Section 350.09. Construction inspection and monitoring requirements.

 

(1)   General. The compensation site plan approved by the department under s. NR 350.08 , shall include a construction inspection plan, a post-construction monitoring plan and a management plan for each compensation site.

(2)   Construction inspection.

(a) The applicant shall inform the department of the progress of construction and shall provide full access to the department for site inspections.

(am) The department shall conduct an inspection prior to the completion of construction to identify any problems and shall provide notice of the problems to the project proponent or bank sponsor within one month of the inspection.

(b) The applicant shall receive written approval from the department before implementing any substantial deviations from the approved compensation site plan.

(c) Within one month after the completion of construction, the project proponent or bank sponsor shall provide an as-built report to the department. This report shall summarize the construction activities including how problems noted in par. (am) have been addressed, note any changes to the construction plan that occurred, and provide as-built plan sheets of the site. The as-built report shall serve as the basis for the final construction inspection.

(d) A final construction inspection shall be conducted by the department within one month after receipt of the as-built report in par. (c) to determine whether the site was built in accordance with plans and specifications.

(e) After the final construction inspection, the department shall provide the applicant or bank sponsor a list of corrective actions and order completion by a specific date.

(f) The applicant or bank sponsor shall certify to the department evidence that all corrective actions identified under par. (e) have been addressed.

(g) The department shall issue a letter of compliance to the applicant or bank sponsor after the department determines that construction and all corrective actions are complete.

(h) After the department issues a letter of compliance, the department shall reevaluate the amount of required financial assurance.

(3)   Post construction monitoring.

(a) The purpose of post construction monitoring is to determine whether performance standards established for the site in the compensation site plan are being met, identify trends in wetland functions at the site and identify the need for corrective actions.

(b) Performance standards shall be established for each compensation site in the compensation site plan prepared by the project proponent or bank sponsor and approved by the department pursuant to s. NR 350.08 . These performance standards represent the minimum objectives that shall be met in order for a site to be deemed established by the department. At a minimum, the performance standards shall include all of the following:

1. The number of acres of land delineated in the final monitoring year that meet the wetland definition.

2. A description of an acceptable hydrologic regime.

3. The acceptable level of occurrence of invasive species.

(c) The monitoring plan shall take into consideration unique aspects of each site.

(d) The monitoring plan shall include a monitoring schedule of adequate frequency and duration to measure specific performance standards and to assure long-term success of the stated goals for the site.

(e) The monitoring plan shall be sufficient to assess trends in wetland function at the site and the degree to which the performance standards for the site are met.

(f) For all bank sites, a monitoring report shall be provided to the department annually for a period of at least 5 years after the date of the letter of compliance identified under sub. (2) (g) . The monitoring report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

1. A restatement of the compensation site plan goals, objectives and performance standards.

2. Identification of any structural failures or external disturbances on the site.

3. A description of management activities and corrective actions implemented on the site during the past year.

4. A summary of and full presentation of the data collected during the past year.

5. A site map showing the locations of data collection.

6. An assessment of the presence and level of occurrence of invasive species.

7. An assessment of the degree to which performance standards are being met.

8. Proposed corrective actions to improve attainment of performance standards.

9. A narrative summary of the results and conclusions of the monitoring.

(g) Based on review of the monitoring report, the department may require implementation of corrective actions listed under par. (f) 8. or other corrective actions identified by the department necessary to improve attainment of the site's performance standards.

(h) At the end of the monitoring period, the department shall issue a final letter of compliance to the project proponent or bank sponsor if the department determines that the site is successful and established.

(i) After the department issues a final letter of compliance, the department shall release the financial assurances under s. NR 350.10 .

(4)   Management plan.

(a) The purpose of the management plan is to lay out the specifics for how the site will be used, how the site will be maintained, who will be responsible for the work and the schedule for these activities.

(b) The project proponent or bank sponsor shall include short and long-term plans for management activities that may include prescribed burns, invasive species control, fencing, signage and water level manipulation.

(c) The management plan shall be clear as to what conditions will trigger needs for certain maintenance or management activities.

History: CR 00-164 : cr. Register January 2002 No. 553 , eff. 2-1-02.

Note

Based on the 2001 report on wetlands mitigation by a committee of the National Research Council, monitoring to determine compliance with performance standards, and management to ensure this compliance, is likely to take more time than the 5-year minimum specified. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1