House committee substitute makes the following changes to 1st edition. Deletes all of the provisions of the 1st edition and replaces it with AN ACT TO STUDY CERTAIN ISSUES PERTAINING TO THE ECOSYSTEM ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.
Authorizes the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) to study the Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP). Specifies that the study is to address these issues: (1) the process for annual adjustments of EEP fees, including the efficacy of using the Civil Works Construction Cost Index as a basis for fee escalation; (2) whether compensatory mitigation should be permitted in any hydrologic area located in the same river basin as the site being mitigated; and (3) whether the compensatory mitigation fee payment system is the most efficient and effective way to provide compensatory mitigation and ways the program could be revised to lessen its economic impact on the state’s businesses and industries. Directs the LRC to report its findings and legislative recommendations to the 2013 General Assembly.