Interior publishes mitigation strategy

Says new landscape-level approach to federal land management will effectively reconcile development needs with conservation

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Following a directive by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in October, the Department of the Interior has published a new strategy for the mitigation of the environmental impacts of development projects on federal land. Characterized as “landscape-level” planning, the concept is to approach mitigation on a regional basis, looking at overall environmental priorities and the appropriate policies for permitting multiple projects, rather than dealing with projects piecemeal, on a project-by-project basis, Interior says.

“The goal is to provide greater certainty for project developers when it comes to permitting and better outcomes for conservation through more effective and efficient project planning,” Jewell said in an April 10 news release announcing publication of the strategy. “Through advances in science and technology, advance planning, and collaboration with stakeholders, we know that development and conservation can both benefit — and that’s the win-win this mitigation strategy sets out to achieve.”

Given that any development project will inevitably have some environmental impact, the concept behind environmental mitigation is to avoid some impacts and minimize others through the appropriate siting and design of facilities or infrastructure that need to be built. For impacts that are unavoidable, the new strategy sets a target of seeking means of compensating for these impacts through the protection or restoration of equivalent environmental resources.

There are currently several means whereby this type of environmental compensation can be achieved in conjunction with a federal permit, including the carrying out of a mitigation activity by the permit holder or the purchase of compensatory mitigation through a mitigation bank, Interior’s strategy document says.

The strategy document says that Interior’s new approach will involve first identifying landscape-scale attributes within a region, and the characteristics of these attributes. Based on this analysis, Interior will develop landscape-scale goals and strategies, thus enabling the development of efficient and effective compensatory programs for environmental impacts that cannot be avoided or minimized. Then, over time, Interior will monitor and evaluate progress, making adjustments to the landscape-level mitigation plans, as conditions change.

The environmental impacts and mitigation requirements of individual projects will presumably be evaluated against the overall mitigation strategy.

Interior has set out a series of guiding principles under which the strategy will be implemented. These principles include the establishment of protocols that will simplify planning and improve operational certainty for development projects; the incorporation of mitigation planning into the early stages of project planning; the use of scientific information and tools; promoting mitigation efforts that improve the resilience of U.S. resources under a changing climate; transparency and consistency in the development of mitigation measures; collaboration between federal agencies and with state agencies, tribes and other stakeholders; and the monitoring and evaluation of mitigation results.

Initiatives already under way, such as the implementation of a new tool for assessing wildlife critical habitat in 16 western states, will dovetail into the new strategy, helping projects during pre-planning and reducing surprises, conflicts and costs as projects progress, Interior says.