Federal Highway Administration Wetland Mitigation Performance Measure for Federal-Aid Highway Projects
Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

FHWA Natural and Human Environment Goal: To protect and enhance the natural environment and communities affected by highway transportation.

In support of this goal, FHWA is committed to provide as mitigation, on a Federal-aid program-wide basis, an average of 1.5 acres of wetland for every acre unavoidably impacted. This is further demonstrated by an agency commitment under the Federal Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP) to provide compensatory mitigation on Federal-aid highway projects that results in a net increase of wetland acreage of at least 50 percent over a 10-year period from 1996 to 2006.

Background

The FHWA field offices annually collect the information pertinent to the documentation of this wetland mitigation indicator. Documenting agency performance toward achieving this indicator allows a comparison of the area of wetland unavoidably impacted to the area of wetland provided through compensatory wetland mitigation efforts. Currently, the most direct and straightforward way to gather and present the information is on an acreage basis.

As a result, progress during Fiscal Years (FY) 1996-2003 and now, 2004 has been measured for Federal-aid projects nationwide by comparing the total acres of wetland impacted by projects in the reporting State programs to the acres of wetland provided as compensatory mitigation. FHWA staff continues to recommend that these data be used with caution, and that continued evaluation of the success and performance of compensatory mitigation sites is necessary to substantiate the achievement of our long-range strategic performance objectives. However, FHWA staff asserts the current data, in conjunction with similar data compiled for FY 1996-2003, provide a valuable performance indicator of the Federal-aid highway program in achieving an immediate increase of wetland area, and is strongly indicative that a long-term net gain of wetland functions and values is being realized within the federally-funded highway program.

Results for FY 2004

In FY 2004, 41 State DOTs and combined Federal Lands Highway divisions reported 1763 acres of mitigation and 847 acres of impacts. The data does not provide a complete record of wetland impacts due to federally-funded highway projects, but are a measure of program performance against a "net gain of wetland" criteria. On a program-wide basis, the FY 2004 figures indicate that Federal-aid highway projects provided 2.1 acres of compensatory wetland mitigation for each acre of impact, continuing to exceed our performance goal of 1.5 acres mitigation per acre of impact.

Summary

The reports submitted indicate that our compensatory mitigation ratio is approximately 2.1:1 for the Federal-aid highway program on a national basis. This ratio is comparable to the wetland impact: mitigation data for the Federal-aid program collected in previous years. (See Exhibit 5)

The mitigation ratio and mitigation/impact figures are a strong indication that the project eligibility and funding provisions for wetland mitigation originally enacted in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and subsequently strengthened in Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), continue to be effective in enhancing the natural environment. The FHWA maintains that those provisions continue to be helpful in accomplishing the Nation's environmental goals under the CWAP initiatives and the Federal Wetland Mitigation Action Plan. The data indicated above demonstrate the opportunities for continued flexibility in mitigating wetland impacts through other wetland conservation programs that are eligible for TEA-21 funds. This could support streamlining objectives, yield further cost efficiencies, timesavings, and ecological benefits in mitigating the wetland impacts of highway projects.