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United States · Bill · HR

H.R. 3692 (104th)

Wetlands Restoration and Improvement Act of 1996

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

20 June 1996

Last action

5 July 1996 · Referred

Status

Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Sponsors

Rep. Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R-NC-3], Rep. Saxton, Jim [R-NJ-3], Rep. Tauzin, W. J. (Billy) [R-LA-3], Rep. Coble, Howard [R-NC-6], Rep. Dornan, Robert K. [R-CA-46]

Subjects

Environment

Source updated

21 August 2025

Environment

Summary

Wetlands Restoration and Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to declare that it is national policy to: (1) achieve, through regulatory and nonregulatory opportunities involving all levels of government and supported by private initiatives, the conservation and restoration of wetlands to increase the quantity and quality of, and no overall net loss of, the wetlands resource base of the United States; and (2) foster wetlands mitigation banking as a means to mitigate wetlands loss by providing a stable, practical, and workable regulatory framework for the use of mitigation banking, making appropriate use of existing, successful State programs for mitigation banking, taking into account regional variations in wetlands conditions. Directs the Secretary of the Army to issue a mitigation bank charter to a person whose application satisfies specified criteria. Requires an applicant to submit an application signed by a responsible official which contains specified information, including: (1) the proposed restoration, enhancement, creation, or preservation projects proposed to be included in the scope of the charter; (2) the proposed service area for each proposed project; (3) reliable assurances of an adequate source of water; (4) adequate legal control over the real property in the proposed project; (5) adequate financial assurances; (6) an adequate operations and maintenance plan to assure continued viability of the proposed project after completion of project construction; and (7) adequate legal protection to assure permanent protection of the wetlands in the mitigation bank that are used as the basis for selling credits. Sets forth provisions regarding annual reports, decision deadlines, and other procedural matters, including State approval of mitigation bank projects. Authorizes a mitigation bank, upon receipt of its charter, to offer mitigation credits for sale, subject to specified requirements. Directs the Secretary to propose regulations which set forth objective criteria by which: (1) the number of credits to be yielded by a mitigation banking project may be determined; and (2) mitigation bank service areas are to be determined. Requires such regulations to establish a preference for in-kind compensation of wetland impacts. Directs the Secretary to develop a State-by-State implementation strategy. Sets forth reporting requirements.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 20 June 1996

    Introduced

    Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 20 June 1996

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 20 June 1996

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  4. 5 July 1996

    Referred

    Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

    Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in House (text)

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  • Introduced in House (text)

    Introduced in House · EN · 20 June 1996

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

  • Introduced in House (PDF)

    Introduced in House · EN · 20 June 1996

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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  • Introduced in House

    summary · EN · 20 June 1996

    Open at official source

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Sponsors

Related records

Sources

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