In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument

The In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument is a set of documents describing operations of the program and the framework for implementing mitigation. It is also a legal contract among King County and the US Army Corps of Engineers and Washington Department of Ecology -- the parties to the instrument. The program was “certified” in 2012 (see history below) it is compliant with federal, state, and local rules and regulations and will chart the way for King County to continue successfully meeting mitigation needs for unavoidable permitted impacts.

The links below lead to the set of documents which makes up the Program Instrument:

• In Lieu Fee Instrument - Basic Agreement (131 KB) This document outlines basic operations and establishes legal commitments and obligations.
• In Lieu Fee Program Instrument – Technical Appendices and Exhibits (3.1 MB) This document describes program operations in detail.
• Bibliography, Mitigation Credit Program Instrument (184 KB)
• Exhibit 1, part 1: Service Areas Map (269 KB)
• Exhibit 1, part 2: Critical Areas Permit Volume by Basin (856 KB)
• Exhibit 2: Snoqualmie Service Area Map (351 KB)
• Exhibit 3: Skykomish Service Area Map (271 KB)
• Exhibit 4: Cedar - Lake Washington Service Area Map (347 KB)
• Exhibit 5: Sammamish Service Area Map (334 KB)
• Exhibit 6: Green River Service Area Map (342 KB)
• Exhibit 7: Central Puget Sound Service Area Map (330 KB)
• Exhibit 8: White-Puyallup Service Area Map (302 KB)
• Exhibit 9: Roster Sites by Service Area (353 KB)
• Exhibit 10: Mitigation Assessment Method (294 KB)
• Exhibit 10: Calculating Credits and Debits for Compensatory Mitigation in Wetlands of Western Washington, DOE (5.4 MB)
• Exhibit 10: The Credit/Debit Method for Estimating Needs in Compensatory Wetland Mitigation, (Focus Sheet) DOE (336 KB)
• Exhibit 11, part 1: Credit Pricing Analysis (50 KB)
• Exhibit 11, part 2: Land Cost Surcharge Calculations (55 KB)
• Exhibit 11, part 3: Critical Areas Mitigation Bond Quantity Worksheet (45 KB)
• Exhibit 12, part 1: Example Credit Ledger (557 KB)
• Exhibit 12, part 2: Example Aquatic Ledger (38 KB)
• Exhibit 13: Example Fee Ledger (97 KB)
• Exhibit 14: Credit Fulfillment Checklist (230 KB)
• Exhibit 15: Restrictive Covenant Template (281 KB)
• Exhibit 16: Regulatory Guidance Letter (regarding monitoring requirements) (242 KB)
• Exhibit 17: Statement of Sale Template (349 KB)
• Exhibit 18: Spending Agreement Template (363 KB)
• Exhibit 19: King County Ordinance (144 KB)
• Exhibit 20: Using MRP to Meet ESA Section 7 Requirements (221 KB)

Certification process

The Mitigation Reserves Program was certified for operation on March 12, 2012

• In June 2009, King County submitted to the Corps, Ecology, and EPA a program Prospectus which outlined the basic concept of the program. The Prospectus was made available for public review.
• In December 2009, King County incorporated public comments and feedback from the IRT on the program prospectus into a draft Program Instrument which was submitted to the IRT for review.
• In March 2010, King County staff and members of the IRT met to discuss the draft instrument.
• Negotiations about program details continued through 2010, during which time the Program Instrument was significantly revised.
• In June 2011, King County submitted to the IRT a Final Program Instrument.
• In July 2011, the Corps and Ecology, with consent from all IRT members, issued letters stating their intent to certify the program.
• In mid-September 2011, King County staff completed a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) environmental checklist. On September 22, 2011 King County issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) related to environmental impacts of certifying the program, after which there was a two-week public comment period. No comments were submitted.
• In late October 2011 King County Executive Constantine transmitted an ordinance to King County Council by which the Council could then authorize the County Executive to sign the Instrument.
• In January 2012, the King County Council unanimously passed the authorizing ordinance.
• On March 12, 2012, Colonel Bruce Estok (the Corps) signed the program instrument, officially certifying the program.