CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District recently was provided the annual report of the Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee program titled “Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee Program/Program Account Annual Report” for July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. The report was submitted by the sponsor, Audubon Connecticut, to the Corps of Engineers on June 2, 2017.

The National Audubon Society, Inc., through its Connecticut program (Audubon-CT), is the sponsor of an In- Lieu Fee Program for aquatic resource compensatory mitigation required by Department of the Army authorizations.

The In-Lieu Fee Program serves as an alternative form of compensation for impacts to aquatic resources resulting from work authorized by the Corps of Engineers in New England. Compensatory mitigation occurs in circumstances where a permittee is required to compensate for the functions and values of aquatic resources lost as a result of the authorization after all efforts are made to avoid and minimize impacts. ILF is an option available to the applicant instead of completing permittee-responsible mitigation. Use of the ILF program is contingent upon Corps and/or state of Connecticut approval.

This ILF program agreement was approved by the New England District, Corps of Engineers and Audubon-CT on Aug. 21, 2013. The public notice with the annual report can be reviewed on the Corps website at: www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx.

The ILF program purpose and goals are to: provide an alternative to permittee-responsible compensatory mitigation that will effectively replace functions and values of aquatic resources lost through permitted impacts; substantially increase the extent and quality of restoration, enhancement, creation and preservation of natural resources over that which is typically achieved by permittee-responsible mitigation for activities that impact on wetlands, significant wildlife habitats and other waters within Connecticut; reduce the extent of cumulative adverse impacts to aquatic resources that are regulated by the Corps permit program; provide applicants for permits from the Corps greater flexibility in compensating for adverse impacts to protected natural resources; and achieve ecological success on a watershed basis by directing Audubon-CT ILF funds to natural resource types and functions that are appropriate to the geographic service area, and by integrating Audubon-CT ILF projects with other conservation activities whenever possible.

As sponsor, Audubon-CT administers a competitive grant funding program, soliciting proposals for wetland and waters restoration, enhancement, creation and/or preservation. These proposals are then given to an advisory committee to be ranked using a scoring methodology presented in the instrument. Ultimately, the proposals are presented with their funding requests to an Interagency Review Team, which recommends the finalists to the Corps for selection. Once the projects are chosen, Audubon-CT is responsible for funding, execution and long-term stewardship.

Audubon-CT ILF receives its funds from permit applicants who agree to use the program for mitigation of impacts resulting from the Corps’ Regulatory process. After the permit applicant avoids and minimizes the impacts to the extent possible, the Corps may approve the use of the ILF by the applicant. The Corps then determines the number of credits the applicant will need to purchase. The fees for the ILF credits are paid by the permittee to the sponsor and tracked by service area.

All ILF agreements in New England are available for review and download on the Corps website at:

www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Mitigation/InLieuFeePrograms.aspx.

For more information on the Audubon-CT In-Lieu Fee Agreement (File # NAE-2010-02215) contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Ruth Ladd), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751 or by email to ruth.m.ladd@usace.army.mil.