WA Dept. of Ecology (in coordination with EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) has been working on an update to the 2006 interagency wetland mitigation guidance and is asking for reviewers to provide feedback on an early draft. The document will go out for public comment in fall 2020. They especially invite tribal involvement in review of this draft.
From ECY: “We are requesting comments on this early draft be submitted by July 31, 2020. However we recognize that many tribes are experiencing furloughs as a result of the coronavirus and may have limited capacity to comment. Therefore we would like to offer that comments can be submitted up through the public comment period which is anticipated to close at the end of October. Reportedly, an advance draft will be available for tribal review soon, by email request to Dana.Mock@ecy.wa.gov. Comments should be directed to: Dana Mock at Dana.Mock@ecy.wa.gov or Patricia Johnson at Patricia.Johnson@ecy.wa.gov
Here’s some background on the mitigation guidance update:
Why update guidance?
Since 2006, there have been many changes in the world of wetland mitigation that aren’t reflected in the 2006 guidance:
- A federal mitigation rule was issued in 2008
- A wetland banking rule was adopted in 2009
- Ecology has new wetland tools for incorporating a watershed approach, and calculating mitigation gains and wetland losses
- Lessons learned from implementation, e.g., methods for implementing perimeter buffers on mitigation sites
- Many references and web links in the documents are no longer current
Will this guidance trigger CAO or SMP updates?
No, the guidance is being updated to clarify how to implement what is already in CAOs and SMPs. However, some of the tools in the document may stimulate some jurisdictions to streamline or clarify their existing regulatory language during their next scheduled update.”