Category: Uncategorized

The listing of the rusty patched bumble bee (RPBB) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) became effective on March 21, 2017. With this ruling, the RPBB became the first bumblebee – and the first bee overall in the continental United States — to be listed under the ESA.

The RPBB was very common 20 years ago, however, by the early 2000s, the RPBB was decidedly less visible and over the past two decades, the RPBB has declined in nearly 90 percent of its range. The list of suspected causes for the disappearance includes farm pesticides, household herbicides, human development over bee habitat, disease and climate change.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is still developing a recovery plan to guide efforts to bring this species back to what they believe is a healthy condition, but an endangered designation triggers protections such as regulations against knowingly destroying the bumblebee’s habitat and habitat creation. It also raises awareness about the plight of the bumblebee and requires a detailed, long-term recovery plan to restore its population.

On January 6, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reissued more than 50 existing nationwide permits (NWP), necessary for work in streams, wetlands and other waters of the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. These will replace existing 2012 permits which expire on March 18, 2017 with new permits taking effect on March 19.

The Corps updates and reauthorizes the NWPs every five years to ensure protection of the nation’s water resources. They are an important tool to avoid and minimize impacts to wetlands, streams and other aquatic resources while providing a more streamlined and predictable permitting process.

The NWPs have been published in the Federal Registrar (Volume 82, No. 4) and posted to the USACE website. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) issued its draft of the new Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) of the new NWPs and solicited comments from the public. The OEPA intends to have the WQC for NWP’s in place prior to March 19. The draft 401 WQC and associated materials can be accessed here along with details on the public comment period.  We recommend carefully reviewing the OEPA proposal because it establishes new requirements based on watersheds to determine whether certain NWP’s are available. In order to determine eligibility under the 401 WQC for the Nationwide Permits for stream impacts, applicants should use the Stream Eligibility Web Map.

There are few changes since NWPs were last modified in 2012.  Below are few noteworthy highlights of the new NWPs:

• USACE reissued 50 existing permits and added two new ones.
• NWP 53 – This new NWP covers the removal of low-head dams. The removal of these dams will restore rivers and streams, and will improve public safety by removing dams that can pose hazards to swimmers and to users of small recreational craft.
• NWP 54 – This new NWP covers the construction and maintenance of living shorelines, a technique to protect coastal property from erosion while providing some aquatic habitat and water quality benefits.

Stream + Wetlands Foundation (S+W) has mitigation bank and in-lieu fee program credits available to fulfill the compensatory mitigation needs. Additionally, S+W is available to assist you and your organization as you review the new requirements of the 2017 NWPs. Feel free to contact Vince Messerly to further discuss the language and ramifications of these new permits

The Stream + Wetlands Foundation (S+W) received authorization in the last few years from the Huntington  and Pittsburgh Corps Districts to sponsor In-Lieu Fee (ILF) programs for mitigation of impacts to wetlands and streams. To date, these programs have served more than 120 permit applicants. Our ILF program allows us to provide a cost-effective compensatory mitigation alternative to permit applicants in the watersheds that our program serves.

The S+W team has been busy working in the watersheds our ILF program serves to locate high quality mitigation sites and to obtain approval of selected sites through the Interagency Review Team approval process. Numerous sites will be needed to meet the needs of the program. So, we are eager to work with local and state agencies, consultants and other non-governmental partners to identify and develop high quality stream and wetland mitigation sites in these Ohio watersheds: Upper Scioto (05060001), Lower Scioto (05060002), Licking (05040006),  Tuscarawas (05040001), Mahoning (05030103), Shenango (05030102), Upper Ohio (05030101) and Upper Ohio-Wheeling (05030106).

Our ILF stream and wetland credits are available in the watersheds listed below, priced at $45,000 per wetland credit and $230 per stream credit. Click here to view our new online interactive map depicting watersheds and project locations.

Pittsburgh Corps District
05030101 Upper Ohio
05030102 Shenango
05030103 Mahoning
05030106 Upper Ohio-Wheeling
05030201 Little Muskingum-Middle Island (within Pittsburgh District)

Huntington Corps District
05040001 Tuscarawas
05040002 Mohican
05040003 Walhonding
05040004 Muskingum
05040005 Wills Creek
05040006 Licking
05060001 Upper Scioto
05060002 Lower Scioto
05060003 Paint

S+W is seeking high quality mitigation sites that would allow for the restoration, enhancement and protection of streams and wetlands. The permanent protection of existing high quality aquatic resources and upland buffers may also be appropriate. The submittal of potential mitigation sites can be done any time. Submittal of prospective sites can be as simple as identifying willing landowners of high quality sites or as complex as a full delivery proposal. In the case of full delivery projects, the project would be completed entirely by the team making the submittal.

If you have sites that you would like to propose, please contact Aaron Van Ostran at avanostran@streamandwetlands.org.

Navigating the permitting process in OhioENGINEER:

Serving Ohio’s professional engineers, the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) is a very powerful voice for the industry and OhioENGINEER magazine is the official publication of the OSPE. We are pleased that Stream + Wetlands was featured on the cover of OhioENGINEER with Vince Messerly’s article “Navigating the Permitting Process for Impacts to Wetlands and Streams.” In this article, Messerly guides the reader through the often complex process of proposing and obtaining a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit for wetlands and stream impact mitigation. Click here to view the entire issue. Our article begins on page six.

Building Insider features “go-to” mitigation

For more than 70 years, the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio (BIA) has represented homebuilders,  developers and remodelers throughout our region. The association’s magazine, Building Insider, is the only local publication providing an in-depth guide to the local homebuilding industry and provides news and information targeted to their members.

We are thrilled to be featured on the cover of the current issue of Building Insider. The article “Stream + Wetlands Foundation: The Go-To People for Mitigation,” provides an in-depth look at the Stream + Wetlands Foundation, our people and how our processes streamline the permit process for applicants and regulatory agencies. Click here to see the digital magazine. Our article begins on page four.

Metroparks Toledo’s Hidden Gems series is an invitation to families to visit parks or park areas they may not be familiar with. Entertainment, food trucks and activities are part of each event. This first in a series of five mini-festivals highlights lesser known locations in the Metroparks and will begin at the north addition to Pearson Metropark in Oregon, Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

While Pearson is one of the most popular parks in the park system, with more than 600,000 visitors last year, the 300-acre north addition is less well known. Stream + Wetlands Foundation has restored more than 200 acres of wetlands in Pearson. Click here to find out more about this mitigation bank.

Stream + Wetlands Foundation, CLE International, Davey Resource Group and Roetzel & Andress are pleased to announce the 6th annual Ohio Surface Water Conference is scheduled for September 13 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

Experts from the Ohio EPA will be on hand to answer questions and provide the latest news on the Storm Water and 401 Water quality programs. In addition, representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service be on hand to discuss updates to critical regulatory developments. Participants will also learn about Miami Conservancy District’s innovative water quality credit trading program.

A networking luncheon will include a presentation by Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler. For more information, click here  or email Vince Messerly at vmesserly@streamandwetlands.org.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in partnership with other federal agencies announced on May 9, 2016 the release of the updated National Wetland Plant List (NWPL). This national list of wetland plants by species and their wetland ratings provides general botanical information about wetland plants and is used extensively by federal and state agencies, the scientific and academic communities and the private sector in wetland delineations and the planning and monitoring of wetland mitigation and restoration sites. The list is available at http://wetland_plants.usace.army.mil.

In the early 1980s, the four primary federal agencies with responsibilities for wetlands – USACE, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service – realized the importance of utilizing plants and soils as indicators for wetland delineation purposes. The agencies agreed to assemble panels of wetland ecologists and botanists to review and revise a national wetland plant list for the U.S. and U.S. territories.

Administration of the NWPL was transferred from FWS to USACE in 2006. Starting in 2008, USACE launched a web-based interagency process and created a website to update the 1988 plant list. Scientific names and ratings for wetland plants were updated through the website.

The 2016 NWPL should be used in any wetland delineations or determinations performed after May 1, 2016. According to USACE, wetland delineations received prior to this date may still use the 2014 NWPL or may choose to use the 2016 list.

We are pleased to announce that on April 22, the Huntington Corps District approved the Final Instrument for our stream mitigation in-lieu fee (ILF) program, which encompasses nine of the 8-digit HUC’s located in the Ohio portion of the Huntington Corps District.

Click on the above image to view the interactive map.

“The district engineer has completed authorization of our in-lieu fee program for stream mitigation in the Huntington District and we are eager to start working with our partners to identify and develop high quality stream mitigation sites in these watersheds,” said Stream + Wetlands Foundation (S+W) President Vince Messerly. “This approval allows us to provide a cost-effective compensatory stream mitigation alternative to permit applicants in this part of Ohio.” Cost for the stream mitigation credits will be $230 per linear foot.

In the summer of 2014, S+W received authorization from both the Huntington and Pittsburgh Corps Districts to sponsor wetland ILF programs. In July 2015, S+W received authorization to sponsor an ILF program for impacts to streams and wetlands in the Ohio portion of the Pittsburgh Corps District. To date, these programs have served more than 100 permit applicants.

ILF programs help streamline the permit review and approval process for permit applicants and regulatory agencies. “Once a permit applicant completes acquisition of credits from the ILF program, their responsibility for providing compensatory mitigation is complete – they are not responsible for monitoring, maintenance, or remedial work for the mitigation project,” said Messerly.

At S+W, we are proud to be the first approved entity in Ohio to operate an ILF program since the 2008 federal rule was issued. Contact us to see how our ILF can benefit your organization.

On January 29, Vince Messerly, president of the Stream + Wetlands Foundation, will be the guest speaker at the Developers Council meeting for the BIA of Stark County. Messerly’s presentation “Compensatory Mitigation and Waters of the U.S. Regulation” will provide details on compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands and streams and details on the new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) regulations which took effect August 28 and are currently under a nationwide stay). Messerly will also discuss 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.