Washington State Department of Ecology

Wetland Banking Update

Click for map of
banking sites
Updated 8/27/07

(To view previously posted Wetland Banking Updates, click here.)

Joint Public Notice: Proposal for a Wetland Mitigation Bank in King County

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the City of Redmond are considering a proposal from Habitat Banc NW, LLC to construct and operate the Lake Washington-Sammamish Watershed Mitigation Bank. The Joint Public Notice was posted March 31, 2008 and will expire on April 30, 2008.

Habitat Banc NW, LLC is the applicant for the bank located in King County, Washington. The proposal currently involves approximately 117 acres within the city of Redmond. The Corps, EPA and Ecology are soliciting comments from interested parties in order to identify project aspects that need to be addressed during the bank review process. If you would like to download this Public Notice and associated prospectus, go to Ecology's Wetland Mitigation Banking Public Notice web page.

Updated Templates for Mitigation Banks are Now Available Online

In September 2006 the Department of Ecology's Wetland Mitigation Banking Program posted Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) and Appendices Templates for entrepreneurial wetland mitigation bank projects.

We have recently updated these two documents and they are now available online. You can download the templates here.

Guidance on Locating Mitigation Banks Using a Landscape-Based Approach is Now Available

On March 21, 2007, the Department of Ecology (Ecology), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10, and the Seattle District Corps of Engineers issued a Special Joint Public Notice. This notice announced the opportunity for applicants to submit new proposals for wetland mitigation banks. In this notice, we strongly encouraged applicants to use a landscape-based approach to select sites for wetland mitigation banks.

To help applicants in this process, the agencies developed Guidance on Locating Mitigation Banks Using a Landscape-Based Approach (Guidance). This Guidance will help applicants identify some of the important landscape processes influencing wetlands and maintaining water flow processes.

Although it is not mandatory for applicants to use the Guidance, thinking about landscape processes when selecting a site will help ensure you are choosing the best possible site for a wetland mitigation bank.

Please see the Special Joint Public Notice and the Guidance for more information on using a landscape-based approach in your proposal.

(To view previously posted Wetland Banking Updates, click here.)

Last updated: 04/03/2008