The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, (Corps) in coordination with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), Water Quality Division, is evaluating a proposal for a proposed In-Lieu Fee Compensatory Mitigation Program (ILF) referred to as “Ducks Unlimited Wyoming Aquatic Resource In-Lieu Fee Program (DU-WY-ILF)”. The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments and recommendations from the public, federal, state, and local agencies and officials, Indian tribes, and other interested parties concerning the work as described below. This notice may also be viewed at the Corps web site at: https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory-Program/Wyoming/Public-Notices/.
Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), applicants applying for the Department of the Army (DA) permits to discharge dredge or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands, are often required to provide compensatory mitigation for permitted unavoidable aquatic resource losses by creating, restoring, enhancing, and preserving wetlands or streams. Authorized ILF Programs provide the Corps and the regulated public with additional options for compensatory mitigation of aquatic resource losses and ease the regulatory burden associated with permitted impacts. As per the Mitigation Rule, there are three mechanisms for providing compensatory mitigation (listed in order of preference as established by the regulations): mitigation banks, in-lieu fee programs, and permittee-responsible mitigation. An in-lieu fee program allows a permit holder to pay a fee to a government agency or nonprofit organization (sponsor) instead (in-lieu) of directly mitigating environmental impacts on their property. The mitigation responsibility is transferred to the sponsor where the collected
funds are used to restore and preserve aquatic areas elsewhere, effectively compensating for the environmental damage caused by the permitted project. Implicit to the Program is a watershed-scale approach considering landscape-level opportunities funded by the sale of mitigation credits. This will allow impacted watershed functions and services to be offset through ecologically significant projects.