Author: Amy Numbers

On October 6, Vince Messerly, president of the Stream + Wetlands Foundation, was guest speaker at a breakfast meeting for the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati. Messerly’s presentation “Compensatory Mitigation and New Waters of the U.S. New Regulation” provided details on compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands and streams and provided details on the new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) regulations which took effect August 28. Messerly also discussed how the local offices of the Army Corp of Engineers will implement the regulations and what homebuilders need to know about the new WOTUS regulations and how current and future projects may affected.

Stream + Wetlands president Vince Messerly will be a featured speaker at the Ohio Surface Water: Regulatory and Permitting Conference to be held Oct. 20 at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel in Columbus. The conference is sponsored by CLE International – a provider of continuing education programs throughout the United States and Canada. Their seminars focus on emerging legal issues and have received wide acclaim from bench and bar for the high quality of faculty (all of whom are recognized experts in their fields of specialty) and the efficient organization of detailed and useful information.
Messerly’s presentation “Mitigation Plans: Plan Preparation and Agency Review Process” will begin at 3:00 p.m. and discuss how a permit applicant and their consultant may work with the 401/404 permit reviewer to determine the best mitigation option for their project when more than one type of compensatory mitigation is available. This is in accordance with the 2008 Federal Compensatory Mitigation Rule (33 CFR parts 325 and 332) which established a hierarchy for wetland mitigation. While the hierarchy clearly establishes a preference for the use of mitigation banks, it also provides for the use of other compensatory mitigation options (if available) with approval of the mitigation plan at the discretion of the District Engineer (DE). The DE has several factors that he may consider when approving a compensatory mitigation plan.

For additional information about this informative presentation, contact Vince Messerly at Stream + Wetlands Foundation or Kerry Mason of CLE International at kerry@cle.com. When contacting Kerry, mention Messerly’s name and receive $100 off your registration fee for the conference.

Aaron Van Ostran presented at the 2015 Ohio Stormwater Conference. He presented with Jackie Haynal from Jobes Henderson and Denise Crews with the City of Lancaster. The title of the presentation is “Deeds Wetlands and Floodplain Restoration: A passive and economic approach to floodplain and wetlands restoration.”

The presentation will present a case study of a restoration project for the City of Lancaster, funded by an Ohio EPA Storm Water Improvement Fund (SWIF). The goal of the project is to convert 58 acres of farm land along the Hocking River, separated by levees. A new berm was constructed, field tile disabled, microtopograhy restoration, levee breached, and minimal seeding. The project uses innovative engineering and construction methods to maximize the grant dollars and relies primarily on natural succession to promote habitat restoration.

Stream + Wetlands Foundation’s project, Trumbull Creek wetlands mitigation bank, was featured in Greg Snowden’s presentation at the National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference in Orlando. The presentation, “Wetland Restoration Then and Now: A Tale of Progress in Design and Construction Techniques,” provided a comparison of historic and current wetlands restoration design within wetlands mitigation banks and restoration sites in Ohio. Snowden is a project manager and wetlands biologist for the Davey Resource Group – a division of The Davey Tree Expert Company. To read more about Trumbull Creek, click here.