Montana Code 87-5-911. Compensatory mitigation — findings
87-5-911. Compensatory mitigation — findings. (1) The legislature finds that allowing a project developer to provide compensatory mitigation for the debits of a project is consistent with the purpose of incentivizing voluntary conservation measures for sage grouse habitat and populations. The project developer may provide compensatory mitigation by:
Terms Used In Montana Code 87-5-911
- Conservation bank: means a site or group of sites established through an agreement with the United States fish and wildlife service to provide ecological functions and services expressed as credits that are conserved and managed for sage grouse habitat and populations and used to offset debits occurring elsewhere. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- General habitat: means an area providing habitat for sage grouse but not identified as a core area or connectivity area. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- Habitat exchange: means a market-based system that facilitates the exchange of credits and debits between interested parties. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- Habitat quantification tool: means the scientific method used to evaluate vegetation and environmental conditions related to the quality and quantity of sage grouse habitat and to quantify and calculate the value of credits and debits. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Oversight team: means the Montana sage grouse oversight team established in 2-15-243. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- Project developer: means an entity proposing an action that will result in a debit. See Montana Code 87-5-903
- Sage grouse: means the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). See Montana Code 87-5-903
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)using the habitat quantification tool to calculate the debits attributable to the project; and
(b)under a mitigation plan approved by the oversight team, offsetting those debits in whole or in part by:
(i)purchasing an equal number of credits from a habitat exchange authorized by the United States fish and wildlife service or from the available credits tracked by the oversight team pursuant to 87-5-904. Payments received for credits tracked by the oversight team must be deposited in the sage grouse stewardship account established in 87-5-909.
(ii)if sufficient conservation credits are unavailable for purchase, making a financial contribution to the sage grouse stewardship account established in 87-5-909 that is equal to the average cost of the credits that would otherwise be required;
(iii)providing funds to establish a habitat exchange or finance a conservation project for the purpose of creating credits to offset debits. However, the funds may not be used to subsidize mitigation by or decrease the mitigation obligations of any party involved in the project.
(iv)undertaking other mitigation options identified and approved by the oversight team, including but not limited to sage grouse habitat enhancement, participation in a conservation bank, or funding stand-alone mitigation actions.
(2)All mitigation undertaken pursuant to this section must be taken in consideration of applicable United States fish and wildlife service sage grouse policies, state law, and any rules adopted pursuant to this part.
(3)A mitigation action taken under this section must be conducted within general habitat, core areas, or connectivity areas.
(4)A project developer may submit alternative locations for a project to compare the compensatory mitigation requirements of each and choose which alternative to develop based upon that information.