Volvo PRM Project

RES supplied the mitigation offset solution for Volvo’s 1.5 million square foot manufacturing facility on a 575-acre tract in Berkeley County, South Carolina. RES developed a comprehensive Permittee Responsible Mitigation (PRM) work plan for preservation, enhancement and restoration of 2,458 acres of protected land, including permanent protection of 1,533 wetland acres in the Dean Swamp and Walnut Branch watersheds, tributaries of Four Hole Swamp that are defined by the National Audubon Society as critical priority areas in need of protection.

The primary mitigation tract placed 1,667 acres under a permanent protective agreement with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Low Country Land Trust, with the intent to dedicate the tract as a Heritage Trust Preserve. This tract includes 905 acres of wetland preservation and enhancement and protects 2.64 miles of Cedar Swamp, Sandy Run and associated unnamed tributaries.

The other tracts in the mitigation work plan included the protection and enhancement of 629 acres in Four Holes Swamp. These tracts will be owned and managed as part of the 17,000-acre Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest, a Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance and Globally Important Bird Area.

Through a collaborative approach with the South Carolina Department of Commerce, leading private company experts, federal and state regulatory agencies, and regional conservation groups, Volvo was able to permit one of the largest economic development projects in South Carolina in record time. And, the effort resulted in the restoration and protection of 2,458 acres of land critical to protecting one of South Carolina’s natural treasures, Four Hole Swamp.