An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

Compensatory Mitigation Evaluations and Reports under CWA Section 404

This page provides updates and background regarding Clean Water Act Section 404 Compensatory Mitigation Evaluations since 2000.
 
On this page:

Many of the following links exit the site Exit

National Reports

Palmer Hough and Rachel Harrington, ‘Ten Years of the Compensatory Mitigation Rule: Reflections on Progress and Opportunities’, Environmental Law Reporter, V. 49 No.1, at 10018 (2019), 20 p.

U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, ‘Handbook on Coral Reef Impacts: Avoidance, Minimization, and Compensatory Mitigation and Restoration’, (Washington, D.C.: 2016) (151p., 2.44MB)

Environmental Law Institute, Stream Mechanics, and The Nature Conservancy, ‘Stream Mitigation: Science, Policy, and Practice’, in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2014)(137 p., 11.54MB)

U.S. Army Corps Engineers Institute for Water Resources, ‘Compensatory Mitigation Site Protection Instrument Handbook for the Corps Regulatory Program’, (Washington, D.C.:2016) (25 p., 1.03MB)

The Nature Conservancy, ‘Long-Term Stewardship Calculator & Accompanying Handbook,’ in TNC Conservation Gateway (Washington, D.C.: 2016)

U.S. Army Corps Engineers Institute for Water Resources, ‘Implementing Financial Assurances for Mitigation Project Success’, (Washington, D.C.:2016) (50 p., 2.16MB)

Jenny Thomas, ‘Evaluating Long-Term Stewardship of Compensatory Mitigation Sites: Preliminary Findings from California’, National Wetlands Newsletter, 38 (2016), 5 p.

Joseph A. Morgan and Palmer Hough, ‘Compensatory Mitigation Performance: The State of the Science’, National Wetlands Newsletter, 37 (2015), 9 p.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ‘The Mitigation Rule Retrospective: A Review of the 2008 Regulations Governing Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources’, (Washington, D.C.: 2015) (146 p., 2.96MB)

Environmental Law Institute and The Nature Conservancy, ‘Watershed Approach Handbook: Improving Outcomes and Increasing Benefits Associated with Wetland and Stream Restoration and Protection Projects’, in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2014) (188 p., 4.55MB)

Environmental Law Institute, ‘A Handbook for Prioritizing Wetland and Stream Restoration and Protection Using Landscape Analysis Tools’, in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2013) (143 p., 6.51MB)

M. Siobhan Fennessy, Eric D. Stein, Richard Ambrose, Christopher B. Craft, Alan T. Herlihy, Mary E. Kentula, Rebecca Kihslinger, John J. Mack, Richard Novitski, Michael J. Vepraskas, Paul Wagner, and Joy B. Zedler, ‘Towards a National Evaluation of Compensatory Mitigation Sites: A Proposed Study Methodology’, Environmental Law Institute (Washington, D.C.: 2013) (27 p., 348KB)

Environmental Law Institute and Land Trust Alliance, ‘Wetland and Stream Mitigation: A Handbook for Land Trusts’, in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2012) (155 p., 1.87MB)

David Moreno-Mateos, Mary E. Power, Francisco A. Comin, and Roxana Yockteng, 'Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems', PLOS Biology, 10 (2012), 8 p.

Todd BenDor, J. Adam Riggsbee, and Martin Doyle, 'Risks and Markets for Ecosystem Services', Environmental Science & Technology, 45 (2011), 9 p.

Environmental Law Institute, 'In-Lieu Fee Mitigation: Model Instrument Language and Resources', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2009) (108 p., 2.71MB)

Palmer Hough and Morgan Robertson, 'Mitigation under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act: where it comes from, what it means‘, Wetlands Ecology and Management, 17 (2009), 19 p.

Rebecca L. Kihslinger, 'Success of Wetland Mitigation Projects', National Wetlands Newsletter, 30 (2008), 3 p.

Environmental Law Institute, 'Mitigation of Impacts to Fish and Wildlife Habitat: Estimating Costs and Identifying Opportunities', in ELI Research Reports (2007) (126 p., 618.5KB)

Environmental Law Institute, 'Stakeholder Forums on Federal Wetlands Mitigation', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2006, 2004, 2003, 2001)

Environmental Law Institute, 'The Status and Character of in-Lieu Fee Mitigation in the United States', in ELI Research Reports (2006) (152 p., 725.4KB)

Jessica Wilkinson and Jared Thompson, '2005 Status Report on Compensatory Mitigation in the United States', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2006) (110 p., 481.3KB)

Douglas J. Spieles, 'Vegetation Development in Created, Restored, and Enhanced Mitigation Wetland Banks of the United States', Wetlands, 25 (2005), 13 p.

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 'Wetlands Protection: Corps of Engineers Does Not Have an Effective Oversight Approach to Ensure That Compensatory Mitigation Is Occuring', (Washington, D.C.: 2005) (47 p., 1.18MB)

Environmental Law Institute, 'Measuring Mitigation: A Review of the Science for Compensatory Mitigation Performance Standards', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2004) (281 p., 1.44MB)

Environmental Law Institute, 'National Symposium on Compensatory Mitigation and the Watershed Approach', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2004) (69 p., 1.2MB)

Joshua Bishop, Kerry ten Kate, and Ricardo Bayon, 'Biodiversity Offsets: Views, Experience, and the Business Case', (Gland, Switzerland: 2004) (95 p., 442.7KB)

Environmental Law Institute, 'Banks and Fees: The Status of Off-Site Wetland Mitigation in the United States', in ELI Research Reports (Washington, D.C.: 2002) (202 p., 1.56MB)

National Academy of Sciences, 'Compensating for Wetland Losses under the Clean Water Act', (Washington, D.C.: 2001) (349 p., 9.5MB)

R. Eugene Turner, Ann M. Redmond, and Joy B. Zedler, 'Count It by Acre or Function - Mitigation Adds up to Net Loss of Wetlands', National Wetlands Newsletter, 23 (2001), 5 p.

U.S. General Accounting Office, 'Wetlands Protection: Assessments Needed to Determine Effectiveness of in-Lieu-Fee Mitigation', (Washington, D.C.: 2001) (75 p., 2.61MB)

Richard F. Ambrose, 'Wetland Mitigation in the United States: Assessing the Success of Mitigation Policies', Wetlands (Australia), 19 (2000), 39 p.

Top of Page


State and Regional Reports