What: The Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles Districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California Resources Agency, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as potential participants in Interagency Review Teams (IRT) have finalized an update to the Property Assessment and Warranty (PAW), for use with mitigation banks that are established within the State of California. This notice is to inform interested parties of the availability of the completed template.
SUBJECT: The attached Property Assessment and Warranty (PAW) replaces the prior version of the PAW template, which was approved in 2009. The Project Delivery Team (PDT) established by the 2011 interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning Mitigation and Conservation Banking and In-Lieu Fee Programs in California revised the PAW, to improve the organization of the document and incorporate language based on lessons learned using the previous version. The updated PAW includes a table to identify and evaluate the effect of encumbrances on the bank property and clarifies mapping standards. The updated PAW also includes an addendum to ensure that new encumbrances are not established on the bank property prior between submittal of the PAW with the draft Bank Enabling Instrument (BEI) and the approval of the final BEI. The attached template becomes effective for use for any proposed mitigation bank, where the draft BEI has not yet been submitted to the IRT or if the PAW is being updated by the Sponsor as a result of Interagency Review Team (IRT) comments on the draft BEI, immediately upon the date of this public notice. This template will be used jointly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) South Pacific Division's Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles Districts, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as potential participants in an IRT. As always, we will continue to discuss the experiences of mitigation bankers and others in using these templates, checklists, and guidance, to inform potential future changes to our templates, checklists, and guidance. This notice may be viewed at: http://www.spd.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNoticesandReferences.aspx.
AUTHORITY: The PAW will be used to evaluate the effects of encumbrances on properties proposed to be developed as mitigation banks, which provide mitigation for impacts from projects which have which have received authorizations to proceed under the authorities of Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 for structures or work in or affecting navigable waters of the United States and/or Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for the discharge of dredged or fill material in waters of the United States. Additionally, this template would be used when those mitigation banks also propose to provide mitigation for projects which have been required to provide mitigation by USFWS, CDFW, NMFS, the State Water Board, and/or NRCS. These agencies have committed through the above-mentioned MOU to establishing a combined and coordinated approach to mitigation and conservation banking which includes the development of template documents for use throughout the State of California. This template reflects existing regulations, policies, and guidance and represent the way in which USACE, USFWS, NMFS, NRCS, EPA, the CNRA, the State Water Board, and CDFW intend to implement and provide a consistent approach to updating the BEI for previously approved mitigation banks to allow the sale of credits to purchasers prior to purchasers obtaining permits.
If you have questions or need additional information please contact Laura Shively, 916-557-5258, Laura.b.shively@usace.army.mil.