Trump to Stop Seeking Compensation for Damage to Public Land
- Interior Department wants mitigation fees to be voluntary
- Environmentalists say companies need to be accountable
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Oil drillers, miners, land developers and others will no longer be required to pay the federal government to offset damage to wildlife and habitats on public land, the Trump administration plans to announce Tuesday.
The Interior Department will no longer require off-site “compensatory mitigation” a policy expanded in the waning days of the Obama administration that mandates developers offset the impacts of their activities on public lands through programs such as funding the restoration and protection of wetlands and other habitats elsewhere.