Hole-in-the-Donut Wetland Mitigation Project Application Information

HID Project Service Mitigation Area

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The HID was originally established under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, in 1996. Effective September 11, 2015, the HID came into compliance with the 2008 federal rule governing the management of ILF mitigation programs resulting in an In-Lieu-Fee Instrument (ILF) and Mitigation plan. Effective November 6, 2019, the HID completed a major permit modification with FDEP (permit # 0257597-005). These state and federal regulatory documents provide the guidelines and framework for the management of the HID and authorizes the transfer of freshwater palustrine emergent credits that can satisfy an impact Permittee’s local, state, and federal mitigation requirements.

The HID may transfer credits to an impact Permittee once they have approval to use the HID mitigation project to fulfill the mitigation requirements according to one or more of their project’s regulatory permits.

The Mitigation Service Area (MSA) for the HID includes most of Miami-Dade County, and a portion of Broward County; bounded on the north by the Interstate 75/Interstate 595 complex. The MSA is based on the Everglades Watershed and two south Florida Eco-Regions, encompassing approximately 1,517,000 acres. The MSA does not include any saline or tidally influenced wetlands or barrier islands.

 

Permittees can reserve credits if they have at least one permit or permit application number from one or more of the following regulatory agencies for an individual project with unavoidable impacts to wetlands: (i) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), (ii) the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER), (iii) the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), (iv) the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), or (v) the Broward County Department of Environmental Protection and Growth Management. It is the Permittee’s responsibility to verify whether one or some combination of the regulatory agencies have jurisdiction over the Permittee’s project.

If you, the Permittee, have regulatory approval to fulfill your project’s mitigation at the HID, the HID may agree to reserve up to the maximum number of palustrine emergent credits required to fulfill the Permittee’s mitigation requirements, to the extent that the credits are available via the credit release lottery process. The number of federal and state (combined) credits available can be found on the HID Project’s website at http://go.nps.gov/HIDMitigationBank. The HID reserves the right not to process mitigation credit applications or provide a reservation letter.

Credit release lottery

Applications to reserve mitigation credits at the HID are processed via a credit release lottery during established dates and times. The dates of the lottery are announced via the HID website, only, at http://go.nps.gov/HIDMitigationBank. There are no email notifications or other means of announcing the credit release lottery.

Each credit release lottery conducted by the HID is equally open to all permittees who need wetland mitigation credits. The credit release lottery process is random, free of bias or preference, and with no exclusion, stratification, prioritization or ranking of projects based on the number of credits a project requires, based on whether a project has previously satisfied a portion of its credit requirements, or based on who is submitting the applications.

To participate in the credit release lottery, it is the Permittees responsibility to fill out the HID application form, provide copies of the regulatory permits and / or permit application numbers, and return these documents to the HID via email. The application and application instructions can be obtained via download from the HID Project’s website at http://go.nps.gov/HIDMitigationBank. Completed applications are only accepted via email at [e-mail] and will only be processed during the established open application period, as announced via the HID project’s website. Applications sent to any other email address, or outside of the open application period, will not be processed.

Once the HID has received the completed application and supporting documents during the open application period, the Permittee will receive email confirmation along with an application identifier. This identifier will be used to provide the Permittee information on the results of the credit release lottery. Once the lottery has been conducted, the applicant will receive an email detailing the results of the lottery.

Reservation letters

If the lottery results allow for a credit reservation for the Permitee, a reservation letter will be sent via email. The reservation letter will summarize the information as described on the Permittee’s application form and assign an HID reference number.

The Permittee should refer to this reference number when inquiring about their reservation or credit transactions. The reservation letter is valid for 6 months. The Permittee may request no more than one 6 month extension/renewal of the credit reservation letter. Reservation extension requests should be sent via email to [e-mail]. If the reservation extension request is not received before the expiration date, all commitments set forth in the reservation letter will be deemed null and void. Credits for expired reservations will be returned to the project and made available to the public on the date of the next credit release.

For approved reservation extension requests, all obligations, terms and conditions of the original reservation will remain in effect with the exception of the cost of mitigation. The renewed reservation will reflect the cost of mitigation at the date of renewal. Credit reservations will not be held for longer than 12 months (the initial 6 month reservation period plus an approved extension for an additional 6 month period).

Once a reservation letter is provided, the National Park Foundation must receive full payment within 6 months of the date shown on the reservation letter. If the payment is not received by the National Park Foundation before the expiration date, all commitments set forth in the reservation letter will be deemed null and void. Please make your payment in full. No refunds of all or any part of the payment will be made.

For approved reservation extension requests, a new reservation letter will be provided documenting the extension. The National Park Foundation must receive full payment within 12 months of the original reservation date for reservations that have been extended. If the payment is not received by the National Park Foundation before the expiration date, all commitments set forth in the reservation letter will be deemed null and void. Please make your payment in full. No refunds of all or any part of the payment will be made.

If within the reservation period the regulatory agencies determine that less mitigation is required than is included in the reservation, the Permittee may notify the HID and modify the number of mitigation credits reserved. The HID will provide a new reservation letter, documenting the change.

If within the reservation period, the regulatory agencies determine that additional mitigation credits are required than is included in the reservation, the HID bears no responsibility to provide additional mitigation credits. The Permittee may fulfill their additional mitigation requirements elsewhere or elect to withdraw their reservation in its entirety. If the Permittee withdraws their reservation, the reserved mitigation credits are retained by the HID. If the Permittee elects to utilize the HID project to fulfill their additional mitigation requirements, they would do so according to the HID’s credit release lottery process, described above.

The terms “credit or credits” found above refers to federal, state and local credits, based on the uniform mitigation assessment method (hence forth known as UMAM credits). The Permittee has the responsibility to provide to the HID both their federal and their state mitigation requirements in UMAM credits. The regulatory agencies using these assessment methods may differ on the maximum number of UMAM credits required to fulfill the Permittee’s mitigation requirements. When there is a difference in the amount of mitigation required between the federal and state assessments, the Permittee should request the assessment with the highest mitigation requirement. This amount will then address both the federal and state mitigation requirements.

The current cost of a one (1) UMAM credit is $78,000.00. The cost of mitigation at the HID is governed by regulatory agencies (FDEP and ACOE) and based on full cost accounting. The cost of mitigation at the HID is subject to annual accounting reviews with the ACOE and bi-annual (2 year) accounting reviews with FDEP. As a result of these reviews, the cost of mitigation at the HID may change. Changes in cost per credit will be announced via the HID project’s website at http://go.nps.gov/HIDMitigationBank.

Completing the credit transaction

Included with the reservation letter, the Permittee will receive a credit transaction form which must be included with the payment to the National Park Foundation. If the credit transaction form does not accompany payment, the National Park Foundation will not process the payment and the payment will be returned. When the National Park Foundation receives a Permittee’s payment and credit transaction form, they will issue a receipt and send a copy of the receipt to the HID. The HID will send the receipt to the Permittee. Please allow up to two weeks for credit transaction processing by the National Park Foundation.

Payment should be made to:

Attn: Olatoun Ademulegun
Senior Manager, Financial Operations
National Park Foundation
1500 K Street NW, Ste 700
Washington, DC 20005

After the HID receives the Permittee’s National Park Foundation credit transaction receipt and copies of all the regulatory permits pertaining to the project as described in the Permittee’s reservation letter, the HID will submit a credit withdrawal request to the ACOE and or FDEP. If the Permittee does not provide copies of the regulatory permits pertaining to the project, the HID will be unable to assume responsibility for the Permittee’s mitigation requirements. It is the responsibility of the Permittee to provide copies to the HID of the regulatory permits pertaining to the project as described in the reservation letter.

Any questions or concerns regarding this process may be directed to Jonathan Taylor, Restoration Program manager via email at [e-mail], or via phone at 305-242-7876.