AUTHORIZATION FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PARTICIPATION IN WETLAND MITIGATION BANKS.

SEC. 314. AUTHORIZATION FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PARTICIPATION IN WETLAND MITIGATION BANKS.(a) DOD Participation.—(1) Chapter 159 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2694a the following new section:“§ 2694b. Participation in wetland mitigation banks“(a) Authority to Participate.—The Secretary of a military department, and the Secretary of Defense with respect to matters 117 STAT. 1431 concerning a Defense Agency, when engaged in an authorized activity that may or will result in the destruction of, or an adverse impact to, a wetland, may make payments to a wetland mitigation banking program or ‘in-lieu-fee’ mitigation sponsor approved in accordance with the Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation Banks (60 Fed. Reg. 58605; November 28, 1995) or the Federal Guidance on the Use of In-Lieu-Fee Arrangements for Compensatory Mitigation Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (65 Fed. Reg. 66913; November 7, 2000), or any successor administrative guidance or regulation.“(b) Alternative to Creation of Wetland.—Participation in a wetland mitigation banking program or consolidated user site under subsection (a) shall be in lieu of mitigating wetland impacts through the creation of a wetland on Federal property.“(c) Treatment of Payments.—Payments made under subsection (a) to a wetland mitigation banking program or consolidated user site may be treated as eligible project costs for military construction.” .(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2694a the following new item: “2694b. Participation in wetland mitigation banks.”. (b) Mitigation and Mitigation Banking Regulations.—(1) To ensure opportunities for Federal agency participation in mitigation banking, the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall issue regulations establishing performance standards and criteria for the use, consistent with section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344), of on-site, off-site, and in-lieu fee mitigation and mitigation banking as compensation for lost wetlands functions in permits issued by the Secretary of the Army under such section. To the maximum extent practicable, the regulatory standards and criteria shall maximize available credits and opportunities for mitigation, provide flexibility for regional variations in wetland conditions, functions and values, and apply equivalent standards and criteria to each type of compensatory mitigation.(2) Final regulations shall be issued not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.