The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced a new program to help fund Atlantic salmon recovery work and reduce the regulatory costs associated with road and bridge construction projects, according to an Oct. 24 news release from the DMR.

The Atlantic Salmon Restoration and Conservation Program (ASRCP) allows public and private parties working on road and bridge construction projects to pay a fee in lieu of mitigation efforts required by federal law to offset environmental impacts of the construction activity.

In-Lieu Fee Programs (ILF) were established in 2008 as an instrument of the Army Corps of Engineers to allow Corps permittees to compensate for impacts of their projects which, after all required steps have been taken to avoid or minimize damage to wetlands or aquatic resources, remain unavoidable.

Corps permits are necessary for projects including construction and dredging in the nation's navigable waters. Adverse impacts to the aquatic environment must be offset by mitigation work, which can include restoring, enhancing, creating and preserving aquatic functions and values.

"This program allows us to pool resources from ILF payments and use them for projects that have the greatest potential to support recovery of Atlantic salmon," said Sean Ledwin, Director of the Sea-Run Fisheries Division at DMR, in the release. "The in-lieu-fee program requires that funds paid are used to support other restoration work that results in, at minimum, no net loss of habitat or habitat function. We plan to use the funds to not simply maintain habitat but to restore or enhance salmon habitat in Maine."

Compensation for ASRCP projects will take the form of monetary payments administered by Maine DMR and used for other projects determined to have a high probability of improving habitat and recovery for Atlantic salmon.

The ASRCP program was made possible by an agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Army Corp of Engineers and the State of Maine, which establishes eligibility standards for construction projects in areas of the state that have historic Atlantic salmon populations. The types of projects that are eligible for the ILF program include stream crossing structure removals, replacements, installations, and maintenance.

Fees will be calculated based on the amount of potential Atlantic salmon habitat impacted and the costs to restore salmon habitat. The more habitat that will be impacted, the higher the fee. 

“The impacts of each project are generally small while costs for high quality salmon restoration projects can be expensive, so pooling resources to focus on high priority projects makes a lot of sense," said Ledwin.

The program speeds up implementation of eligible road-stream crossing construction projects in Maine watersheds where Atlantic salmon are found, and that meet specific criteria.

All ILF payments received by the Department of Marine Resources will be made available as grant awards to projects that restore, establish, enhance, and/or preserve Atlantic Salmon habitat throughout Maine.

Once sufficient funds are available, grant proposals will be solicited and evaluated by a Review Committee, convened by the Maine DMR, and made up of representatives from state and federal agencies. ILF Mitigation Projects will be selected based on an analysis of their ability to compensate for impacts of the projects paying into the program.

Information on the Maine Atlantic Salmon Restoration and Conservation Program is available online.