WASHINGTON (AP) The Bush administration is encouraging developers who destroy wetlands or streams and are required to replace them to pay other businesses to do the work.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency issued proposed regulations March 27 that are intended to promote companies that specialize in creating swamps, marshes and streams.

Benjamin Grumbles, the EPA’s assistant administrator for water, said he hopes the number of businesses engaged in “mitigation banking” will double. About 300 such businesses now exist.

Developers could buy credits from such companies to compensate for the bogs, swamps, marshes and other types of wetlands and streams they fill in.

This is the first time the government has issued a rule spelling out what professional standards for wetlands compensation should be required under the Clean Water Act.

George Dunlop, the Army’s deputy assistant secretary, said greater use of mitigation banking would make restoration work more predictable and consistent.

The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, found last year the Army Corps could not ensure that the 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of wetlands restoration work required each year since 1983 is actually taking place.

With the proposed regulations, the government is turning to private businesses to improve compliance.

“I believe I’m going to love it,” said John Ryan, president of Land and Water Resources Inc., in Rosemont, IL, a company that specializes in such work. “It’s great for the environment and for us. Now everybody has to be held to the same high standards that we are.”

Julie Sibbing, a wetlands expert with the National Wildlife Federation, said the rule is too eager to adopt mitigation banking as an ideal approach.

“It sets it up almost on a pedestal. It says that if you’re going to use a mitigation bank, it’s almost an automatic OK,” she said. “This is a real business-friendly rule, not only for mitigation bankers but also developers.”

The lower 48 states in pre-colonial times had an estimated 220 million acres (89 million ha) of wetlands and streams, but 115 million acres (47 million ha) of them had been destroyed by 1997, estimates say.

Today's top stories

Eagle Bridge Co. Works On Final Leg of U.S. 35 Upgrade

Fay Preps Way for Pittsburgh International Airport Modernization Project

Volvo CE Continues to Perform, Transform During Slower Q1 2024

American Bridge Co. Leads Conn.'s East Haddam Swing Bridge Project

Pettibone Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Cary-Lift

Common Ground Alliance Hosts Conference & Expo in Colorado On Preventing Utility Damages

Going Beyond Diversity: Star Equipment's Rental Advantage

Volvo CE Launches Updated L30, L35 Compact Wheel Loaders