The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ South Pacific Division, including its Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles Districts, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Natural Resources Agency, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, as potential participants in Interagency Review Teams (IRT), collectively known as IRT agencies, are evaluating the need to update the March 17, 2017, California Interagency Conservation Easement template. The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from interested parties to support revision of the template.
AUTHORITY: The IRT agencies are evaluating the need to revise the March 17, 2017, California Interagency Conservation Easement template. The revised Conservation Easement template would be used in the development of mitigation banks within the state of California and mitigation banks in adjacent states with service areas that extend into the State of California, which provide compensatory mitigation for regulated impacts authorized under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, as well as mitigation for the other IRT agencies.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Pursuant to the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Mitigation and Conservation Banking and In-Lieu Fee Programs in California, the IRT agencies are proposing to jointly revise the California Interagency Conservation Easement template to incorporate updates based on lessons learned and address changes in land trust requirements. The IRT agencies have committed to establishing a combined and coordinated approach to mitigation banking in the State of California, which includes development of and regular updates to IRT-approved template documents. It is expected that, with IRT-approved templates, agencies, and mitigation bank sponsors will be able to proceed with confidence that regulatory needs are met, and the information used in the mitigation bank review and approval process is adequate, predictable, consistent, and timely.
The Conservation Easement template was previously updated in March 2017. Revisions are currently being contemplated to address lessons learned by the IRT agencies. We are soliciting comments on any areas of the Conservation Easement template that can be improved to inform any revisions. This public notice is being circulated prior to development of revisions and an additional notice will not be published prior to finalization of the revised Conservation Easement template.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public, federal, state, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and other interested parties to consider and evaluate the proposed revisions.
Written comments may be submitted, by September 25, 2025, via email to laura.b.shively@usace.army.mil.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Ms. Laura Shively at (916) 557-5258 or email at laura.b.shively@usace.army.mil.
Attachments: March 17, 2017, California Interagency Conservation Easement Template