Compensatory Mitigation Webinar Series
As the rate of wind energy development increases, there is increasing interest in looking beyond the first two tenants of "mitigation" - avoidance and minimization - to incorporate the third tenant - compensation for impacts. In this series, participants focused on the role of this final component in the development of environmentally, politically, and economically sustainable wind power.
Approaches and Models
(September 15, 2009)
An ad hoc approach to compensatory mitigation can be time-consuming, expensive, and unpredictable. States and regions are increasingly interested in developing a more systematic approach to compensating for impacts to wildlife from wind energy development. In this briefing, participants learned about three different approaches to compensatory mitigation:
- Requirements triggered by impacts to a specific species
- Prescribed levels of compensation corresponding to tiered classifications of habitat value
- Equivalency through a quantitative assessment of impacts and compensatory actions
Presenters provided context using examples where these approaches have been applied to wind energy.
Framework: Policies and Regulations
(July 16, 2009)
In the first webinar, participants learned about different conceptions of "compensatory mitigation" by examining the laws and policies that influence the various understandings of the term. Representatives from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Environmental Law Institute provided an overview of existing policies and regulations affecting the use of compensatory mitigation for impacts to wildlife from wind energy development.