Specialist Firm Offers An Integrated Approach to Wetlands Mitigation

"Can’t we set aside (pipeline construction) project land for mitigation of our future impacts?"
"Just how many acres of wetland impact does our project have?"
"Where’s a mitigation bank nearby -- one that has credits available?"

"What process or workflow do we apply to determine our mitigation needs?"
"After working with our consulting engineering and environmental firms to use route changes and existing rights of way to avoid and minimize wetland impacts, what’s next?"
"How do we minimize the impact to our service schedule?"

These questions are from clients facing the challenge of mitigating potential environmental impacts in an era of growing volumes of regulation and increasingly aggressive project schedules. Pipeline companies, their owners, oil and gas operators and their supporting engineering and environmental consultants, regularly seek answers to these questions.

To appreciate the integrated approach to addressing these challenging questions, some background terminology is warranted. What is mitigation sequencing? Mitigation sequencing is a three-step process consistently mandated by regulatory agencies:
Step 1 – avoid impacts to regulated and/or other important resources;
Step 2 – minimize impacts to those resources that cannot be avoided; and,
Step 3 – mitigate impacts to those resources that cannot be further minimized.

Most intrastate and long-haul pipelines will likely have to document this process for regulatory agencies. Assuming that impacts will indeed occur, how does one best mitigate? A new solution has arisen from an integrated solution provider that serves the burgeoning, complex and often misunderstood marketplace for wetlands mitigation.

Final Rule

On June 9, 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made effective the Final Rule governing Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources (Federal Register pp. 19594-19705, 33 CPR Parts 325 and 332 and 40 CFR Part 230). It applies to activities authorized by permits issued by the Department of the Army under the Corps’ Clean Water Act (CWA) Regulatory Program. CWA permits of some sort are required for most pipeline projects in the U.S.

The Rule provides a foundation for addressing wetland impacts by pointing to mitigation banks as the preferred mitigation solution in any given watershed. The federal government is now further enabled to meet the longstanding goal of “no net loss” of wetland function while accommodating responsible construction and development that improves America’s infrastructure.

There is gap in supply of mitigation credits available today versus the current and future demand for credits. The process of developing mitigation banks is both complex and financially intense, thereby effectively limiting the number of successful players capable of timely credit delivery in this emerging market.

Integrated Solution