CONCORD, Mass. – The National Audubon Society – Connecticut Chapter of Southbury, Connecticut, is seeking to modify the Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee (ILF) Program Instrument with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District with the addition of seven individual projects.
The Connecticut ILF program is authorized by the New England District, Army Corps of Engineers. A copy of the signed ILF agreement titled “Final Instrument for the Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee Program Sponsored by National Audubon Society, Inc.,” dated Aug. 21, 2013, includes details about the ILF Program goals and objectives in general and can be found at the following link: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/regulatory/Mitigation/CTILFProgramInstrument.pdf.
Seven projects have been submitted as proposed additions to the ILF Instrument pursuant to 33 CFR 332, Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources (Federal Register: April 10, 2008, effective June 9, 2008). Pursuant to 33 CFR 332.8 (d), the District Engineer will provide public notice of the proposed addition of ILF program mitigation sites. As such, the Corps is issuing a public notice to solicit comments for the instrument modification due to the proposed addition of ILF mitigation sites.
The Connecticut ILF Program accrued funds from Corps of Engineers Department of the Army permitted impacts throughout the state of Connecticut. The funds were made available through a competitive grant process for the preservation, restoration and enhancement of wetland and watercourse resources and associated upland buffers in the state of Connecticut. The District Engineer has received seven proposed projects from various applicants who have applied for 2019 funding under the ILF Program.
These seven proposed projects would provide compensatory wetland and stream mitigation for permitted impacts to four Service Areas. An ILF program involves the restoration, establishment, re-establishment, enhancement, rehabilitation and/or preservation of aquatic resources through funds paid to a governmental or non-profit natural resources management entity to satisfy compensatory mitigation requirements for Department of the Army permits. Similar to a mitigation bank, an ILF program sells compensatory mitigation credits to permittees whose obligation to provide compensatory mitigation is then transferred to the ILF program sponsor.
The operation and use of an ILF program are governed by an ILF program instrument. A group of federal and state regulatory and resource agency representatives known as the Interagency Review Team (IRT) oversee the establishment and management of the program. The IRT is chaired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The primary role of the IRT is to facilitate the establishment of the ILF program through the development of an ILF Instrument. The IRT also reviews ILF mitigation proposals and provides comments to the Corps. The approval of the use of the ILF program for specific projects is the decision of the Corps pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and/or Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Corps provides no guarantee that any particular individual or general permit proposing to use the ILF program for compensation mitigation would be authorized.
The public notice, with more specifics on the proposed modifications to the instrument of the Audubon Connecticut In-lieu Fee Program, can be viewed on the Corps website at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/PublicNotices/.
Public comments on the proposal by the National Audubon Society – Connecticut Chapter to modify the Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument (file # NAE-2010-02215) should be forwarded no later than Nov. 14, 2019 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Taylor Bell), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Taylor Bell at 978-318-8952 or toll free 800-343-4789 or 800-362-4367 (if calling from within Massachusetts) or by email to: taylor.m.bell@usace.army.mil.