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, 2014 through June 30, 2015.
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.
This program was approved by the New England
District, Corps of Engineers and Audubon-CT on Aug. 21, 2013. The program
provides an alternative to Corps permittees who are required to compensate for
their impacts to wetlands and waters of the U.S. in the state of Connecticut.
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 is for use in association with
the Corps’ Regulatory Program. Its 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
applicants who agree to use the program for mitigation of impacts resulting
from the Corps’ Regulatory process. After the 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-2010-2215) contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District,
Regulatory Division (ATTN: Barbara Newman), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA
01742-2751 or email barbara.h.newman@usace.army.mil.