New Corps/EPA wetland mitigation regulations

242 pages of fun wetland mitigation regulations. Prior to the "Final Rule", there were no official regulations, just guidance doc's. Emphasizes landscape-scale wetland mitigation in the watershed context. Specifically gives the following order of preference for mitigation type: mitigation banks, in-lieu fee programs, and then on-site mitigation. All types of mitigation have equivalent standards now - including planning requirements, financial assurances, monitoring, and ecologically-based performance standards. Future in-lieu fee programs will have to step up, but all current in-lieu fee programs will be grandfathered to previous guidance.

In the past, 60% of wetland mitigation had been done onsite. That won't be the case in the future. There is also quick mention that wetland mitigation that's done using federal $s (WRP, CREP, etc) cannot be sold --no double-dipping. BUT these federally-funded wetlands *could* double-dip and sell endangered species credits, where applicable.
Regulations
Analysis of regs
EcosystemMarketplace news story, CNN news story