FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

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FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

• Update on Wetland and Endangered Species
  Mitigation Banking
• Allen McReynolds
• Mitigation Strategies LLC
• P.O. Box 2862
• Longview, Texas 75606
• 903/753-2370
• www.mitigationstrategies.com
• Presented at
• 2005 Louisiana Board of Realtors
• Commercial Development Conference
• June 15, 2005
• Shreveport, Louisiana

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ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

• WETLAND COMPLIANCE
• Clean Water Act, Section 404
• State of Louisiana Environmental Protection
  statutes

• ENDANGERED SPECIES PRESERVATION
• Endangered Species Act, of 1973 as amended
• State of Louisiana Environmental Protection
  statutes

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Comparison of Clean Water Act, Section 404 and
Endangered Species Act, of 1973

• Clean Water Act
• Applicants must adhere to a strict mitigation
  sequencing process
• AVOID
• MINIMIZE
• COMPENSATE
• Wetland Mitigation Bank
• ILF
• Specific Project

• Endangered Species Act
• Provides conservation alternatives for the
  protection of Threatened and Endangered (TE)
  Plant and Animal Species covered under the Act
• AVOID
• MINIMIZE
• COMPENSATE

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Existing 404 Law Presumes

• For projects such as housing which are not water
  dependent, existing law presumes that there are
  practicable alternatives to impacting wetlands.
• Compensatory mitigation (creating or restoring
  wetlands) may only be used for unavoidable
  impacts.
• Agencies prefer on-site and in-kind mitigation.

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Benefits from Mitigation Banking

• Reduces temporal losses of wetland functions.
• Reduces uncertainty over whether the mitigation
  will be successful.
• Is more Ecologically advantageous (no postage
  stamp projects).
• Marshals financial resources and scientific
  expertise necessary for effective mitigation.
• Provides financial assurances for long-term
  monitoring and maintenance.
• Shifts liability for compliance of the mitigation
  site from the permittee to the bank sponsor.

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Endangered Species Act, of 1973 as amended

• Provides conservation alternatives for the
  protection of Threatened and Endangered (TE)
  Plant and Animal Species covered under the Act

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Historical Evolution of Conservation Banks

• Prior to late 1993, there were only a handful of
  attempts to create banks as alternatives to
  impacts to Endangered Species Habitat.
• However, the Savings and Loan crisis of the late
  80s and early 90s, and the Republican take
  over of the US House of Representatives in 1994,
  created an unprecedented opportunity fo the
  government to seek alternatives other than
  federal allocations to the US Fish and Wildlife
  Service to acquire ecologically-valuable lands
  for little-to-no-cost, through the creation of
  conservation banks.
• Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) properties
  were purchased with funding provided by public
  and private real estate developers wanting
  off-site mitigation for impacts to habitat.

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Creation of Conservation Bank System

• Working with field biologists, RTC properties
  were frozen under special provisions written
  into the disposition guidelines.
• Scrambling for developers, USFWS acquired over
  25,000 acres of land through the organized sale
  of credits.
• Through the purchase of RTC properties, USFWS
  developed the conservation bank model, using
  Wetland Mitigation Bank guidelines.

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Prominent Examples Created in 1994-98

• Rancho San Diego, San Diego CA (21
  federally-listed plants and animals)
• Etiwanda, San Bernardino County CA (12
  federally-listed plants and animals)
• Headwaters Forest, Eel River, Eureka CA (Coho
  Salmon, Spotted Owl, land stand of old growth
  redwoods in the world)
• Balcones Preserve, Travis County, Tx (7
  federally-listed plants and animals)
• Desert Tortoise Preserve, Clarke County, Nev and
  St. George, Utah (Desert Tortoise)

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Customers of Wetland and Mitigation Banks

• Real Estate Developers
• Public Utilities
• Schools, Libraries, Fire Departments
• Municipalities
• Highway and Transportation Organizations

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Creation of Credits

• Wetland Mitigation Bank Model
• Conservation Banks and Wetland Mitigation Banks
  are assigned credits by the Mitigation Bank
  Review Team (MBRT).
• The MBRT is comprised of reps from the Federal
  and State Regulatory agencies (US Fish and
  Wildlife Service, NMFS, ACOE, EPA, NRCS,
  Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality,
  and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
  Fisheries)
• Credits are based on rarity of habitat, amount
  of land restored, conserved, preserved or
  protected, and the overall behavior pattern of
  the plants and animals that use that habitat for
  survival.

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Endangered Species In LouisianaAnimals - 24

• Louisiana has 24 threatened and endangered animal
  species.
• T - (S/A) Alligator, American (Alligator
  mississippiensis)
• T - (S/A ) Bear, American black (County range of
  LA b.bear) (Ursus americanus)
• T - Bear, Louisiana black Ursus americanus
  luteolus)
• T - Eagle, bald (lower 48 States) (Haliaeetus
  leucocephalus)
• T - Heelsplitter, Alabama (Potamilus inflatus)
• E - Manatee, West Indian (Trichechus manatus)
• E - Mucket, pink (Lampsilis abrupta)
• T - Pearlshell, Louisiana (Margaritifera hembeli)
• E - Pelican, brown (except U.S. Atlantic coast,
  FL, AL) (Pelecanus occidentalis)
• T - Plover, piping (except Great Lakes watershed)
  (Charadrius melodus)
• T - Sea turtle, green (except where endangered)
  (Chelonia mydas)
• E - Sea turtle, hawksbill (Eretmochelys
  imbricata)
• E - Sea turtle, Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys
  kempii)
• E - Sea turtle, leatherback (Dermochelys
  coriacea)
• T - Sea turtle, loggerhead (Caretta caretta)
• T - Sturgeon, Gulf (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi)

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Louisiana Endangered Species Plants - 4

• Louisiana has 4 threatened and endangered plants.
• T- Earthfruit (Geocarpon minimum)
• E- Louisiana Quillwort (Isoetes louisianensis)
• E- Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia)
• E- American Chaffseed (Schwalbea americana)

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TABLE LAST UPDATED - 2004Louisiana Endangered
Species

• Plants American chaffseed (Schwalbea americana)
  E Earthfruit (Geocarpon minimum) T Louisiana
  quillwort (Isoetes louisianensis) E
• Invertebrates American burying beetle
  (Nicrophorus americanus) EE fat pocketbook
  (Potamilus capax) E inflated heelsplitter
  (Potamilus inflatus) TT Louisiana pearlshell
  (Margaritifera hembeli) TE pink mucket
  (Lampsilis abrupta) E
• Amphibians Mississippi gopher frog (Rana
  sevosa) E
• Fish   pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) EE
  Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhinchus desotoi) TT
  pearl darter (Percina aurora) C Alabama shad
  (Alosa alabamae) C
• Reptiles   green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
  T/ET hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys
  imbricata) EE Kemp's Ridley sea turtle
  (Lepidochelys kempii) EE leatherback sea turtle
  (Dermochelys coriacea) EE loggerhead sea turtle
  (Caretta caretta) TT gopher tortoise (Gopherus
  polyphemus) TT ringed map turtle (Graptemys
  oculifera) TT black pine snake (Pituophis
  melanoleucus lodingi) C Louisiana pine snake
  (Pituophis ruthveni) C
• Birds   brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
  EE bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) TE
  peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus ) T/E
  Attwater's greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus
  cupido attwateri) EE whooping crane (Grus
  americana) EE Eskimo curlew(Numenius borealis)
  EE piping plover (Charadrius melodus) T/ET/E
  interior least tern (Sterna antillarum
  athalassos) EE ivory-billed woodpecker(Campephi
  lus principalis) EE red-cockaded woodpecker
  (Picoides borealis) EE Bachman's
  warbler(Vermivora bachmanii) EE
• Mammals   manatee (Trichechus manatus) EE blue
  whale (Balaenoptera musculus) EE finback whale
  (Balaenoptera physalus) EE Sei whale
  (Balaenoptera borealis) EE sperm whale (Physeter
  macrocephalus ( P. catodon)) EE red
  wolf(Canis rufus) E Louisiana black bear
  (Ursus americanus luteolus) TT Florida
  panther(Felis concolor coryi) EE
• UnlistedExtinct or nearly extinct in
  Louisiana
• For more information contact the Louisiana
  Natural Heritage Program, Department of Wildlife
  and Fisheries, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA
  70808-9000.Phone [phone]glester_at_wlf.louisi
  ana.gov

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Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study

• Joint ACOE and LDNR coastal feasibility study.
• Encompasses 20,000 square miles from Texas to
  Mississippi.
• Estimates 342,000 acres will be lost between now
  and 2050.
• 70 of loss is attributable to humans effect on
  the environment, both direct and indirect.

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Purpose of Americas Wetlands Project

• Goal To establish highly productive,
  cost-effective, and long-term coastal restoration
  projects that are essential to saving Louisianas
  wetlands.
• Louisianas Coastal Wetlands
• Provide valuable habitat for fishing and
  recreation.
• Provide a vital stopover for migratory birds in
  route north to south.
• Produce 20 percent of the seafood in the United
  States.
• Home to 46 percent of the States population.

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New Procedures for Coastal Permits

• MOU between Louisiana Departments of Natural
  Resources (DNR) and Wildlife and Fisheries (DWF)
  for coordination of permits for impacts to
  Coastal Resources.
• Coastal Use Permitting (CUP) requirements are
  available from DNR Coastal Management Division,
  Rocky Hinds 225/342-7998.

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DNR State Statutes

• Advanced mitigation projects
• A project implemented to create, restore, protect
  and/or enhance wetlands for the purpose of
  producing ecological values, measured as average
  annual habitat units, cumulative habitat units
  (advanced mitigation credits.
• Such projects must be approved by the Secretary
  prior to implementation, and the advanced
  mitigation credits shall have limited utility for
  the purpose of compensating for the ecological
  value of resources lost due to a permitted
  action.

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Examples of Conservation Banks for Endangered
Species

• Washington Loop Preserve, Charlotte County,
  Florida
• Gulf Cove Conservation Bank, Sarasota County,
  Florida

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The Washington Loop Preserve

• The draft Recovery Plan for the Florida Scrub-Jay
  seeks to preserve all viable meta-populations
  throughout its entire range.
• The efforts of the US Fish and Wildlife Service
  and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
  Commission have prompted the need for the
  creation of a conservation bank to serve the
  meta-populations in Sarasota, DeSoto, Charlotte,
  and Lee Counties in Southwest Florida.

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Need for Conservation

• The need for preservation is defined primarily is
  defined primarily by human consumption of the
  Scrub-jays native habitat.
• Habitat Loss is due to
• Habitat Fragmentation
• Fire suppression
• Real estate development
• Disruption of Hydrology
• Canal building
• Irrigation for Citrus

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Multi-Species Bank Opportunities

• The Florida Scrub Habitat is the natural habitat
  of many federal and state-listed species.
• Wetland and Upland (dry land) tracts are
  typically within a parcel of land targeted for
  conservation, so both wetland and conservation
  bank credits are possible.

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Conservation Bank Restoration Requirements

• As with Wetland Banks, the lands must be restored
  prior to credit sales.
• Restoration requirements are similarly measured
  with success criteria.
• Florida Scrub Habitat is most easily restored by
  the removal of invasive plants/trees and by the
  use of prescribed fire.

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How Credits are Sold

• Although a few multi-species conservation banks
  have been established in California, the
  regulatory agencies on the MBRT have the right to
  assign credits only for one indicator
  species.
• Credit Sales are most often brokered by a private
  firm, like fee simple interests in real estate.
  In Florida, Mitigation Strategies retains the
  services of Mitigation Marketing LLC.
• As the Florida scrub-jay is the most endangered
  of the species covered in the Washington Loop
  Bank, credit sales will be for Scrub-jay
  compensation exclusively.

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Legislative Update

• Airport Bill
• U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal
  Highway Administration
• Wetland Banks
• Natural Habitat Conservation Banks
• Change Preference added regarding the use of
  mitigation banks.

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Mitigation Strategies LLC

• For more information regarding Wetland Mitigation
  Banks or Endangered Species Conservation Banks
• Contact Allen McReynolds
• Mitigation Strategies LLC, P.O. Box 2862,
  Longview, Texas 75606
• 903/753-2370
• www.mitigationstrategies.com