Michigan Administrative Code
Department - Environmental Quality
Water Resources Division
Wetland Mitigation Banking
Section R. 281.954 - Mitigation banks generally
Current through Vol. 24-04, March 15, 2024
Rule 4.
(1) A mitigation bank is a site where wetlands are restored, created, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved expressly for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation in advance of the unavoidable loss of wetlands authorized by the act. A mitigation bank shall be maintained in perpetuity.
(2) The objective of mitigation banking is to provide for the replacement of chemical, physical, and biological wetland functions that are lost as a result of authorized impacts. To the extent possible, the bank shall provide multiple functions. Single function, low-quality wetlands, such as wastewater ponds, will not qualify as mitigation sites. The wetlands in a mitigation bank are quantified as mitigation credits that are available for use by the bank sponsor or other persons to compensate for adverse impacts.
(3) The number of credits in a mitigation bank will normally be based on the acres of created and restored wetland in the bank after monitoring by the bank sponsor demonstrates that wetland functions have been established.
(4) In exceptional circumstances, the preservation of certain existing wetlands may also contribute to the number of mitigation credits. Not more than 15% of the total wetland acreage in any mitigation bank shall be for the preservation of existing wetlands.
Mitigation credit for preserved wetlands shall only be given if the department determines that all of the following provisions apply:
(5) A mitigation bank shall generally be planned and managed in a watershed or ecoregion context, or both and shall include restored, created, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved wetlands that will provide functions which meet the needs of the watershed or ecoregion, or both.
(6) Mitigation banks may be located on either public or private lands. However, a mitigation bank shall be established on public lands only if it furthers established management objectives that have been defined by the agency responsible for managing the public land, and with the approval of the agency responsible for management of that land.
(7) A wetland mitigation bank shall provide a minimum of 10 acres of new wetland. The new wetland may consist of multiple sites that are a minimum size of 1 acre each and shall be administered under a single banking agreement.