Wetland Mitigation Banking Program

 

The Wetland Mitigation Banking Program is used to help establish wetland mitigation banks to help producers meet their wetland conservation compliance responsibilities needed to maintain eligibility for many USDA programs administered by the FSA and NRCS, and to maintain eligibility for the Federal crop insurance premium subsidy administered by the Risk Management Agency.

Active 10.933 Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture B - Project Grants; Z - Salaries and Expenses Not applicable. 16 U.S.C. 3822(k)
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 115-334
The Wetland Mitigation Banking Program is authorized by section 1222(k) of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended by section 2609 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 3822(k)). The program was reauthorized under the Agricultural Improvement Act 0f 2018 Section 1222(k)(1)(B). Proposals will be accepted from applicants in any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). NRCS will accept proposals from eligible entities that include federally recognized Native American tribal governments; state and local units of government; for-profit entities; nonprofits with or without a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS other than institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and public and State-controlled institutions of higher education. Priority will be given to banks in states with significant numbers of individual wetlands, wetland acres, and conservation compliance requests. Based on NRCS data, these states are Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Ohio. Mitigation banks established through this program are for the explicit and sole purpose of assisting agricultural producers with wetland conservation compliance, also known as Swampbuster compliance. Priority will be given to banks located in geographic areas with the largest numbers of individual wetlands and/or wetland compliance producer requests. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. If the program receives an allocation of funding the announcement and associated Federal forms for this program funding opportunity will be able to be viewed at www.grants.gov. See the Content and Format section for more information on the required forms and information. NRCS uses a grant agreement to provide program funds to each selected applicant. The project budget period, amount of Federal assistance, terms and conditions of the award, and reporting requirements are described and provided to the selected applicants as part of this process. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Not applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. The NRCS Projects Branch screens proposals for completeness and adherence to the provisions of the Announcement for Program funding. Proposals that pass the initial screening undergo a technical review carried out by a panel consisting of Federal employees with experience in wetland restoration and mitigation banking. The technical panel evaluates each proposal against the criteria in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and ranks all proposals to make funding recommendations to NRCS leadership. NRCS State Conservationists also review relevant proposals for duplication of existing efforts and ethical concerns and provide overall recommendations. The NRCS Chief makes the final award decisions. The intent of the program is for qualified third parties to operate and manage all aspects of a wetland mitigation bank with oversight by NRCS. Performance Reports: A monitoring report detailing how the compensatory mitigation project is progressing towards meeting its performance standards. Not applicable. A credit ledger submitted to the program manager annually to show the deposits and withdrawals from the bank. Submitted annually, no later than November 15th. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. Recipients must provide a non-Federal funding match amount at least equal to 25 percent of the Federal funding request. Matching funds may be committed by the applicant, project partners, or both and can be a combination of cash and in-kind contributions.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Projects may be up to 4 years in duration. Recipients draw down funding through advances or reimbursements based on allowable project costs. For more information on this and other related conservation programs, consult the local telephone directory where your land is located for the location of the nearest USDA service center. For a list of NRCS State offices with telephone numbers and addresses, information is available on the internet at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/. Projects Branch
Natural Resources Conservation Service,
1400 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20250 US
wmbp@usda.gov
Phone: N/A https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wetland-mitigation-banking-program 12-1004-0-1-302 (Project Grants) FY 22$4,583,000.00; FY 23 est $4,425,000.00; FY 24 est $4,786,000.00; FY 21$4,980,000.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$0.00; FY 18$0.00; FY 17$7,325,000.00; FY 16$0.00; - Discretionary Funds(Salaries and Expenses) FY 22$151,000.00; FY 23 est $503,000.00; FY 24 est $552,000.00; FY 21$20,000.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$0.00; FY 18$603,000.00; FY 17$281,000.00; FY 16$158,000.00; - Discretionary Funds(Project Grants) FY 22$309,000.00; FY 23 est $178,000.00; FY 24 est $27,000.00; FY 21$160,000.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$0.00; - Mandatory Funds(Salaries and Expenses) FY 22$20,000.00; FY 23 est $178,000.00; FY 24 est $27,000.00; FY 21$103,000.00; FY 20$153,000.00; FY 19$526,000.00; - Mandatory Funds The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 authorized up to $5 million per year for FY 2018-2023 for WMBP. 2 CFR Part 417, Non-procurement Debarment and Suspension 2 CFR Part 418, New Restrictions on Lobbying 2 CFR Part 421, Requirements for Drug Free Workplace (Financial Assistance) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations at 40 CFR pa1is 1500-1508, and the NRCS regulation that implements NEPA at 7 CFR part 650. Wetland Conservation Compliance Provisions 7 CFR 12.4, 16 U.S.C. Section 3822. Fiscal Year 2018 Agricultural Wetland Mitigation Banks have been funded and established in 10 states