R634-3-3. Definitions

  (1) "Agreement Fee" means a sum of money set by the Legislature and paid by a Credit Provider upon entering into a Term Mitigation Agreement or Conservation Bank Agreement with the Department to offset the Department's costs in administering the Agreement.

  (2) "Application Fee" means a sum of money set by the Legislature and paid by an applicant to the Department to offset the cost of processing a compensatory mitigation application submitted to the Department.

  (3) "Area of Permanent Disturbance" means the area within a spatial polygon circumscribing the actual permanently disturbed area directly impacting sage-grouse or its habitat.

  (4) "Baseline" means the pre-existing condition of a defined project area, prior to commencing any Credit Generation Project.

  (5) "Bank Manager" means the person(s) or entity responsible for managing the Bank Property and implementing the terms and requirements contained in the Conservation Bank Agreement for the long-term conservation of sage-grouse habitat.

  (6) "Bank Property" means permanently protected real property included in or devoted to the development of a Conservation Bank.

  (7) "Compensatory Mitigation" means the restoration or establishment of sage-grouse habitat or permanent protection of existing occupied habitat to offset the unavoidable adverse impacts which remain following permanent disturbance to sage grouse habitat.

  (8) "Compensatory Mitigation Program" means the sage-grouse habitat mitigation program created by Title 79, Chapter 2, Part 5 of the Utah Code and this Rule.

  (9) "Conservation Bank" means a site or suite of sites of at least 640 contiguous acres established under a Conservation Bank Agreement with the Department that provides ecological functions and services for sage-grouse, expressed as Credits that are conserved and managed in perpetuity and used to offset impacts to sage-grouse habitat expressed as Debits, occurring elsewhere.

  (10) "Conservation Bank Agreement" means the legal document for the establishment, operation and use of a conservation bank.

  (11) "Conservation Easement" means an easement, covenant, restriction, or condition in a deed, will, or other instrument signed by or on behalf of the record owner(s) of the underlying real property and is an interest in land that runs with the land benefited or burdened by the easement for the purpose of preserving and maintaining land as sage-grouse habitat or Corridors. To be valid, a Conservation Easement must comply with the "Land Conservation Easement Act" in Utah State Code, Title 57 Chapter 18, as amended, which terms and requirements are incorporated herein by reference.

  (12) "Corridor" means an area of land that facilitates sage-grouse movement between two or more areas of Occupied Habitat containing less than 1% canopy cover in conifers and at least 15% ground cover in perennial grasses, shrubs, and forbs, and is at least 100 acres in size with a width of at least 2000 feet.

  (13) "Credit" means an acre of Functional Habitat or Corridor lands created or restored or an acre of Occupied Habitat preserved by a Credit Provider that may be transferred to a Credit Buyer to offset impacts of Permanent Disturbances and which represents the value in Compensatory Mitigation activities.

  (14) "Credit Buyer" means any person who purchases Credits to offset the impacts of permanent disturbance to sage-grouse habitat.

  (15) "Credit Exchange Service" means a tool created by the Department to track the development, maintenance and transfer of Credits.

  (16) "Credit Generation Project" means any planned project implemented by a Credit Provider or a designee within any SGMA to create or restore Functional Habitat or Corridors or preserve Occupied Habitat to generate Credits.

  (17) "Credit Maintenance" means the actions required to ensure that Credit acreage continues to operate as Functional Habitat, Corridors or Occupied Habitat for the duration of the disturbance it was intended to offset.

  (18) "Credit Provider" means any person or entity that creates or restores Functional Habitat or Corridor(s) or preserves occupied habitat to generate Credits to be transferred utilizing the Credit Exchange Service.

  (19) "Credit Transfer Fee" means a sum of money set by the Legislature and paid by a Credit Buyer to the Department when a Credit Provider transfers Credits to a Credit Buyer to offset the Department's costs in administering this Program.

  (20) "Debit" means an acre of sage-grouse habitat permanently disturbed in a SGMA for which Compensatory Mitigation is applicable.

  (21) "Department" means the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the agency responsible for administering the Compensatory Mitigation Program.

  (22) "Durability" means the ability for mitigation measures to remain effective for a period of time that is at least as long as the impacts from the permanent disturbance that the mitigation is designed to offset.

  (23) "Functional Habitat" means any sage-grouse habitat, created through a Credit Generation Project, contiguous with existing Occupied Habitat, and which includes a live sagebrush canopy cover of at least 10% and no more than 1% canopy cover of conifer trees over 0.5 meters in height.

  (24) "Habitat" means the aggregation of Seasonal Habitats used by sage-grouse during their yearly life-cycle.

  (25) "In-lieu Fee" means money provided to the State, at the direction of a regulatory agency, to be used for restoration and enhancement of sage-grouse habitat, with the goal to create or restore Functional Habitat that satisfies Compensatory Mitigation requirements to offset Permanent Disturbance.

  (26) "Mitigation Ratio" means the ratio of Credits needed by a Credit Buyer or produced by the State to offset any Permanent Disturbance within sage-grouse habitat. Where a regulatory agency is involved, the agency establishes the mitigation ratio but it is recommended that any person causing Permanent Disturbance to an acre of sage-grouse habitat should provide four acres of Functional Habitat, Protected Habitat, or Corridors as a proper Mitigation Ratio to offset indirect impacts from disturbance and account for differences in habitat quality without conducting a detailed analysis of either factor.

  (27) "Occupied Habitat" means any Habitat utilized by Sage-grouse during any portion of their annual lifecycle.

  (28) "Permanent Disturbance" means a human caused action that results in a loss of sage-grouse Habitat for a period of five or more years and includes all areas where the direct effects of the action could be expected to disrupt the common activities of sage-grouse for a period of five years or more.

  (29) "Plan" means the current Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-grouse in Utah.

  (30) "Program Administrator" means the Executive Director of the Department, or their designee, with authority to establish, operate and manage the Compensatory Mitigation Program.

  (31) "Project Area" means the geographic boundary of any Credit Generation Project.

  (32) "Protected Habitat" means an area of Occupied Habitat that is preserved from Permanent Disturbance through a Conservation Easement for at least 20 years and is maintained as suitable habitat for the length of the easement.

  (33) "Remedial Action" means any corrective measures which a Credit Provider is required to take to ameliorate any injury or adverse impact to Credits or Transferred Credits to ensure long-term Durability.

  (34) "Reserve Pool" means a pool of Credits, managed by the Program Administrator or a Bank Manager, intended to cover risks of potential Reversals on any Project Area.

  (35) "Reversal" means a Compensatory Mitigation Credit that does not persist for the full duration of the Permanent Disturbance.

  (36) "SGMA" means Sage-grouse Management Areas as identified in the Plan.

  (37) "Seasonal Habitat" means all habitats utilized by sage-grouse for survival during some portion of its life cycle, including leks, nesting, brood rearing, late brood rearing, transitional corridors, and winter habitat.

  (38) "Service Area" means any SGMA within the State of Utah.

  (39) "SITLA Lands" means lands owned or managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.

  (40) "State Lands" means lands owned or managed by any State of Utah agency other than SITLA.

  (41) "Term Mitigation Agreement" means an agreement between the Department and any person(s) owning or controlling property within any SGMA, where the landowner conducts a Credit Generation Project for the benefit of sage-grouse, and which actions result in the creation of Credits to be transferred to Credit Buyers to offset Permanent Disturbances to sage-grouse Habitat.

  (42) "Transfer" means the conveyance of Credits from one person or entity to another to offset impacts from Permanent Disturbance.

  (43) "Transferred Credit" means any Credit transferred within the Department's Credit Exchange Service to offset impacts from Permanent Disturbance.

  (44) "Verification" means the process used to confirm that Compensatory Mitigation Program rules have been followed through standardized reporting and monitoring.

  (45) "Verifier" means any person or entity that has been accredited by the Department and certifies or monitors Functional Habitat, Corridors or Protected Habitat following Credit Generation Projects utilizing the scientific methods and guidelines approved by the Department.