Developers choose the location to build based on a number of factors, which usually do not include the location of wetlands. Developments have to be next to fixed transportation routes, sewer and utility lines, etc. Therefore, developers are usually willing to bear the extra cost of wetland regulations in order to continue to be able to build in that location. This leads to the issue of wetland mitigation. As the wetland laws are written in the US, a developer has to show that there is no economic alternative to building in that certain location. However, this is rarely enforced. In general, a developer will apply for a permit to destroy the wetlands, and will then have to purchase a certain number of wetland mitigation bank credits. The number of credits required depends on the type of wetlands destroyed and the type of credits available in the area of the development. It is usually 1.5 mitigation credits for every one acre of destroyed wetlands.
One of the major issues facing America today is the issue of sprawl, also known development that has been built without any central planning. This goes back to the issue of the location of development. A great deal of the new development is cities across America is in land that is being converted from forest, farming or open space. This land is almost always on the periphery of existing development. These areas often do not have the infrastructure to support new development, yet the development goes on anyway, and later the infrastructure is built. This is a major problem, and could be easily solved by central planning of new development. Much of the development across America over the last ten years has been built without any thought to what is being built around it.
Many of the problems related to wetland destruction and mitigation banking are due to poor planning of new developments. Wetlands and open space can easily be worked into developments, and provide people with green space that they want. By destroying wetlands and then buying credits in a bank that is most likely far from people, the wetlands are not providing all the benefits that they could.
There needs to be a fundamental rethinking of the way that development is approved and new areas are zoned. A good example of what can happen when there is no central planning at all, but continued expansive growth, is Atlanta. Atlanta has the lowest population density of any major city in the country, and has some of the worst traffic and smog as a result. The average Atlanta driver has to drive 35 miles per day, the highest anywhere in the nation. In addition, many towns and cities around central Atlanta refuse to allow new transportation lines to go through their towns for various reasons. And many new developments are being built far out in the suburbs, far from major transportation lines, creating worse traffic and congestion as a result. Atlanta has begun to realize how serious a problem this is and has created an agency, The Georgia Regional Transportation Agency, to handle central planning of land and transporation in the entire Atlanta metropolitan area. This is a major step forward, as this agency has the power to veto all major new developments and force communities to accept new transportation lines with their approval. The reason that this agency was finally created was because Atlanta fell out of compliance with the Clean Air Act in 1997 and lost the right to use federal highway dollars until it once again came into compliance with the Clean Air Act. The GRTA has the mandate to take over transportation and land use planning in any county of Georgia that falls out of compliance with the Clean Air Act.
This is the sort of approach that has to be taken around the country, but preferably at at even lower level. There needs to be central planning in each county, that includes parks and green space. Wetlands can easily be worked into parks and green space before development arives, and then the development can bu built around it. This allows original wetlands to survive, and creates green space that can be used by everyone.
Some other interesting articles on sprawl:
Suburban Sprawl Expanding? (CNN)