What is the Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers?

The Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers (FAMB) is an industry association representing entities that own and operate mitigation banks. Membership includes Banker Members and Associate Members from representing firms that supply goods and services to the industry. The FAMB fosters and promotes the mitigation banking industry. Mitigation banks may be regulated by both Florida and Federal agencies, and exist all over Florida. Mitigation bankers and their Associate Members provide employment, purchase goods and services and promote preservation of large tracts of environmentally sensitive land.

What are wetland mitigation banks?

Wetland mitigation banks are large tracts of environmentally enhanced and preserved lands that provide ecological benefits to offset wetland losses resulting from development or land use activities. A mitigation banker voluntarily agrees to preserve and environmentally enhance lands to generate new ecological functions to mitigate for the ecological functions lost when wetlands are impacted.

What are habitat conservation banks?

Conservation banks are large tracts of environmentally enhanced and preserved lands that provide ecological benefits to offset habitat losses to Threatened and Endangered species resulting from development or land use activities. A conservation banker voluntarily agrees to preserve, protect and environmentally enhance lands to generate new ecological functions to mitigate for the ecological functions lost when habitat of threatened and endangered species are impacted.

What are the FAMB's legislative priorities for the 2010 session?

The FAMB has two 2010 legislative priorities: (1) to revise wetland regulatory law to provide a preference for the use of mitigation banks to offset wetland impacts similar to the preference contained in federal wetland regulatory law; and (2) provide a process for mitigation bankers to obtain an optional voluntary up-front determination on the potential mitigation credits a tract of land will produce.

Why should there be a preference to use wetland mitigation banks to offset wetland impacts?

Early in the State's wetland regulatory program, it was thought that mitigation was best performed on-site or in close proximity to the wetland impact. As a result Florida's permitting rules favor the use of mitigation on the site of the wetland impact. However, more recent studies in Florida and nationwide show that this approach does not produce the best environmental benefit and that on-site mitigation has a relatively high failure rate. Thus, the recently adopted US Army Corps of Engineers wetland mitigation rules prefer the use of mitigation banks because they produce the best environmental benefit and have a very high success rate. Florida's mitigation rules need to change because they are out-of-date with current scientific findings and conflict with the federal rules.

Why do mitigation bankers seek a voluntary up-front determination of a site's potential mitigation credits?

When a mitigation bank environmentally enhances and preserves a tract of land, the resulting improvement in ecological value is measured in "credits" which can be "debited" to offset wetland impacts. In deciding whether to create a wetland mitigation bank on a tract of land, a mitigation banker may need to know how many mitigation credits that land will produce before proceeding to acquire the land to begin the enhancement activities.

What is FAMB's specific legislative strategy for the 2010 Session?

The FAMB intends to identify House and Senate sponsors to file bills embodying the two legislative priorities described above, and to work closely with those sponsors to pass the legislation into law. The result should be more effective and efficient permitting that will benefit all Floridians.