AB190,1,6 1An Act to renumber and amend 281.36 (3r) (a) 1.; to amend 281.36 (3r) (am);
2and to create 281.36 (1) (ae), 281.36 (1) (ag), 281.36 (1) (be), 281.36 (3r) (a) 1.
3b., c. and d., 281.36 (3t) (g) and 281.36 (3w) of the statutes; relating to: wetland
4mitigation banks, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures,
5providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, and requiring the
6exercise of rule-making authority.

This bill makes changes to requirements for wetland mitigation banks.

Under current law, the Department of Natural Resources must issue wetland
general permits for discharges of dredged or fill material into certain wetlands and
may require a person to apply for and obtain a wetland individual permit if DNR
determines that conditions specific to the site require additional restrictions on the
discharge in order to provide reasonable assurance that no significant adverse
impacts to wetland functional values will occur. Under current law, before DNR may
issue a wetland individual permit, it must require the restoration, enhancement,
creation, or preservation of other wetlands to compensate for adverse impacts to a
wetland resulting from the discharge, also known as mitigation.

Under current law, there are three methods by which wetland mitigation may
be accomplished: 1) purchasing credits from a mitigation bank located in this state;
2) participating in the in lieu fee subprogram; or 3) completing mitigation within the

same watershed or within one-half mile of the site of the discharge. A mitigation
bank is a system of accounting for wetland loss and compensation in which sites
where wetlands are restored, enhanced, created, or preserved generate credits that
may be applied or purchased in order to compensate for adverse impacts to other
wetlands. Under current law, DNR must approve the establishment of a mitigation
bank.

This bill changes the first method of wetland mitigation by limiting credit
purchases to only a mitigation bank located in the same compensation search area
as the wetland impacted by the discharge, if available. Under the bill, a
compensation search area is an area that includes the geographic management unit
of a wetland impacted by a discharge, the county of the impacted wetland, and the
area within a 20-mile radius from the impacted wetland. Under the bill, a
geographic management unit is one of the 22 statewide management units
established by DNR based on the major river basins of the state. If no available
mitigation bank is located in the same compensation search area as the wetland
impacted by the discharge, the bill allows credit purchases to be made from a
mitigation bank located within 50 miles of the wetland impacted by the discharge.
If no available mitigation bank is located within 50 miles of the impacted wetland,
the bill allows credit purchases to be made from a mitigation bank in the same basin
as the wetland impacted by the discharge, meaning the Lake Michigan Basin, the
Lake Superior Basin, or the Mississippi River Basin. If no available mitigation bank
is located in the same basin as the wetland impacted by the discharge, the bill allows
credit purchases to be made from a mitigation bank anywhere in the state.

This bill requires DNR to establish by rule financial assurance requirements
for the construction of mitigation projects by mitigation banks. The bill also
establishes the means by which a mitigation bank that has not yet completed
construction of a mitigation project and has not been approved by DNR (developing
mitigation bank) may sell the credits that the mitigation bank estimates it will have
once the mitigation project is complete. Under the bill, a developing mitigation bank
may sell these credits if it is in compliance with DNR's financial assurance
requirements and if it follows a specific schedule for release of the credits that is
established in the bill.