represent the functional uplift achieved at a bank site and are the units sold to permittees needing to compensate for wetland impacts.

Under the 2008 Compensatory Mitigation Rule, which type of mitigation is generally preferred over permittee-responsible mitigation?

Answer: Third-party mitigation through mitigation banking

The 2008 rule generally prefers mitigation banking because banks provide greater ecological certainty through advance establishment and demonstrated success.

What must a mitigation bank achieve before final credits are released to the sponsor?

Answer: Successful achievement of ecological performance standards over a monitoring period

Credits are released incrementally as the bank achieves ecological performance standards, with final release requiring sustained success over the monitoring period.

Which assessment method is commonly used to quantify wetland functions for mitigation credit determination?

Answer: Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Approach

The Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Approach quantifies wetland functions by comparing a site to reference wetlands and is widely used for mitigation credit determination.