Portland Equitable Mitigation Banking

Portland, OR | 2022

The City of Portland is exploring the development of natural resource mitigation banking in Portland. The City worked with Cascadia Partners to better understand the potential localized equity impacts and benefits associated with two different mitigation banking models in the Portland metro region. The City’s current development code allows for the use of off-site mitigation banking and gives the Bureau of Environmental Services the authority to approve which banks can be used. However, no City-approved mitigation banks currently exist in the City of Portland. This analysis is a first step into understanding whether mitigation banking can address some of the legacies of environmental justice harms and how the City can avoid unintended consequences to vulnerable communities when building out a mitigation program in Portland.

Three phases of work addressed these objectives: an equity analysis of existing locations, community listening sessions, and an evaluation of future mitigation bank locations. The equity analysis and community engagement feedback in the report showed that there can be many different ways to measure equity impacts and benefits for potential mitigation banking sites and transactions beyond how they are typically measured in mitigation programs today.

This is the first municipal mitigation banking program of its kind to include equity considerations, and there is still much to learn. The City will use this work to guide future mitigation banking policy and community engagement efforts.