Below is a description of the process followed when permits are submitted for determining if wetlands will be designated for development:

When an applicant approaches the PlC, the City will determine if the fill proposal is consistent with the West Eugene Wetland Plan. If it is, the applicant can secure credits in the wetland mitigation bank through purchase or by posting a bond. The City can then issue the state permit after receiving the appropriate referrals.

A result of the Corps' November approval of the process is the verification that the Plan has met many of the requirements for an individual, federal wetland permit (often called a 404 permit). The approval also recognizes that the Plan paves the way for an "abbreviated processing procedure" (APP). This APP means that the Corps has approved the Plan and the applicant's rationale behind decisions to protect or develop specific wetlands.

Next, the City will verify the consistency of the application to the Plan. If the two are consistent, the City will certify that mitigation credits have been secured. The permit and City certifications will be sent to the Corps and the Corps will confirm the City's conclusions and make its referrals. Within 45 days the Corps will process a "letter of permission" (LOP), a specific type of individual permit.

This permitting process will work smoothly for those wetlands where owners cooperated and allowed detailed wetland site delineations to take place and where rare plant inventories were conducted. More time may be needed for wetlands where those site studies have not been conducted. In those cases, it will be the owner's responsibility to complete the surveys and to have them approved by the state and federal agencies before local permitting can occur.

In addition to the approval of local implementing ordinances, the City is working on the development of a memorandum of agreement with the Corps and other parties regarding the operation and assurance that the mitigation bank will meet federal requirements. Both of these implementing details are expected to be in place by mid-1995.

Individual wetland decisions are based on the Plan. The Plan provides the bulk of the analysis and logic for the permit, just as the land use plan does for building permits. Oregon's land use planning program provided the model for the concepts applied in west Eugene. A major goal of the wetland planning process was to add certainty back to the region. It has answered questions such as: Where are valuable resources deserving protection? Where should sound urban development be directed?