§ 9-19-202 — Definitions

Wyoming § 9-19-202

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 09: Administration of the Government
• Ch. 19: SAGE GROUSE IMPLEMENTATION AND MITIGATION CREDITS

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(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Additionality" means the benefits of a
compensatory mitigation measure that improve the baseline
conditions of impacted resources and their values, services and
functions in a manner that is demonstrably new and would not
have occurred without the compensatory mitigation measure;
(ii) "Avoidance" means avoiding an impact completely
by not taking a certain action or part of an action;
(iii) "Compensatory mitigation" means replacement,
substitution or enhancement of ecological functions to offset
anticipated losses of those functions caused by impacts to the
greater sage grouse;
(iv) "Credit" or "mitigation credit" means a defined
unit representing the accrual or attainment of ecological
functions or services for the greater sage grouse at a
mitigation site or within a mitigation program;
(v) "Debit" means a defined unit representing the
loss of ecological functions or services for greater sage grouse
at a specific mitigation site or within a mitigation program;
(vi) "Durability" means the effectiveness of a
mitigation measure is sustained until the direct, indirect and
any other residual impacts of an action on the habitat and
population of the greater sage grouse are fully remediated;
(vii) "Ecological function" means the ability of an
area to support vegetation and fish and wildlife populations;
(viii) "Effects" mean changes in the environmental
conditions that are relevant to the greater sage grouse. Direct
effects are caused by an action and occur at the same time and
place. Indirect effects are caused by an action but occur at a
later time, at another place or both;
(ix) "Habitat assurance" means assurance that
compensatory mitigation is adequate to reliably abate threats to
greater sage grouse populations and habitat and is adequately
offset by more security for habitats and populations where
threats have been removed or abated;
(x) "Habitat vulnerability" means actions that occur
in highly vulnerable or limiting habitat types that make it more
difficult to replace those habitats;
(xi) "Landscape support" means an area encompassing
interacting ecosystems and human systems that is characterized
by a set of common management concerns;
(xii) "Minimization" means minimizing the impact to
habitat and populations by limiting the degree of an action and
its implementation;
(xiii) "Mitigation" means all actions to avoid,
minimize, restore and compensate for ecological functions;
(xiv) "Performance audit" means an audit conducted to
evaluate a mitigation credit provider's compliance with this act
and the rules promulgated by the board of land commissioners for
the mitigation credit system to ensure that the provider is
meeting required habitat, landscape and ecological targets
necessary for the continued provision of ecological functions
and services for purchased credits;
(xv) "Permitting agency" means the state agency that
authorizes a project or action that uses compensatory mitigation
credits as mitigation for unavoidable residual impacts
associated with the project or action;
(xvi) "Replacement" means a physical and biological
metric that will replace an impacted acre with an equal or
greater amount of habitat where threats have been removed or
abated;
(xvii) "Service area" means a geographic area within
which adverse impacts to greater sage grouse that occur may be
mitigated or compensated through credits;
(xviii) "Take" means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect or to attempt to
engage in that conduct;
(xix) "This act" means W.S. 9-19-201 through 9-19-
204.