Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act (Redux):Evaluating the Federal Compensatory Mitigation Regulation

摘要

The new regulation represents significant progress, but much depends on implementation in the field and the degree to which the regulatory provisions are viewed by the Corps as discretionary or obligatory. Will Corps headquarters revise the SOP to demand more attention to the watershed approach and compensatory mitigation? How will individual Corps regulators exercise their discretion? Will greater avoidance be required? Will long-term financing be required on a regular basis? How will mitigation providers and permittees respond? To raise these questions or to express doubt should not necessarily be seen as criticism of the regulation itself. Rather, the questions recognize that the codification of rules and principles is but one step toward the goal of no net loss.