R 281.951 Mitigation banking definitions.

Rule 1. As used in the wetland mitigation banking rules: (a) "Act" means Act No. 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, as amended, being §324.101 et seq. of the Michigan Compiled Laws. (b) "Bank sponsor" means a person who independently or in cooperation with another person is responsible for the establishment, operation, and long-term management of a wetland mitigation bank. (c) "Ecoregion" means a geographic region of relatively homogenous ecological systems. For the purposes of the wetland mitigation banking rules, the mapped sub-subsections found in the publication entitled "Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin," Dennis A. Albert, 1994, north central forest experiment station, United States department of agriculture, shall be used to identify ecoregion boundaries. (d) "Department" means the department of environmental quality. (e) "In-kind mitigation" means replacement of unavoidably lost wetland resources with created, restored, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved wetlands of a similar physical/biological type, with the goal of replacing as fully as possible the functions of the lost wetland. (f) "Mitigation bank" means a site where wetlands are restored, created, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved expressly for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation in accordance with the provisions of the act in advance of authorized, unavoidable impacts to wetlands. (g) "Mitigation banking" means the process of restoring or creating self-sustaining functioning wetlands, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserving high-quality and threatened wetlands, as prior replacement for wetlands that are expected to be unavoidably impacted by development within a watershed or ecoregion. (h) "Mitigation banking agreement" means a formal written agreement between the bank sponsor and the department of environmental quality that identifies all relevant establishment, operation, and management considerations of a wetland mitigation bank. (i) "Mitigation credit" means a unit of value generally equivalent to 1 acre of created or restored functioning wetland that may be bought and sold on the open market. (j) "Out-of-kind mitigation" means the replacement of unavoidably lost wetland resources with created, restored, or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved wetlands that are physically or biologically different than the wetlands that were lost. Out-of-kind mitigation may result in the replacement of different wetland functions than the functions that were lost. (k) "Service area" means an area in which a bank can reasonably be expected to provide appropriate compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands. The service area will be defined on a watershed or ecoregion basis. (l) "Unavoidably lost" means a wetland impact which has been approved by the department in accordance with permit review criteria specified by the act. (m) "Watershed" means a drainage area within which the replacement of certain wetland functions, including hydrologic, water quality, and aquatic habitat functions, may be authorized by the use of a mitigation bank. Mitigation bank watersheds are illustrated in figure 1 in R 281.961. (n) "Wetland creation" means the physical and biological establishment of a wetland where a wetland did not formerly exist. (o) "Wetland function" means the physical, chemical, or biological processes which provide benefits to the public and which are recognized by the Michigan legislature in section 30302(1)(b) of the act. (p) "Wetland preservation" means the protection of an ecologically critical wetland in perpetuity through the implementation of appropriate legal and physical mechanisms. (q) "Wetland restoration" means the reestablishment of wetland characteristics and functions at a site where they have ceased to exist through the replacement of wetland hydrology, vegetation, or soils.