33.1-223.2:1 - Wetlands mitigation banking
§ 33.1-223.2:1. Wetlands mitigation banking.
When authorization is required by federal or state law for any projectaffecting wetlands and such authorization is conditioned upon compensatorymitigation for adverse impacts to wetlands, the Commonwealth TransportationCommissioner is authorized to expend funds for the purchase of, or isauthorized to use, credits from any wetlands mitigation bank, including anyowned by the Department, that has been approved and is operating inaccordance with applicable federal and state guidance, laws or regulationsfor the establishment, use and operation of mitigation banks as long as: (1)the bank is in the same U.S.G.S. cataloging unit, as defined by theHydrologic Unit Map of the United States (U.S.G.S. 1980), or an adjacentcataloging unit within the same river watershed, as the impacted site, or itmeets all the conditions found in clauses (i) through (iv) and either clause(v) or (vi) of this subsection; (2) the bank is ecologically preferable topracticable on-site and off-site individual mitigation options, as defined byfederal wetland regulations; and (3) the banking instrument, if approvedafter July 1, 1996, has been approved by a process that included publicreview and comment. When the bank is not located in the same cataloging unitor adjacent cataloging unit within the same river watershed as the impactedsite, the purchase or use of credits shall not be allowed unless theCommissioner demonstrates to the satisfaction of the agency requiringcompensatory mitigation that (i) the impacts will occur as a result of aVirginia Department of Transportation linear project; (ii) there is nopractical same river watershed mitigation alternative; (iii) the impacts areless than one acre in a single and complete project within a cataloging unit;(iv) there is no significant harm to water quality or fish and wildliferesources within the river watershed of the impacted site; and either (v)impacts within the Chesapeake Bay watershed are mitigated within theChesapeake Bay watershed as close as possible to the impacted site or (vi)impacts within U.S.G.S. cataloging units 02080108, 02080208, and 03010205, asdefined by the Hydrologic Unit Map of the United States (U.S.G.S. 1980), aremitigated in-kind within those hydrologic cataloging units, as close aspossible to the impacted site. After July 1, 2002, the provisions of clause(vi) shall apply only to impacts within subdivisions of the listed catalogingunits where overlapping watersheds exist, as determined by the Department ofEnvironmental Quality, provided the Department has made such a determinationby that date.
(1996, c. 736; 1999, c. 8.)