Swamp Stomp

Volume 18, Issue 27

Happy Independence Day | 2018

Swamp Stomp

Volume 17, Issue 35

There are two things going on with the “Waters of the US” rule in the next few weeks.  First, the EPA, U.S. Army Move to Rescind 2015 “Waters of the U.S.”  Comments on this rule have been extended until September 27, 2017.  If this rule is finalized the old “Waters of the US” will recodified.  Meaning, the 1986 definition will be used until it is replaced with a new definition.

Speaking of new definitions, the second item on the agenda is that EPA and the Army are seeking public input in the review of the “Waters of the U.S. Rule.”  They are holding online and limited in-person stakeholder meetings from September to November to discuss what is and what is not a “Waters of the US.”  The stakeholders are divided into interest groups and you can register for an opportunity to speak your mind.  We at the Swamp School highly recommend that you consider attending one of these meetings as the future of what will and what will not be regulated is on the table.

More information and instructions on how to register to speak can be found in the following EPA/USACOE press release dated August 25, 2017.

EPA and the Army Seek Input in the Review of the Waters of the U.S. Rule

Stakeholder sessions will be held weekly between September and November

08/25/2017

Contact Information:

(press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of the Army (the agencies) will hold 11 sessions to give stakeholders an opportunity to provide recommendations on a revised definition of “waters of the United States.” The agencies will hold nine two-hour long teleconferences that will be tailored for specific sectors, plus one that will be open to the general public. The agencies will also hold one in-person session for small entities.

“EPA is committed to an open and transparent process for reviewing the definition of ‘waters of the United States,’” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Receiving input from across the country will help us make informed decisions as we move through our two-step process that will return power to the states and to provide regulatory certainty to our nation’s farmers and businesses.”

These sessions follow the February 28, 2017, Presidential Executive Order on “Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule.” The February Order states that it is in the national interest to ensure that the Nation’s navigable waters are kept free from pollution, while at the same time promoting economic growth, minimizing regulatory uncertainty, and showing due regard for the roles of Congress and the States under the Constitution.

To meet these objectives, the agencies are following an expeditious, two-step rulemaking process. The recommendations gathered through these stakeholder sessions, in addition to the feedback the agencies are hearing through ongoing outreach to state, local and tribal governments, will help inform the step two rulemaking, which would revise the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.

The stakeholder sessions will be held on a weekly basis beginning September 19 and will continue each Tuesday thereafter for ten weeks.  Each will run from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. eastern time. Information on how to register for each of these meetings is available on the EPA website.  Registration for each webinar will close a week prior. Those wishing to provide verbal recommendations during the teleconference will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. Due to the expected volume of participants, individuals will be asked to limit their oral presentation to three minutes.

Stakeholder Sessions Schedule

• September 19, 2017 –  small entities (small businesses, small organizations and small governmental jurisdictions)
• September 26, 2017 – environment and public advocacy
• October 3, 2017 – conservation, e.g., hunters and anglers
• October 10, 2017 – construction and transportation
• October 17, 2017 – agriculture
• October 24, 2017 – industry
• October 31, 2017 – mining
• November 7, 2017 – scientific organizations and academia
• November 14, 2017 –  stormwater, wastewater management and drinking water agencies
• November 21, 2017 –  general public

The agencies are also planning an in-person meeting with small entities, which will be held on Monday, October 23, 2017, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time at the U.S. EPA’s Headquarters.

The agencies will also be accepting written recommendations on the step two rulemaking effort through a non-regulatory docket (EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0480), which will be available when the notice is published in the Federal Register. The agencies ask that this information be submitted on or before November 28, 2017.

Additional information: www.epa.gov/wotus-rule

Source:  https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-army-seek-input-review-waters-us-rule

 

The Swamp School is a well-known and well-respected wetland delineation and plant identification training institute with classes on EPA and Army Corps of Engineers rules, wetland delineation, assessment and design, ecological risk assessments, and more including certifications programs and a variety of classroom courses and online. Our students have diverse backgrounds across many industries and are located all over the US.

We are looking for motivated individuals who can help us expand our training programs across the country.  Your typical week includes following up on leads, making new contacts, obtaining referrals, performing one-on-one and group presentations by phone, closing sales and handing customer questions.

A successful enrollment representative will be an aggressive prospector with excellent sales pipeline management skills. You will need to identify decision makers, build relationships, schedule firm appointments, convey a sense of urgency, inform the customer, close for a decision and provide timely service. You should demonstrate a genuine interest in our industry and knowledge of our customers’ needs.

Necessary Skills and Experience:

• Inside sales experience
• Business to business sales experience
• Ability to work remotely
• Self-managed and disciplined

Educational sales experience is preferred but not required.  First year expected income is between 60k – 95k with each subsequent year an additional 20% to 50% depending on performance.

If you feel you can contribute to our mission and find this work rewarding we invite you to apply. Our website is swampschool.org. No phone calls please. Send applications to:  jobs@swampschool.org

The Swamp Stomp

Volume 17, Issue 15

We at the Swamp School have been keeping up with and attempting to teach the ever-changing rules related to what is a Waters of the US. Much like the waterways they regulate they twist and turn disappear and re-appear finally ending up in the sea of government regulation. Then they are left to evaporate on the whims of the courts soon condensing in yet another regulation. We will call it the Waters of the US cycle.

This all began in the late 1890’s when a concern about blocking waterways used to transport good and services was seen as a threat to the national economy. The use of structural steel to cross great rivers was now presenting problems of railroads blocking traditional water based shipping. Free trade across state lines needed to be maintained and Congress (not the President – he vetoed the Act) passed the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. Ever since then the Federal government has been regulating waters of the US.

Much later in 1972 Congress passed the Clean Water act. The President at the time (Nixon) also vetoed the Act. This law like the Rivers and Harbors Act did not explain what a Waters of the US was. Rather, it directed the Army Corps of Engineers to come up with a definition. They did and in 1986 they published the definition as a rule in the Federal Register. It is the same rule that we use today.

In the spring of 2011 the Obama administration leaked (pun intended) a draft Waters of the US guidance document. The guidance was never published but it did give notice to what the new administration was up to. In 2013, another leak of a new draft Waters of the US rule was revealed and in turn, a draft regulation that was published in the Spring of 2014.

The draft Waters of the US regulation has the unique honor of being the most commented regulation in the history of the United States. At the close of the public comment period it had received a little more than 1.2 million public comments. Other regulations tend to sport a few hundred to perhaps a thousand comments. Generally, this means that the regulation gets flushed and the agency starts over.

However, the EPA took the lead on the final version of the regulation and made some major changes including the regulation’s name. The new Clean Water rule was born. This rule was so different that half of the States field lawsuits along with a few private organizations alleging a number of procedural violations along with the Constitutional challenges to the merits of the regulation. For a brief while in 2015 about two thirds of the US was regulated by the Clean Water rule and the plaintiff states were not.

In October 2015, a nationwide stay of the Clean Water rule was imposed by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and that is where we float today. The Army Corps and EPA issued a directive that the 1986 definition of Waters of the US would be used until further notice.

The nationwide stay and the court cases bubbled and percolated in the courts until finally rising to the attention of the Supreme Court in 2016. President Obama had asked the Court not to hear the case but they turned him down. This was seen as a loss for the President as the regulation appeared all but domed and likely to go down the drain.

In an interesting turn of events, the new President Trump has also asked the Supreme Court to not hear the case. He was also turned down. However, this has been described as some sort of victory for the rule. Nothing new has happened between December 2016 when President Obama made the request and in early 2017 when President Trump made the request but the interpretation of the response seems very sinuous.

It appears that the high Court will render some sort of decision before the end of the year. Late fall is likely. So, we need to wade through another growing season with the old rule.

Just a few days ago, President Trump announced that there would be some new guidance, an executive order or the like regarding the implementation of the old rule. In a rather clever move, it was announced that the old 2008 US Army Corps guidance developed in response to the Rapanos case and based upon the lone Justice Kennedy option would be updated to reflect the plurality option of Justice Scalia in that same case. In short, what was become to be known as significant nexus would no longer apply. Justice Scalia only required a physical nexus to a navigable waterway. Justice Kennedy’s model would allow a chemical or biological connection in addition to or instead of a physical connection.

The establishment of the Scalia rule would simplify the jurisdictional process but as one might expect there will be lawsuits. In the meantime, we will keep a careful eye on the ebbs and flows of this turbulent process and await the next wave of regulations.

Location: Charlotte, NC

CWS is looking for a Senior Wetland Scientist with 3-10 years of experience to work in our Charlotte, NC office.

Senior Wetland Scientist Job Purpose: Completes wetland consulting projects by organizing and controlling project elements.

Senior Wetland Scientist Job Duties:
Develops project objectives by reviewing project proposals and plans; conferring with management.
Determines project responsibilities by identifying project phases and elements; assigning personnel to phases and elements.
Determines project schedule and budget by studying project’s proposal and specifications; calculating time requirements; sequencing project elements.
Maintains project schedule by monitoring project progress and budget; coordinating activities and personnel; resolving problems.
Supervises all phases of a project from fieldwork to report completion.
Controls project costs by approving/reviewing time sheets and expenditures of junior staff.
Prepares project status reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends; recommending actions.
Mentors and trains staff and project-level personnel in Company policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
Updates and maintains Company SOPs for all of our consulting services.
Supervises the maintenance of project files and folders by enforcing company procedures (i.e. FILE Copy).
Builds company reputation by exceeding client’s expectations of a project’s schedule, budget, and quality of work.
Responsible for professional development of junior staff (i.e., outside training scheduling and budgeting, PWS application mentoring, etc…).

Senior Wetland Scientist Advancement Opportunity: Principal Scientist or Business Development Manager

CWS is a dynamic and progressive company with a diverse and growing staff providing wetland consulting and construction services. CWS offers a competitive salary and benefits package, excellent opportunities for advancement, and flexible working conditions. CWS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Please submit resume, cover letter, and references to gregg@cws-inc.net