Abstract:

This dataset contains mitigation bank and in-lieu fee program sites in Florida from the US Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS). A mitigation bank is a site where resources (e.g., wetlands, streams, riparian areas) are restored, established, enhanced, and/or preserved for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation for impacts authorized by Department of the Army permits. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates resources like wetlands and streams under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and in some cases Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The measure of aquatic functions is based on the resources restored, established, enhanced, or preserved. An in-lieu fee program involves the restoration, establishment, enhancement, and/or preservation through funds paid to a governmental or non-profit natural resources management program sponsor to satisfy compensatory mitigation requirements under Department of the Army permits. Funds are often received by the in-lieu fee program sponsor prior to undertaking compensatory mitigation projects. In lieu fee programs can involve multiple mitigation project sites.

Purpose:

RIBITS (Regulatory In lieu fee and Bank Information Tracking System) was
developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with support from the Environmental
Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal Highway
Administration, and NOAA Fisheries to provide better information on mitigation and
conservation banking and in-lieu fee programs across the country. RIBITS allows
users to access information on the types and numbers of mitigation and conservation
bank and in-lieu fee program sites, associated documents, mitigation credit availability,
service areas, as well information on national and local policies and procedures that
affect mitigation and conservation bank and in-lieu fee program development and
operation.

Supplemental_Information:

A mitigation bank is an aquatic resource area that has been restored, created,
enhanced, or (in exceptional circumstances) preserved, which is then set aside to
compensate for future impacts to aquatic resources for development activities. A
mitigation bank may be created when a government agency, a corporation, or a
nonprofit organization undertakes such activities under a formal agreement with a
regulatory agency. The value of a bank is determined by quantifying the functions
or area restored or created in terms of "credits."
 
Benefits of Mitigation Banking:
* Banking can provide more cost-effective mitigation and reduce uncertainty and
  delays for qualified projects, especially when the project is associated with a
  comprehensive planning effort.
* Successful mitigation can be ensured since the aquatic resource can be 
  functional in advance of project impacts.
* Banking eliminates the temporal losses of aquatic resource functions that typically
  occur when mitigation is initiated during or after the development impacts occur
* Consolidation of numerous small, isolated or fragmented mitigation projects into a
  single large parcel may have greater ecological benefit. 
* A mitigation bank can bring scientific and planning expertise and financial resources 
  together, thereby increasing the likelihood of success in a way not practical for individual 
  mitigation efforts.

Currentness_Reference:

publication date

Use_Constraints:

None.

Address:

441 G Street NW

Data_Set_Credit:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

GeoPlan relied on the integrity of the attribute information within
the original data.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

This data is provided 'as is'. GeoPlan relied on the integrity
of the original data layer's topology

Completeness_Report:

This data is provided 'as is' by GeoPlan and is complete to our
knowledge.

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

This data is provided 'as is' and its horizontal positional accuracy
has not been verified by GeoPlan

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

This data is provided 'as is' and its vertical positional accuracy
has not been verified by GeoPlan

Source_Contribution:

Spatial and Attribute Information

Process_Description:

GeoPlan Center Process Steps: 

Mitigation bank and ILF site data was downloaded from RIBITS on 11/8/2019. 

Download Instructions:
1. https://ribits.usace.army.mil/
2. MENU > Banks & ILF Sites
3. Actions > Select Columns: Add all columns to "Display in Report" 
   window
4. Actions > Filter: State Abbrev List contains 'FL'
5. Actions > Download: As CSV
6. After making the selections above, download Footprint KML 
   file from the Google Map window.

Downloaded Files: 
- banks_and_ilf_sites.csv (168 records)
- RIBITS_BANKS_ILF_KML_footprint.kmz (156 records)

Latitude/longitude data from "banks_and_ilf_sites.csv" was mapped and 
exported as a shapefile and "RIBITS_BANKS_ILF_KML_footprint.kmz" was 
converted from a kmz file to a shapefile. Both datasets were mapped in the 
GCS_WGS_84 (EPSG: 4326) projection and then reprojected to FGDL Albers 
NAD83 HARN (EPSG: 3087).

Next, "banks_and_ilf_sites" was joined to "RIBITS_BANKS_ILF_KML_footprint"
via the BANK_ID field. The resulting table join was exported to shapefile. 
Twelve sites had no footprint (polygon) spatial data, and thus were not 
included in the final dataset: 
* HATCHINEHA RANCH CONSERVATION BANK PHASE 2 (BANK ID 3526)
* HATCHINEHA RANCH MB (BANK ID 1040)
* HEATHER ISLAND MB (BANK ID 290)
* ILF KEYS ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION FUND (BANK ID 2120)
* ILF-KRF-BAHIA HONDA PROJECT A (BANK ID 3573)
* ILF-KRF-CRANE POINT HAMMOCK (BANK ID 3385)
* MARION MB (BANK ID 4438)
* NATURAL RESOURCE MB (BANK ID 3272)
* OSPREY UNIT MB (BANK ID 3061)
* PEPPER RANCH PRESERVE CONSERVATION BANK (BANK ID 5375)
* RG RESERVE MB (BANK ID 277)
* TWIN OAKS MB (BANK ID 3553)

Field lengths of existing fields were shortened and fields were upcased. 
The following fields were added to the table: 
- URL field populated based on the following field calculation: 
  "https://ribits.usace.army.mil/ribits_apex/f?p=107:10:12127777969408::NO::P10_BANK_ID:"
  & [BANK_ID] & ":"
- DESCRIPT field populated based on NAME. 
- FGDLAQDATE field populated based on the date the dataset was downloaded
  from the source. 

Finally, the file was renamed ribits_2019.shp.

Process_Description:

Dataset copied.

Attribute_Definition:

Internal feature number.