CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District has recently made available for review the “Ducks Unlimited – Vermont In-Lieu Fee Program 2015 Annual Report,” dated March 30, 2016.

The program, which is an In-Lieu Fee (ILF) program, serves as an alternative form of compensation for impacts to aquatic resources authorized by the Corps of Engineers and/or the state of Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. The report outlines program activities from Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2015.

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 permit authorization after all efforts are made to avoid and minimize aquatic resources impacts. In-Lieu Fee is an option available to the permit applicant instead of completing permittee-responsible mitigation. Use of the In-Lieu Fee program is contingent upon Corps of Engineers and/or state of Vermont approval. 

The Ducks Unlimited Vermont In-Lieu Fee program was established as a result of the January 2011 signing by Ducks Unlimited and the Corps of Engineers of an In-Lieu Fee instrument. All In-Lieu Fee agreements in New England are available for review on the Corps’ website at

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

The objectives of this In-Lieu Fee program are to provide an alternative to permittee-responsible compensatory mitigation that will effectively replace functions and services lost through permitted impacts; provide a compensatory mitigation option for Corps Civil Works projects; function as an option for resolution of enforcement cases; minimize the temporal loss of wetland functions and services by gaining approval of mitigation sites in advance of mitigation needs as funds allow; create a program that has a level of accountability commensurate with mitigation banks as specified in 33 CFR Part 332; provide projects to meet current and expected demand for credits; and achieve ecological success on a watershed basis by providing wetland types and functions that are appropriate to the service area and by integrating ILF Program projects with other conservation goals and objectives, whenever possible.

The public notice with the 2015 annual report can be viewed on the Corps of Engineers website at

www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx. For additional information on this program (File # NAE-2009-1349) contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Michael Adams), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751 or by email to: michael.s.adams@usace.army.mil.