In Lieu Fee Stream and Wetland Mitigation

Overview

The In Lieu Fee (ILF) Program was initiated by DEP to provide an additional tool for achieving compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States and state waters, including wetlands, streams and associated buffers. Permits that are required for such impacts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under §404 of the Clean Water Act, under §10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act , and by the State of West Virginia under §401 of the Clean Water Act . The permit allows permittees to participate in the state's ILF Program if there are no Mitigation Banks available to provide compensatory mitigation. Permittees participate by paying a fee, which is determined by inputting qualitative and quantitative data from proposed impacts to streams and wetlands into the West Virginia Stream and Wetland Valuation Metric.

The goal of West Virginia's ILF Program is to achieve no net loss of existing stream and wetland acreage and functions in West Virginia through effective restoration, enhancement, replacement, and preservation of aquatic resources. The program utilizes watershed and landscape based planning to identify and assess potential mitigation opportunities that maximize the ecological benefits of aquatic resources within the same geographic service areas as the impacts. By consolidating the mitigation requirements stemming from multiple impacts, large scale watershed efforts can be focused within priority watersheds. The ILF Program works closely with other state and federal agencies, non-government organizations, academic institutions, watershed associations, individuals and others to develop plans and set priorities.

Contact Us

For more information, please contact:

Kristy Rodrigue, In Lieu Fee Program Coordinator
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Water and Waste Management
1159 Nick Rahall Greenway
Fayetteville, WV 25840
Email: Kristy.L.Rodrigue@wv.gov
Business Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Program Details

WV In-Lieu Fee Instrument

This West Virginia In-Lieu Fee Mitigation Program Instrument (“Instrument”) between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington and Pittsburgh Districts (“Corps”) and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) details the establishment and processes for the West Virginia In-Lieu Fee Stream and Wetland Mitigation Program (the “Program”).

Program Documents

Program Resources

Grant Opportunities

The WVDEP ILF Program distributes collected funds through Grant Funding Opportunities. These opportunities are published and accessible through the following channels:

West Virginia Vendor Self Service (VSS) Portal
View active listings directly on the wvOASIS VSS Portal under "View Grant Opportunities"
Kristy.L.Rodrigue@wv.gov
Email Distribution List: Receive notifications directly in your inbox. To be added to the distribution list, email the ILF Program Coordinator, Kristy Rodrigue.
WV In-Lieu Fee Site Evaluation Form
Note: This form is required only when an active Grant Funding Opportunity is posted. It must be completed and included as part of your official grant application submittal.

Participant Documents

In-Lieu Fee Credit Request Form
For Projects Requiring Greater than 500 Stream Credits
In-Lieu Fee Participant Information Form
To purchase stream and/or wetland credits from the In-Lieu Fee program, the In-Lieu Fee Participant Information Form must be completed and submitted along with the Applicant's Permit (which specifies the mitigation requirements) and the West Virginia Stream and Wetland Valuation Metric (WVSWVM) Version 3.0 (September) sheets for confirmation from the ILF Program Coordinator.

Available Credits and Project Grant Awards

ILF Program Available Credits

Available stream and wetland credits for various West Virginia watersheds.

Secondary Service Area (SSA)	8 Digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) Watershed	Available Stream Credits	Available Wetland Credits
1	Little Kanawha	345,660.00	15.600
1	Middle Ohio North	123,036.15	4.597
1	Middle Ohio South	104,655.00	48.200
1	Upper Ohio North/Upper Ohio South	10,972.59	10.000
2	Cheat/Youghiogheny	61,095.00	56.200
2	Monongahela/Dunkard	31,110.00	11.000
2	Tygart Valley	49,215.00	211.400
2	West Fork	34,715.77	28.084
3	Cacapon/Shenandoah Hardy	36,210.00	133.218
3	North Branch Potomac	6,225.00	112.300
3	Potomac Direct Drains/Shenandoah Jefferson	24,016.75	75.093
3	South Branch Potomac	12,402.56	213.729
4	Coal	45,270.00	28.300
4	Elk	72,420.00	10.000
4	Gauley	42,990.00	64.000
4	Greenbrier	29,415.00	279.800
4	Lower Kanawha	96,735.00	149.100
4	Lower New	12,325.25	8.821
4	Upper Kanawha	15,622.50	10.000
4	Upper New/James	32,018.00	160.700
5	Big Sandy/Lower Ohio	31,680.00	2.593
5	Lower Guyandotte	109,570.65	7.262
5	Tug Fork	19,075.65	9.373
5	Twelvepole	35,640.00	9.400
5	Upper Guyandotte	55,698.61	7.867

Project Grant Awards

Project	Sub-Grant Awardee	USACE District	ILF SSA	Phase/Stage	Award Amount	Performance Period
Turkey Run	Water & Land Solutions, LLC	LRH	1	Permitting	$5,310,810.00	11/18/2023 to 12/31/2035
Frozen Camp	Canaan Valley Institute/Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRH	1	Monitoring	$2,257,877.94	4/1/2015 to 12/31/2028
McClintic	Decota Consulting Company Inc	LRH	1	Monitoring	$1,718,351.00	9/15/2015 to 12/31/2026
Hillcrest	Canaan Valley Institute/Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRP	1	Long-term Management	$1,905,837.05	5/31/2015 to 1/31/2028
UNT #1 to Teter Ck	GAI Consultants/AllStar Ecology, LLC	LRP	2	Monitoring	$3,008,461.00	10/19/2017 to12/31/2034
Gandy Creek	Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRP	2	Long-term Management	$443,152.00	5/1/2015 to 3/15/2028
Lamothe Hollow	WVDNR/Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRP	2	Long-term Management	$177,325.00	4/13/2018 to 3/15/2021
Whitethorn Creek	Trout Unlimited	LRP	3	Monitoring	$250,505.00	8/1/2014 to 12/31/2027
Morgan Wetlands	Canaan Valley Institute/Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRP	3	Long-term Management	$112,184.00	7/31/2015 to 12/31/2021
Nathaniel Mountain	Canaan Valley Institute/Downstream Strategies, LLC	LRP	3	Long-term Management	$180,180.74	6/24/2013 to 12/31/2021
Green Spring Run	Water & Land Solutions, LLC	LRP	3	Permitting	$2,542,500.00	7/15/2025 to 12/31/2027
Kanawha State Forest	Decota Consulting Company Inc.	LRH	4	Monitoring	$2,736,282.75	2/19/2018 to 12/37/2027
Meadow Bluff	AllStar Ecology, LLC	LRH	4	Monitoring	$1,753,964.00	10/18/2021 to 12/31/2032
Little Clear Creek	EBX-EM, LLC	LRH	4	Monitoring	$808,452.00	5/10/2017 to 12/31/2028
Mill Creek	Decota Consulting Company Inc	LRH	5	Monitoring	$4,249,078.84	9/15/2015 to 12/31/2027
Green Bottom	Decota Consulting Company Inc	LRH	5	Monitoring	$667,000.00	11/7/2016 to 12/31/2027

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the WVDEP In-Lieu Fee (ILF) Program?

The WVDEP ILF Program is an environmental mitigation program designed to provide an additional resource for satisfying compensatory mitigation requirements. It allows individuals, companies, or government entities to compensate for unavoidable, permitted adverse impacts to wetlands, streams, and buffers in West Virginia. Instead of implementing their own mitigation projects, permittees can fulfill their legal obligations by paying a fee directly into the state-administered ILF fund.

What regulations govern the WVDEP ILF Program?

The program operates under the federal 2008 Compensatory Mitigation Rule (33 CFR Part 332) and the West Virginia In-Lieu Fee Stream and Wetland Mitigation Program Instrument (fully updated and approved in 2021). It satisfies mitigation mandates tied to:

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (USACE permits)
Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act
Section 401 Water Quality Certification (State of West Virginia)

Who is eligible to purchase credits from the ILF program?

Any permittee who has received or is applying for a permit that mandates compensatory mitigation for aquatic impacts may request to use the program. However, standard mitigation sequencing must be followed first: Avoid impacts, Minimize impacts, and finally, Compensate for unavoidable impacts.

Can I buy ILF credits if a private Mitigation Bank has credits available

Generally, no. Under the federal mitigation hierarchy, approved mitigation banks are given preference. Permittees are typically allowed to participate in the WVDEP ILF Program only if there are no mitigation bank credits available within the appropriate watershed service area to satisfy the permit requirements.

How is the mitigation fee determined?

Fees are calculated based on the quantity and quality of the proposed stream or wetland impacts. Permittees must input qualitative and quantitative baseline data into the West Virginia Stream and Wetland Valuation Metric (WVSWVM) Version 3.0 (September) to determine the exact number of stream or wetland credits required.

Once the required amount of mitigation credits is established via the metric, the financial cost is applied using the following baseline ILF program rates:

Credit Type	Unit Cost
Stream Credit	$800.00 per credit
Wetland Credit	$127,500.00 per credit

Once I pay the ILF fee, who is responsible for the mitigation project's success?

Upon the transfer of fees and final regulatory approval, all legal liability and mitigation responsibility shift from the permittee to the WVDEP. The WVDEP assumes full liability for the design, implementation, performance, and long-term stewardship of the mitigation sites.

How does the ILF program use the collected fees?

Unlike mitigation banks, which build ecological sites before selling credits, an ILF program collects fees first ("advance credits"). Once sufficient funds are aggregated within a particular watershed service area, the WVDEP pools those resources to fund ecologically significant restoration, enhancement, or preservation projects.

The WVDEP distributes collected funds through Grant Funding Opportunities. These opportunities are published and accessible through the following channels:

West Virginia Vendor Self Service (VSS) Portal: View active listings directly on the wvOASIS VSS Portal .
Email Distribution List: Receive notifications directly in your inbox. To be added to the distribution list,email the ILF Program Coordinator, Kristy Rodrigue, at Kristy.L.Rodrigue@wv.gov.

Where can I find current credit availability?

You can view the credit availability by downloading the In-Lieu Fee Available Credits document featured in the Program Details -> ILF Program Available Credits section of this page.