This white paper contains case studies of coastal ILF [in-lieu fee] programs across the United States: Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program (“MNRCP”), Northwest Florida Water Management District (“NWFWMD”) ILF Program, Keys Restoration Fund (“KRF”), Sacramento District California ILF Program, Maryland Department of the Environment ILF Program, and Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (“VARTF”). The Conclusion will provide general recommendations and questions to consider in deciding whether and how to implement an in-lieu fee program for wildlife habitats in Virginia. Each program has a unique regulatory structure and method for selecting projects on which to spend their funds. The programs do tend to face similar challenges and provide similar benefits. Common challenges include securing buy-in from private landowners and completing the state and federal permit processes for mitigation projects by the third growing cycle after selling credits. Despite these frequent hurdles, program sponsors have observed that the programs streamline the permitting process for developers, which reduces the cost of building new projects. ILF programs allow for larger, more impactful mitigation projects, instead of proceeding by a piecemeal approach where the permittees must compensate for only their own environmental impacts.
This abstract has been taken from the authors\u27 introduction
