Mitigation is a form of compensation to the environment that offsets the impacts of removing something of value from that environment. One example of mitigation might be the creation of new wetlands in an attempt to offset the effects of filling or excavating an existing wetland system.
Since the passage of North Carolina's Coastal Area Management Act n 1974, state officials have found the usual frustrations associated with implementation of a new regulatory program, including that of developing a mitigation policy. The evolution and recent adoption by the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) of a mitigation policy represents an ongoing effort to bring to fruition a program that will adequately and equitably protect the state's coastal resources.