Setting Geographic Service Areas for Compensatory Mitigation Banking

Geographic service areas limit where compensatory mitigation for impacts to aquatic resources can be performed. While the 2008 rule for compensatory mitigation requires mitigation to occur in the same watershed as the impacts for which it is compensating, geographic service areas still vary between Corps districts. This article provides a thorough accounting of each district’s approach to setting geographic service areas and looks at the implications for wetland and stream mitigation banking.