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Introduction || Basic Principles || Key Players || Federal Regulations || WI Regulations || Wetland Mitigation

Wetland Mitigation in Wisconsin
Mitigation is defined as "the restoration, creation, enhancement, or in exceptional cases, preservation of wetlands and/or other aquatic resources for the purpose of compensating for unavoidable impacts."

In cases involving impacts to federally regulated wetlands, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires wetland mitigation for all impacts ≥ 10,000 square feet (0.23 acres). The Corps embraces a concept called a "mitigated finding of no significant impact" (mitigated FONSI), meaning that permits for wetland development projects will be granted when the Corps determines that the expected functional values of the proposed replacement wetlands will adequately offset the loss of functional values in the wetlands to be destroyed. Despite little oversight to determine the ecological success of this practice, the Corps routinely issues mitigated FONSIs in their permit review program.

The state of Wisconsin never requires wetland mitigation as a condition of water quality certification, but it does allow applicants to voluntarily propose wetland mitigation under limited circumstances.* The benefit to the applicant is that voluntary mitigation enables the state to permit certain projects that would not otherwise meet state water quality standards for wetlands.

NR 350 Wetland Compensatory Mitigation outlines the circumstances where the state will and will not consider mitigation proposals in the evaluation of the significance of project impacts.

* Click here to learn more about the circumstances where voluntary wetland mitigation proposals may be considered.

At both the federal and state level, the promise of mitigation NEVER alleviates an applicant’s obligation to first avoid and then minimize wetland impacts. (See Section II, Part C of a 1990 Memorandum of Agreement between the COE and EPA establishing the mandatory sequencing process of avoid, minimize, mitigate for permit review).

To facilitate the review and approval of compensatory mitigation proposals in Wisconsin, in 2002 the WDNR, COE, EPA, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed and approved Guidelines for Compensatory Mitigation in Wisconsin, which outline mitigation requirements such as replacement ratios, criteria for selecting the location of mitigation projects and performance measures for evaluating mitigation project success. Though only advisory in nature, each of these agencies signed an agreement to consider the Guidelines in their decision making, so all mitigation projects in Wisconsin should be implemented in accordance with these Guidelines.

More information about compensatory mitigation, including answers to frequently asked questions and details on Wisconsin’s compensatory mitigation decision-making process, can be found on the WDNR’s website.