Measuring Mitigation: A Review of the Science for Compensatory Mitigation Performance Standards

By Environmental Law Institute

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Attention to the federal compensatory mitigation
program has been growing over the years and
became heightened after the release of a National
Academy of Sciences 2001 report evaluating the success of compensatory mitigation to achieve no net loss of function of the nation’s wetland resources. The report concluded that “the goal of no net loss of wetlands is not being met for wetland functions by the mitigation program,
despite progress in the last 20 years,” and was
accompanied by findings and recommended measures to improve compensatory mitigation. One such measure recommended
that clearly specified performance standards
be adopted to enhance mitigation effectiveness.