The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, recently was provided the annual report of the Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee program titled “Audubon Connecticut In-Lieu Fee Program/Program Account Annual Report” for July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.
The report was submitted by the sponsor, Audubon Connecticut, to the Corps of Engineers on June 2, 2017.
The National Audubon Society, Inc., through its Connecticut program (Audubon-CT), is the sponsor of an In- Lieu Fee Program for aquatic resource compensatory mitigation required by Department of the Army authorizations.
The In-Lieu Fee Program serves as an alternative form of compensation for impacts to aquatic resources resulting from work authorized by the Corps of Engineers in New England.
“Compensatory mitigation occurs in circumstances where a permittee is required to compensate for the functions and values of aquatic resources lost as a result of the authorization after all efforts are made to avoid and minimize impacts,” USACE said.
As sponsor, Audubon-CT administers a competitive grant funding program, soliciting proposals for wetland and waters restoration, enhancement, creation and/or preservation.
These proposals are then given to an advisory committee to be ranked using a scoring methodology presented in the instrument.
Ultimately, the proposals are presented with their funding requests to an Interagency Review Team, which recommends the finalists to the Corps for selection. Once the projects are chosen, Audubon-CT is responsible for funding, execution and long-term stewardship.