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mine owners with the possibility of recouping at least some of the remediation costs. <br />As a compensatory mitigation approach, wetland banking is unique in that the banks are created in <br />advance of any damage to wetlands. According to the Banking Guidance, these banks are designed <br />to "replace essential aquatic functions that are <br />anticipated to be lost through authorized <br />activities within the bank's service area." Once <br />fully functional, the services wetland banks <br />provide are quantified as "credits," which <br />developers can buy from the bank sponsor to <br />offset the "debit" created when development <br />activities impact the functioning of a wetland. <br />The quantity and type of credits that a bank <br />provides depend on the amount of acreage and <br />wetland type at the bank and/or on the habitat, <br />physical or biological functions, or social <br />values the wetland furnishes. <br />At former mine lands, the mine land owner would serve as the bank's sponsor and would be <br />responsible for the operation, monitoring, and overall functioning of the bank as well as the success <br />of the credit exchange system. The Army Corps of Engineers oversees the exchange of credits on <br />aproject-specific basis and determines the number and availabilityofcredits required to compensate <br />for proposed impacts in accordance with the terms of the banking instrument. Once the Corps <br />approves the sale of credits, the bank sponsor issues a certificate or receipt to the purchaser. The <br />purchaser, in turn, furnishes the certificate to the regulatory authority to verify the completed <br />transaction and satisfaction of the developer's mitigation requirement. The bank sponsor should also <br />make the appropriate real estate arrangements, such as conservation easements and transfer of title <br />to a federal or state resource agency or non-profit organization, to ensure the wetland is preserved <br />in perpetuity, guaranteeing that wetland functioning will continue at the site and that incompatible <br />uses such as industrial development or vehicular use will be prohibited. <br />Mine land owners may create wetlands at former mining sites for a variety of reasons: to remediate <br />mining-related contamination such as acid mine drainage, to protect the property from potential acid <br />mine drainage and regulatory actions, and/or to establish additional wetland acreage in a formerly <br />non-wetlands area. Certain wetland construction activities at former mine lands, however, do not <br />qualify for wetland banking. Banking credits cannot be issued for wetlands that were created as a <br />component of a former mining site's remedy. Additionally, the Banking Guidance stipulates that <br />"federally-funded wetland conservation projects undertaken via separate authority and for other <br />purposes cannot be used for the purpose of generating credits within a mitigation bank." 2 <br />2 For instance, wetland projects associated with the Wetlands Reserve Program, Farmer's <br />Home Administration fee title transfers or conservation easements, or the Partners for Wildlife <br />Program cannot be used to generate banking credits. <br />