A federal regulation requiring developers to pay more to offset state wetlands lost in new construction projects could seriously
hinder development in Calcasieu Parish and other areas, District 1 Police Juror Shannon Spell said Tuesday.
Under the Modified Charleston Method —
approved by the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District in May 2011
— developers
may have to restore up to three acres of wetlands for every one
acre lost. Spell said it could significantly boost the cost
of certain projects, and may hurt other efforts, like expanding
drainage districts within the parish.
“If we’re doubling our mitigation costs, it’s going to have an extremely negative impact to economies in Calcasieu Parish
and others in Louisiana,” he said. “There has to be a balance somewhere.”
The Modified Charleston Method is
altered from a plan developed several years ago by corps officials in
Charleston, S.C. Before
it was approved, developers had to restore up to 1.5 acres of
Louisiana wetlands for every one acre lost. According to Section
404 of the federal Clean Water Act, wetlands that are lost in any
type of development — whether private, commercial or government
— must be restored.
According to a report issued in June by the Greater New Orleans Inc. Regional Economic Alliance, the average mitigation cost
per project has increased by $60,000 since the MCM was approved. Mitigation application permits are down 17 percent.
Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Jeff
Landry, R-New Iberia, filed an amendment to the Energy and Water
Development and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act for the 2013 fiscal year. It prevents
the corps from enforcing the MCM for a year. The House passed
the legislation in June with a 255-165 vote.
The legislation cleared a Senate committee, but no action has been taken by the full Senate because Congress passed a continuing
appropriations resolution in September that will help fund the federal government through March 27.
Members of Landry’s staff plan to meet Thursday with Col. Edward Fleming, commander and district engineer for the corps’ New
Orleans District, to discuss changing the MCM to reduce the financial impact on developers. Landry said in an email issued
Tuesday that “massively increasing the costs of our needed projects is not the answer.”
“I continue to work with my Senate colleagues and the corps to ensure that, one way or another, the Modified Charleston Method
is done away with,” he said.