Sec. 205. Study and report on mitigation banking
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Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall carry out a study to determine the feasibility of carrying out a mitigation banking program on Federal land administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture for purposes of fully offsetting the impacts of wind or solar energy on such Federal land. The study under paragraph
(1)shall— identify areas in which— privately owned land is not available to fully offset the impacts of wind or solar energy development on Federal land administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture; or mitigation investments on such Federal land are likely to provide greater conservation value for the impacts of wind or solar energy development on such Federal land; and examine— the effectiveness of laws (including regulations) and policies in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act in facilitating the development and effective operation of mitigation banks; the advantages and disadvantages of using mitigation banks on such Federal land to mitigate impacts to natural resources on private, State, and tribal land; and any changes in Federal law (including regulations) or policy necessary to further develop a Federal mitigation banking program. Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly submit to Congress a report that includes— the recommendations of the Secretaries relating to— the most effective system for Federal land administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to meet the goals of facilitating the development of a mitigation banking program on such Federal land; and any change to Federal law (including regulations) or policy necessary to address more effectively the siting, development, and management of mitigation banking programs on such Federal land to mitigate impacts to natural resources on private, State, and tribal land; and any administrative action to be taken by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture in response to the recommendations. Not later than 30 days after the date on which the report described in subsection
(b)is submitted to Congress, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make the results of the study available to the public.