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represents a reuse opportunity with benefits for the community, the environment, and the mine land <br />owners. <br />what are Wetlands? <br />Section 404 of the Clean Water Act defines <br />wetlands as "areas that are inundated or <br />saturated by surface and groundwater at a <br />frequency and duration sufficient to support, <br />and that under normal circumstances do <br />support, a prevalence of vegetation typically <br />adapted for life in saturated soil conditions." <br />Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and <br />similar areas, which provide a variety of <br />ecologically important functions. These <br />functions vary from wetland to wetland, but in <br />general, wetland services include protecting <br />and improving water quality, assisting in <br />floodwater control, recharging water supplies <br />in dry periods, and providing fish and wildlife habitats. Additionally, wetlands provide recreational <br />opportunities such as fishing and hunting, aesthetic benefits to communities, and commercial fishery <br />benefits. <br />what is Wetland Banking? <br />Wetland banking is the restoration, creation, or enhancement of wetlands to compensate for wetlands <br />that are unavoidably destroyed by development activity in other locations. This approach was <br />established to support CWA's mandate that unavoidable impacts to wetlands be offset through the <br />creation or restoration of similarly functioning wetlands, otherwise known as compensatorywetland <br />mitigation. When possible, this mitigation should occur on site, in areas contiguous with the <br />impacted wetlands. In instances where on-site mitigation is not possible, off-site compensatory <br />mitigation such as wetland banking is allowable. The Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use, <br />and Operation of Mitigation Banks (hereafter referred to as "Banking Guidance"; available at <br />htty://www.ena.~ov/owow/wetlands/mitbankn.htinl) further detailed the protocol for wetland <br />banking. <br />Ecologically, wetlands creation can transform former mines into thriving habitats for plants and <br />animals, and the wetlands can aid in removing harmful metals from contaminated waters. Wetlands <br />creation can provide mine land owners with financial rewards as well, through the sale of bank <br />"credits" to landowners or developers who must compensate for damage to wetlands during <br />development. Mine owners can thenuse the revenue from these credit sales to help fund site cleanup. <br />Remediation at mining sites can sometimes take decades to complete, but wetland banking provides <br />2 <br />