HB 2986 - DIGEST

     Finds that the benefits of habitat mitigation banks include:  (1) Maintenance of the ecological functioning of a habitat conservation area by consolidating compensatory mitigation into a single large parcel rather than in separate, isolated individual parcels;

     (2) Increased potential for the establishment and long-term management of successful mitigation by bringing together financial resources, planning, and scientific expertise not practicable for many project-specific mitigation proposals;

     (3) Increased certainty over the success of mitigation and reduction of temporal losses of fish and wildlife habitat areas since habitat mitigation banks are typically implemented and functioning in advance of project impacts;

     (4) Potential enhanced protection and preservation of the state's most valuable fish and wildlife habitat;

     (5) A reduction in permit processing times and increased opportunity for more cost-effective compensatory mitigation for development projects; and

     (6) The ability to provide compensatory mitigation in an efficient, predictable, and economically and environmentally responsible manner.

     Declares that it is the policy of the state to authorize habitat mitigation banking.