State role and involvement in determining wetland mitigation performance standards in the United States

IF 3.6 2区社会学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecology and Society Pub Date : 2024-03-31 DOI:10.5751/es-14530-290130

Jessica Anne Bryzek, Walter E. Veselka IV, James T. Anderson

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Abstract

Wetlands are important ecosystems that contribute to the sustainability of global ecosystems and provide ecosystem functions and services to human civilization. However, many anthropogenic land use practices have led to the degradation of wetlands, making them globally imperiled ecosystems. Within the United States, wetland mitigation is a federally regulated restoration strategy that offsets and compensates for impacts on aquatic resources through restoration. Performance standards assess post-restoration ecosystem development and help regulate management actions. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the organization and interactions of states and federal agencies in determining wetland mitigation performance standards. Using a mixed method approach, including semi-structured interviews and online database reviews, we identify decision-making drivers from the state agency perspective. We develop a ranking classification of state legislation that references performance standards and describes guidance documents by type of authorship. Our findings detail the results of our inquiry into each state’s procedures, including performance standards, revealing diverse management approaches across the nation as states play various implementation and regulatory roles and are driven by collaboration and negotiation among regulators, state and federal legislation, and guidance documents. In addition, we found performance standards most often assess biotic characteristics, with vegetative criteria being the most common. This study synthesizes performance-standard determination and criteria derived from interviews across a spectrum of federal and state participants and a series of guidance documents. We have built a database of these criteria by state and theme to improve our understanding of the dynamic interplay between wetland mitigation science, practice, and policy. Our findings are discussed in the context of the 2023 Sackett vs. United States Environmental Protection Agency ruling.

The post State role and involvement in determining wetland mitigation performance standards in the United States first appeared on Ecology & Society.

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美国各州在确定湿地缓解性能标准方面的作用和参与情况

湿地是重要的生态系统，有助于全球生态系统的可持续性，并为人类文明提供生态系统功能和服务。然而，许多人为的土地使用方式导致湿地退化，使其成为全球濒危生态系统。在美国，湿地减缓是一种受联邦政府监管的恢复策略，通过恢复来抵消和补偿对水生资源的影响。绩效标准评估恢复后的生态系统发展情况，并帮助规范管理行动。本研究的主要目的是调查各州和联邦机构在确定湿地减缓绩效标准方面的组织和互动情况。我们采用混合方法（包括半结构式访谈和在线数据库审查），从州机构的角度确定决策驱动因素。我们对引用性能标准的州立法进行了排序分类，并按作者类型对指导文件进行了描述。我们的研究结果详细说明了我们对各州程序（包括绩效标准）的调查结果，揭示了全国各地不同的管理方法，因为各州扮演着不同的实施和监管角色，并由监管机构、州和联邦立法以及指导文件之间的合作与协商所驱动。此外，我们发现绩效标准最常评估的是生物特征，其中植被标准最为常见。本研究综合了绩效标准的确定和标准，这些标准来自于对联邦和各州参与者的访谈以及一系列指导文件。我们按州和主题建立了这些标准的数据库，以提高我们对湿地缓解科学、实践和政策之间动态相互作用的理解。我们的研究结果将在 2023 年萨基特诉美国环境保护局案的裁决背景下进行讨论。

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来源期刊

Ecology and Society 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

6.20

自引率

4.90%

发文量

109

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Ecology and Society is an electronic, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research. Manuscript submission, peer review, and publication are all handled on the Internet. Software developed for the journal automates all clerical steps during peer review, facilitates a double-blind peer review process, and allows authors and editors to follow the progress of peer review on the Internet. As articles are accepted, they are published in an "Issue in Progress." At four month intervals the Issue-in-Progress is declared a New Issue, and subscribers receive the Table of Contents of the issue via email. Our turn-around time (submission to publication) averages around 350 days. We encourage publication of special features. Special features are comprised of a set of manuscripts that address a single theme, and include an introductory and summary manuscript. The individual contributions are published in regular issues, and the special feature manuscripts are linked through a table of contents and announced on the journal''s main page. The journal seeks papers that are novel, integrative and written in a way that is accessible to a wide audience that includes an array of disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities concerned with the relationship between society and the life-supporting ecosystems on which human wellbeing ultimately depends.