Conservation and Mitigation Banking

Policies

Conservation/mitigation banks provide for the conservation of important habitats and/or habitat linkages. They are a viable alternate to the current practice of requiring piecemeal mitigation for individual project impacts, and they provide incentives to private landowners to practice conservation. Additionally, they take advantage of economies of scale otherwise unavailable to individual mitigation projects. Conservation/mitigation banks can play an important role within a regional conservation plan, and they simplify regulatory compliance.

In 1995, the Resources Agency of California published the State's Official Policy on Conservation Banks. It provides formal policy guidance on the appropriate location, mechanisms for permanent protection of the habitat, and the basic elements necessary for the Department of Fish and Game to approve a conservation bank.

In 1996, the Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a joint policy memorandum as a supplemental policy (PDF) regarding conservation banks within the Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) area of southern California. This supplemental policy guides the creation of conservation banks in a manner consistent with the goals and requirements of NCCP planning in Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

During the initial scoping for the suitability of an area as a conservation or mitigation bank, the Department considers a variety of issues. Department guidance is provided on lands not appropriate for banking.

The California Fish and Game Code contains a few additional references for conservation and mitigation banking.

• Chapter 7.8. Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Wetlands Mitigation Bank Act of 1993.
  • Article 1. General Provisions, Sections 1775-1779.5
  • Article 2. Legislative Goals, Sections1780-1781
  • Article 3. Wetlands Mitigation Banks, Sections 1784-1787
  • Article 4. Wetlands, Sections 1790-1792.5
  • Article 5. Discharge into Wetlands, Sections 1793-1796
• Chapter 9. Wetlands Mitigation Banking
  • Article 1. General Provisions, Sections 1850-1852

Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation and Conservation Banks

In addition to the State policies and guidance listed above, the federal government has published federal guidance about both mitigation and conservation (PDF) banks. These documents serves as final policy guidance regarding the establishment, use and operation of mitigation and conservation banks. The documents provide separate guidance to address the different purposes of providing compensation for adverse impacts to either wetlands and other aquatic resources at mitigation banks, or threatened and endangered species at conservation banks.

The Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Service office maintains a web site with information on conservation banking in central California.