2023 Wyoming Statutes › Title 9 - Administration of the Government › Chapter 19 - Sage Grouse Implementation and Mitigation Credits › Article 2 - Sage Grouse Implementation and Mitigation Credits › Section 9-19-203 - Compensatory Mitigation; Guidelines.

9-19-203. Compensatory mitigation; guidelines.
(a) The compensatory mitigation credit system required under this act shall be established to allow for development to be conducted in a manner that recognizes and achieves an order of avoidance, minimization and where appropriate and authorized by the permitting agency, compensatory mitigation to ensure the long-term sustainability of greater sage grouse populations and habitats.
(b) The board of land commissioners, after consultation as appropriate with the department of agriculture, the department of environmental quality, the game and fish department, the oil and gas conservation commission, the department of transportation and the Wyoming wildlife and natural resource trust account board, shall adopt rules for the establishment and administration of a compensatory mitigation credit system for greater sage grouse in Wyoming, including rules for evaluating ecological functions, services and values. The rules shall at a minimum provide for:
(i) Science-based criteria under which mitigation credits may be obtained, including provisions that consider additionality, durability, replacement, direct and indirect effects, habitat assurance, habitat vulnerability, occupancy, proximity, access to seasonal habitat and other landscape and habitat needs for the greater sage grouse;
(ii) Establishment of a compensatory mitigation oversight group to consist of representatives of the department of agriculture, the game and fish department, the Wyoming wildlife and natural resource trust account board and the office of state lands and investments to evaluate and provide technical review using the criteria established under paragraph (i) of this subsection and, where appropriate, recommend certification of any mitigation credit provider seeking approval under this act. The group may request assistance from any state, local and federal agency to review credit provider applications and other mitigation measures;
(iii) The service area for the use of compensatory mitigation credits, provided that mitigation shall take place within the state of Wyoming;
(iv) The length of credits to be used and sold, provided that any term credit shall be sold for the period of the expected impact. Credit term expiration before restoration of the impacted location to suitability shall require the party responsible for the mitigation to purchase additional credits or negotiate a credit contract extension. Credit mitigation shall remain in place until the impact to the habitat of greater sage grouse is restored to suitability. Any term credit sold under this act shall be for a period of not less than five (5) years;
(v) Criteria for the use and sale of compensatory mitigation credits, including specific compensatory mitigation debit requirements for impacts to greater sage grouse core and non-core population areas, that insure equivalence and parity between debit and credit calculations;
(vi) Criteria for other forms of mitigation, including operator-offered measures and restoration credits and measures for reduced or eliminated take;
(vii) The review process for and approval by the board of land commissioners of recommendations submitted by the compensatory mitigation oversight group established in paragraph (ii) of this subsection;
(viii) Requirements for the maintenance and submission by the board of land commissioners of records concerning ecological function and greater sage grouse habitat losses and credit and debit accounts for each mitigation credit provider;
(ix) Requirements for long-term monitoring, management and maintenance of lands associated with mitigation credits obtained under the credit system including monitoring of impacts to sage grouse habitat to ensure that the impacted location is returned to full suitability before a credit purchaser is relieved of liability for mitigation of the impact;
(x) Requirements for periodic financial and performance audits to be conducted on each mitigation credit provider authorized to offer credits and any purchaser of term credits under the compensatory mitigation credit system created by this section. Audits shall be conducted only to ensure that the mitigation credit provider or purchaser are in compliance with the requirements of this act and any rules promulgated for the mitigation credit system;
(xi) Eligibility criteria for mitigation credit providers, including a requirement that a mitigation credit provider shall be a resident of or authorized to conduct business in Wyoming;
(xii) Requirements for financial assurance associated with compensatory mitigation credits obtained under the credit system, provided that the financial assurance requirements are sufficient to address:
(A) Any corrective measures which a mitigation credit provider or their successor in interest is required to take to ameliorate any material injury or adverse impacts to the land or habitat used for compensatory mitigation for which credits are offered that materially impairs the conservation objectives of that land or habitat;
(B) The bankruptcy or financial failure of a mitigation credit provider authorized to offer credits under the compensatory mitigation credit system;
(C) Maintenance, monitoring and management costs.
(c) Every conservation easement used to serve as a credit under this act shall bind the parties thereto to an agreement that provides that the state of Wyoming is a third-party beneficiary to the easement solely with the contingent rights to enter onto the land subject to the easement for inspection and to enforce the terms of the easement if the grantee fails to enforce any of the terms of the easement. The state shall have the right to access a mitigation credit provider's financial assurances in order to address any of the occurrences specified in W.S. 9-19-203(b)(xii).
(d) Upon the purchase of a credit from a mitigation credit provider approved under this act, the purchaser's obligation for mitigation represented by that credit shall be transferred to the mitigation credit provider for the term of the credit.
(e) The board of land commissioners shall certify any habitat conservation bank that has been certified and approved by the United States fish and wildlife service as meeting or exceeding the requirements of this act until the earlier of:
(i) The federally approved habitat conservation bank is approved under the rules promulgated pursuant to this act; or
(ii) July 1, 2023.