NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Ecosystem Enhancement Program - NCDOT-Wetland
Ecosystem Enhancement Program
FY 2010-11 NCDOT STREAM & WETLAND PROGRAM STATUS (FUND 2984) Financial DefinitionsNCDOT Stream & Wetland Program (FUND 2984):EEP's nationally recognized in-lieu fee NCDOT Stream & Wetland Program provides offsite compensatory wetland and stream mitigation for the N.C. Department of Transportation in advance of permitted impacts. Established in 2003, the program has allowed NCDOT to move forward nearly $14 billion in transportation projects through the end of 2012 without a single delay because of a lack of mitigation permits. The program operates on a cash-flow basis, whereby EEP invoices NCDOT on a quarterly basis and secures only those funds required to cover anticipated operating costs for the upcoming quarter. Future-year obligations are guaranteed to be paid in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement between NCDOT and NCDENR. The current total amount of future NCDOT obligations are listed as the “Net Accounts Receivable.” This information is reported quarterly during routine invoicing processes. Also, as a matter of normal business practice, the NCDOT Inspector General’s office audits the financial files at EEP quarterly and has had no significant findings in more than 20 inspections. In addition, no discrepancies have been found in each of the Federal Highway Administration’s annual audits of EEP. The NCDOT Stream and Wetland Program has been a national leader in producing mitigation credits available in advance of impacts, the primary objective of this program. The goal is to produce sufficient mitigation credits necessary to offset impacts from the implementation of the entire NCDOT Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) in advance of the permitting phase of those projects. By 2015, mitigation projects will be designed, constructed and monitored for at least two years prior to the letting of any specific TIP project. To date, the NCDOT Stream and Wetland Program has more than 750,000 stream credits and more than 10,000 wetland credits ready to use for future NCDOT transportation projects. |
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