Section 350.13. Mitigation banking.

 

(1)  The department shall maintain a registry of all mitigation banks in the state that have been approved by the department as eligible to sell credits. This registry shall include information on the bank sponsors, the location of bank sites and the number of available credits determined under sub. (5) . The department shall provide a copy of the registry to anyone who requests it.

(2)  The bank document is the record of department and MBRT concurrence on the objectives and administration of a mitigation bank. The secretary or designee shall sign for the department and this signature on the bank document constitutes department approval of the bank. The terms and conditions of the bank document may be amended, subject to notification and approval of the department and the MBRT. Failure to comply with the terms of the bank document may result in removal from the state registry under sub. (1) .

(3)  The bank sponsor is responsible for establishing a mitigation bank site in accordance with an approved compensation site plan, administration of the accounting of debits and credits, conducting required corrective actions, providing required monitoring and status reports to the department and the MBRT, and assuring long term maintenance and protection of the site. Bank sponsors may request that more than one compensation site be included in a bank.

(4)  Participation in the establishment of a mitigation bank does not constitute ultimate authorization for specific activities, as excepting the activities from any applicable requirements, or as pre-authorizing the use of credits from that bank for any particular activity.

(5)  The total potentially available credits at a bank shall be determined by the department and the MBRT pursuant to s. NR 350.07 . The total available credits shall be stated in the bank document and reflected on the registry. The total credits derived from wetland creation or restoration of adjacent uplands shall be limited that:

(a) No more than 25% of the final total credits can be the result of wetland creation; and

(b) No more than 15% of the final total credits can be the result of restoration of adjacent uplands.

(6)  Site conditions and performance will determine the timeline for actual release of bank credits. Credits will be released as performance standards, established in the monitoring plan under s. NR 350.09 , are met.

(7)  The bank sponsor may sell or use a portion of the total potentially available credits before the mitigation bank site is deemed established by the department and MBRT. The actual schedule for release of credits shall be set forth in the bank document. In that schedule, the department may allow:

(a) Release of up to 10% of total estimated credits when the bank document is signed by all parties.

(b) Release of up to 20% of total estimated credits when the department issues the letter of compliance specified in s. NR 350.09 (2) (g) .

(c) Release of up to 30% of total estimated credits upon receipt by the department of the monitoring report for year 2 after construction.

(d) Release of 100% of credits after the department receives the final year monitoring report and determines that the site has satisfactorily met all performance standards established in the compensation site plan.

(8)  By January 30 of each year that a bank is in operation, the bank sponsor shall provide a report to the department that provides an accounting of bank credits and debits using the format established in the bank document. The department shall provide a letter of concurrence to the bank sponsor within 30 days of receipt of this report and shall reflect the appropriate information on the bank registry.

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