The program will give developers the opportunity to purchase credits that help replenish ecosystems disrupted by development.

NORFOLK, Va. — An environmental disruption mitigation credit program has provided benefits to developers and surrounding communities in Hampton Roads for the last 20 years.

“The program offsets damages that are done through construction along the coastline,” said Helen Kuhns, the executive director of the Coastal Virginia Conservancy program. She said the mitigation credits have been critical for protecting Hampton Roads ecosystems and coastal waterways. Those waterways are subject to constant development, making mitigation efforts imperative.

“When someone does damage to the waterway and disrupts wetlands or oyster reefs, we lose those ecosystem services,” said Kuhns.

The mitigation program allows developers who have disrupted those waterways to buy credits in a bank that has already been constructed to replenish those waterways in the area. For example, if a housing development disrupts an oyster reef, the developer can purchase credits from an oyster bank that has already been built to replenish what was lost and maintain the ecosystem.