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NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION POLICY ON WETLANDS THE STATE OF NH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CHARLES P. OLEARY, JR. COMMISSIONER October 29, 1990 The New Hampshire Department of Transportation fully recognizes the ecological and social importance of New Hampshire's wetland systems. The Department supports the concept of no net loss of wetlands, which is achievable through the sequencing process of avoidance, minimization and mitigation. As a public service agency, the Department is committed to carry out its mission of providing safe and efficient transportation facilities in a manner environmentally, economically and morally acceptable to the citizenry of this state. We are all stewards of our resources, with the obligation to balance our consumption requirements for the present against our needs for the future. The Department will continue to develop projects in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, balancing to the extent practicable the benefits of project implementation with the unavoidable adverse effects. The directives of Executive Order 11990 and the regulatory requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and other appropriate rules, regulations and guidelines, will hold equal importance in project planning and development. Transportation improvement decisions, relative to wetland issues, will not be arbitrary and capricious. Sound engineering principles and scientifically supportable wetland ecology tenets will be the basis for all decisions. This will assure that unreasonable standards for transportation design will not be imposed and that the value of any wetlands will not be artificially inflated. To facilitate avoidance of wetlands, the Department of Transportation encourages a cooperative local/state/federal effort to inventory the wetland resources of the state. Advance knowledge of the location and value of wetlands will be an invaluable planning tool. To encourage the minimization of impacts to wetlands, the Department will conduct training sessions for its planners, designers, constructors and maintainers to emphasize wetland values and identify appropriate operational procedures to reduce the magnitude and extent of wetland losses. Furthermore, the Department will initiate cooperative efforts with other appropriate agencies to engage in corrective actions to reverse adverse wetland impacts attributed to previous Department construction or maintenance activities. Finally, to promote the mitigation of unavoidable wetland impacts occasioned by the construction of new or improved transportation facilities, the Department will aggressively pursue a program of restoration, enhancement, creation and preservation of wetlands. Through cooperative efforts, the Department, with assistance from other appropriate agencies, will conduct a statewide inventory of potential mitigation sites. Advance identification of these sites will allow the Department to retain them expressly for mitigation. The Department will then carry out a technically correct plan of action to achieve appropriate and acceptable mitigation. This mitigation can be accomplished without association with any specific project, as insurance against future impacts. The Department is committed to the full implementation of such a wetland banking program. Assistant Commissioner N.H. Department of Transportation Commissioner N.H. Department of Transportation Home | Agenda | Minutes | Conservation Plan | P&P Manual | Wetland Protection | Milford Regulations | Trails & Land | Town of Milford
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