New "in lieu" fee for mitigation of wetlands

[Woody Williams]

The State of Indiana is developing a new “in lieu fee” program for mitigation of wetlands and streams. Please plan to attend one of the informational sessions outlined in the DNR announcement included below.

— Aug. 5 at Spring Mill State Park Inn, 3333 State Road 60 E., Mitchell.
— Aug. 6 at Fort Harrison State Park Inn, 5830 N. Post Road, Indianapolis.
— Aug. 7, Potato Creek State Park, 25601 State Road 4, North Liberty.

A presentation will be given at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at each location. Representatives of the DNR and INRF will be on hand to answer questions.

The full prospectus of the program may be found here:

www.lrl.usace.army.mil/Portals/64/docs/regulatory/LRL-2014-100%20Prospectus.pdf

Comment period closes August 16th.

If the destruction of wetlands or streams has been approved by the State of Indiana and the Corp of Engineers, an “in lieu fee” program has the potential to be a good alternative mitigation tool. The key is to make sure the fees are high enough, the mitigation project can be redone when it fails the first time, and the fully loaded costs of the programs including IDNR staffing to manage them, are included in the fees charged. The in lieu fee option should be the last choice, not the first one.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to discuss this issue more.

Regards,

Barbara Simpson

Executive Director

Indiana Wildlife Federation

708 East Michigan Street

Indianapolis, IN 46202



.......DNR Announcement details below.......

Public information sessions for stream, wetland mitigation program proposal are Aug. 5-7

At three information sessions in August, the public can learn about a proposed program to allow an applicant for permits to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for unavoidable impacts to Indiana’s streams and wetlands to pay a fee to offset these impacts.

Currently, permits submitted to the USACE and IDEM for impacts to Indiana’s aquatic resources require the applicant to mitigate the impacts by either (1) restoring habitat at or near the project site, or (2) using an approved mitigation bank.

Called an “in-lieu fee,” this additional mitigation option will allow an applicant to make a payment to the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation (INRF), which will oversee the accumulated funds. The DNR will then be required to establish or restore aquatic resources within designated areas of the state.

The DNR has developed a document called a “prospectus” for the program and is working with the USACE and IDEM to develop procedures for this in-lieu program.

The information sessions are:

— Aug. 5 at Spring Mill State Park Inn, 3333 State Road 60 E., Mitchell.
— Aug. 6 at Fort Harrison State Park Inn, 5830 N. Post Road, Indianapolis.
— Aug. 7, Potato Creek State Park, 25601 State Road 4, North Liberty.

A presentation will be given at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at each location. Representatives of the DNR and INRF will be on hand to answer questions.

Additionally, the Natural Resources Commission recently approved new rules to allow for an in-lieu fee for mitigation required for construction in a floodway, public freshwater lake or navigable waterway issued by the DNR Division of Water. This new rule is not yet in effect and must still be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office and Governor’s Office.

Media contact: Carl Wodrich, Director of Ecological Services, DNR Division of Land Acquisition, [phone], [e-mail].

[chubwub]

If it leads to the creation of more areas like Goose Pond, I am all for it.

[greyhair]

I will reserve judgment for now - as it is,replacement projects are built in the vicinity of the destruction. Pooling the money could lead to way less of this with funds instead being bankrolled to pay for hand-picked mega- projects in certain favored areas. Not that I don't trust the government or anything.

I will wait and see. Sounds like a good idea if it is run fairly. Remember this is not new money - it just lets you pay cash into a pool instead of paying to build a replacement directly.

I agree with Goose Pond- I go down several times a year. Have not canoed there yet - they say you can on parts, and fish too.

I live near the new Wabashiki area but have not had time to get in there yet.

It is an amazing wetland area that was right under our noses for generations. Virtually no one went in "the river bottoms" except for meth-makers and a few 4-wheelers. Local civic groups have been cleaning it up. I think they found every tire made since 1953. A lot of donated and volunteer labor went in -the local dumpster provider jumped in etc. - I like to see this kind of community effort. You can hunt and fish, and have the best birding this side of Goose Pond. Now there are plans for a pedestrian bridge over the Wabash River that will connect the area to the big City park on the other side. So you could go down to the park, tailgate, watch the concerts in the outdoor amphitheatre, and walk or bike over the bridge and do some trails.

A bright spot in the middle of all the bad news eh?

[ms660]

It is crazy what the core requires coal mines do in regards to wet lands and streams. The mines spends millions building streams to the cores specs. There's no such thing as a straight ditch these days. Everything is crooked. I have witness many times where mines make these ditches and when the mine sells the land the first thing the farmer or whoever buys the land does is straighten the ditches back out, or bush hog planted trees in areas that were reclaimed as forestland only to be turned into a corn field. There were several acres up around Linton that Peabody owned that was public ground for a long time that was lost to the wet lands program.

[featherduster]

When it comes to the discussion of mitigating wetlands I get very upset with the outcome of these sites because there is usually nothing in place or anyone to protect the restored property.
Paying money to a pool that can over time add up be used to buy a better piece of land that will then be under the control of the DNR sounds like a great idea as long as that area is in or near the water shed that the mitigated site was in.

[36fan]

Jul 28, 2014 21:46:04 GMT -5 ms660 said:

It is crazy what the core requires coal mines do in regards to wet lands and streams. The mines spends millions building streams to the cores specs. There's no such thing as a straight ditch these days. Everything is crooked. I have witness many times where mines make these ditches and when the mine sells the land the first thing the farmer or whoever buys the land does is straighten the ditches back out, or bush hog planted trees in areas that were reclaimed as forestland only to be turned into a corn field. There were several acres up around Linton that Peabody owned that was public ground for a long time that was lost to the wet lands program.

Shortsightedness on the farmers part. The streams will begin to meander again as soon as it is straightened. Simple stream dynamics.

"The path of least resistance is what make rivers and men go astray"

[throbak]

The streams will begin to meander again as soon as it is straightened. FYI That,s Called a Fluvial Plain where the stream moves within that plain is fluvial erosion . I have been to a workshop on this,. Utilities are really starting to look at this If The IWF is behind this that's all the convincing I need

[ms660]

Jul 29, 2014 11:51:15 GMT -5 36fan said:

Jul 28, 2014 21:46:04 GMT -5 ms660 said:

It is crazy what the core requires coal mines do in regards to wet lands and streams. The mines spends millions building streams to the cores specs. There's no such thing as a straight ditch these days. Everything is crooked. I have witness many times where mines make these ditches and when the mine sells the land the first thing the farmer or whoever buys the land does is straighten the ditches back out, or bush hog planted trees in areas that were reclaimed as forestland only to be turned into a corn field. There were several acres up around Linton that Peabody owned that was public ground for a long time that was lost to the wet lands program.

Shortsightedness on the farmers part. The streams will begin to meander again as soon as it is straightened. Simple stream dynamics.

"The path of least resistance is what make rivers and men go astray"

Tell that to the Army Core of Engineers. I have seen Peabody to be forced to take out straight ditches that been there for 100 years and are made to put back meandering with man made structures. I was the one on the excavator doing it.
Now days pretty well every farmer has an excavator. Most keep them pretty straight and fence rows are almost extinct now days.

[ms660]

Jul 29, 2014 13:42:26 GMT -5 throbak said:

The streams will begin to meander again as soon as it is straightened. FYI That,s Called a Fluvial Plain where the stream moves within that plain is fluvial erosion . I have been to a workshop on this,. Utilities are really starting to look at this If The IWF is behind this that's all the convincing I need

I agree with you that a natural ditch that is left unmolested by man will meander,,,,,,,, but in this day and age it doesn't happen very often unless restrictions are put in place and enforced.
Google Earth will show this clearly. The South fork of the Patoka river which is a small river near me. 100 plus years ago it was a meandering river with several oxbows. Today with the help of man it is pretty straight and where it does change direction it is a gradual change.

[36fan]

Regarding stream meandering and the Corp of Engineers, the Mississippi River would no longer discharge into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans if it weren't for the intervention of the Corp of Engineers. The Mississippi was about to shift and pirate the Atchafalaya River channel until the Corp got involved and built a series of spillways and flood control methods with the use of concrete ... lots and lots of concrete.