482-A:31 Rulemaking. –
The commissioner shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to:
I. Identification of appropriate situations under which in lieu payments may be made. The criteria in RSA 482-A:28 shall be the minimum requirements for projects eligible for in lieu payments.
II. The method of calculating the amount of in lieu payments under RSA 482-A:30 and RSA 482-A:30-a which shall approximate the total cost of wetlands construction, stream and river construction, or such other mitigation actions as would have been required by the department and incurred by the applicant in the absence of making such payments. An administrative assessment of 20 percent of the total cost shall be added as part of the calculation method.
III. Criteria to use in selecting projects that would compensate for the lost aquatic resource functions or values.
(a) Tidal aquatic resources shall be compensated by the selection of qualifying tidal projects.
(b) An emphasis shall be given to selecting from among the qualifying projects those that are nearer to the site of the lost aquatic resource.
(c) No project shall be funded with in lieu payments from losses that occurred outside the service area in which the project is located. A service area may be a hydrologic unit code 8 watershed, as developed by the United States Geological Survey, or a modification of a hydrologic unit code 8 watershed by the department as approved by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
(d) Such criteria shall be adopted in consultation with the site selection committee established under RSA 482-A:32.
IV. Requests for extensions of excavating and dredging permits.
V. The certification program for municipal culvert installers under RSA 482-A:3, XVIII.