Memorandum of Agreement for 

 Development and Use of a Wetland Bank in Idaho 



1. Preamble: 



a. The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) operates within the 

 direction given by Executive Order 1 1 990, "Protection of Wetlands". Federal 

 aid projects must comply with Department of Transportation (DOT) Order 

 5660.1 A, "Preservation of the Nation's Wetlands" which results from this 

 executive order. DOT Order 5660.1 A requires that ITD demonstrate there 

 is no practicable alternative to construction in a wetland and all practicable 

 measures to minimize harm have been included in the project. 



b. Impacts to wetlands for which there is no practicable alternative may 

 require mitigation. In accordance with Council on Environmental Quality 

 regulations (40 CFR §1508.20), mitigation includes: 



(a) Avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or 

 parts of an action. 



(b) Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the 

 action and its implementation. 



(c) Rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the 

 affected environment. 



(d) Reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and 

 maintenance operations during the life of the action. 



(e) Compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute 

 resources or environments. 



c. Avoiding, minimizing, rectifying, or reducing wetland impacts is, at 

 times, impossible to accomplish onsite, comes with such risk that successful 

 mitigation cannot be assured, or can be accomplished only at extraordinary 

 cost. Use of a previously constructed, off-site wetland may be appropriate 

 in these situations to compensate for wetland losses. Such use is consistent 

 with the definition of mitigation provided by 40 CFR §1 508.20(e). 



2. Authority: 



a. This memorandum of agreement is established in accordance with the 



following authorities: 



•Clean Water Act (33 USC 1251 etseq.) 



•National Environmental Policy Act (42 USC 4321 et seq.) 



•Executive Order 1 1 990 



•Preservation of the Nation's Wetlands (DOT Order 5660.1 A) 



•Mitigation of Environmental Impacts to Privately Owned Wetlands (23 



CFR 777) 



•Stream Channel Protection Act (Idaho Code §42-3803 et seq.) 



•Lake Protection Act (Idaho Code §58-104(9) and §58-142 et seq.) 



