Cassidy, Louisiana Delegation, Look to Protect Agriculture Land

Press Release

Congressman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), along with the Louisiana delegation, urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make reforms to the Modified Charleston Method (MCM) to protect agriculture land. The letter, led by Senator David Vitter, calls for alternative mitigation strategies, increasing supply-side mitigation opportunities and taking into consideration MCM's negative impact.

The MCM mandates wetland mitigation as part of its permitting process for projects deemed to impact wetlands. MCM incentivizes mitigation banks to seek agriculture land over existing or former wetlands that are in immediate need of mitigation, without taking into consideration the negative impacts to agriculture. There has been an unsustainable increase in agriculture land usage for mitigation credits occurring throughout south Louisiana. Calcasieu Parish alone has lost more than 13,000 acres of agricultural land to mitigation banks in the past year.

Dr. Cassidy and Rep. Richmond co-sponsored an amendment led by Rep. Scalise in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act to prevent the Army Corps from enforcing MCM in Louisiana.

Dr. Cassidy released the following statement:

"Wetland mitigation should work to restore Louisiana's marshes, not to convert prairie into wetland. Common-sense dictates that mandated mitigation efforts should rebuild Louisiana's coastline. I will continue to work with Louisiana's delegation to advocate for common-sense reforms to protect farmers."

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