Benefits of Mitigation Banking

Cost-Effective.
Buying credits from a bank provides a known fixed cost  to developers which enables developers to accurately  calculate the bottom-line. The costs associated with  designing, building, and maintaining a project-specific  mitigation site can greatly exceed the costs of buying  credits, not to mention the inherent variables when  coordinating various subcontractors to build and monitor  a site-specific bank.

Reduces Regulatory Review and Approval Time.
Buying credits from mitigation banks can shorten the  permitting process for developers by months or even  years. Developers do not need to negotiate the  mitigation banking proposals and plans with state and  federal agencies; the mitigation bank has already  achieved regulatory approval.

Eliminates Liability.
In traditional off-site mitigation, the developer and  landowner are liable for the success of a wetland  project over a five-year period. Since the creation of  wetlands is an expensive, complex and time-intensive  process, a developer can incur significant costs to  rebuild a wetland project if it should fail. A developer  who buys wetlands from a bank faces no uncertainty about  a mitigation project's success because the bank assumes  all liability. The bank has been approved by the  agencies, which eliminates the developers' mitigation  responsibilities.