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F. X. Browne, Inc.'s
Lake and Watershed News
February 2008
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You lie in all my many Thoughts,
like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve
On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.
And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,
How oft! I bless the Lot that made me love you.
~ from Love
by Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1834,
one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England
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Editor's
Notes:
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World
Wetlands Day is February 2nd. The theme for 2008 is ‘Healthy
Wetlands, Healthy People.’
More people will get a clearer birds eye
view of Pennsylvania now that the PA DCNRs’s PAMAP high-resolution
aerial photography is available on Google
Earth.
The Delaware
River Basin Commission has announced that the period for submitting
written comments on proposed regulations to implement a Flexible
Flow Management Program for operation of the three New York City
Delaware Basin reservoirs will be extended through March 3.
Next month: F. X. Browne, Inc's New
Newsletter Name Is Revealed!
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Topic
of the Month:
Reduce
Development Costs by Using Low Impact
Development Practices
The U.S. EPA has released a new report
which contains 17 case studies from across North America that show the
economic viability of LID practices. More...
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Happy Lupercalia!
Lupercalia
was an ancient Roman festival held annually on February 15.
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The festival was intended to secure
fertility and keep out evil. Two male youths, clad in animal skin, ran
around the city slapping passersby with strips of goat skin. Because
the youths impersonated male goats (the embodiment of sexuality), the
ceremony was believed to be in honor of Faunus. The festival survived
into Christian times when it was eventually supplanted by the holiday
we now know better as St. Valentine's Day.
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News Clips:
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Researchers Challenge Water-Flow Model
Decades ago, when geologists were developing ideas about how water
typically flows across land, many of them studied the streams of the
Mid-Atlantic States, concluding that they naturally move in ribbonlike
channels cut through silty banks. Now, though, researchers at Franklin and Marshall College
are claiming that the streams studied by their geological
predecessors were not “natural archetypes” but rather the artifacts
of 18th- and 19th-century dam building and deforestation. More...
Researchers Develop Models to Assess Wetland Health
Smithsonian
scientists recently reported a promising method of wetland assessment
that will help environmental managers quickly take stock of wetlands
across an entire watershed. More...
PA Development Using Nutrient Credit
Trading to Protect Water Quality
A planned resort community in Ararat Township,
Susquehanna County, PA will reduce pollution to the Chesapeake Bay by using
the state’s innovative nutrient credit trading program. The Preserve
at Dunn Lake becomes the first new development project in northeastern
Pennsylvania to use the cost-effective alternative. More...
Chesapeake Bay Leaders Say 2010 Bay Cleanup Goal Will Not Be Met
The (Chesapeake) Bay cleanup's top policymaking body formally
acknowledged in December that 2010 will come and go without meeting its
cornerstone goal-cleaning up the Chesapeake. More...
Signs of Change in Lake Champlain
Scientists that are studying Lake
Champlain on the New York-Vermont border have noticed some recent, and
puzzling changes. More...
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Policy
Update:
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Title IV, Subtitle C, Section 438 of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 provides that, among other
things, the sponsor of any development or redevelopment project
involving a Federal facility with a footprint that exceeds 5,000 square
feet shall use Low Impact Development (LID) techniques in their site
design. |
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PADEP is inviting comments on Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Plans for six watersheds in three
counties. They include: Monongahela River Watershed, Allegheny County;
Streets Run Watershed, Allegheny County; Georges Creek Watershed,
Fayette County; York Run Watershed, Fayette County; Laurel Run
Watershed, Somerset County; and Wilson Creek Watershed, Somerset
County. |
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EPA has posted the ninth and last release of
the Water
Quality Standards Database (WQSDB). The WQSDB provides public access
to water quality data, organized and displayed in tables and maps,
waterbody by waterbody. This final version of the WQSDB is scheduled to
be removed from the EPA website in February 2008. Thereafter, members of
the public can access the WQSDB via their state's
WQS program webpage.
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EPA has received the final
report of the Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and
Quantitation Approaches and Uses in Clean Water Act Programs. This
report provides advice and recommendations on the development of a new
and improved procedure for determining detection and quantitation
limits, and how these limits should be used in NPDES permit reporting
and compliance determinations.
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The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
has defined wetland mitigation
in its regulations at 40 CFR 1508.20 to include: avoiding impacts,
minimizing impacts, rectifying impacts, reducing impacts over time, and
compensating for impacts.
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The NJDEP's new Environmental Stewardship Program will offer public
acknowledgment to businesses that go beyond minimum environmental
requirements.
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PADEP is inviting comments on Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Plans for four watersheds in two counties. They include:
Brush Run Watershed, Beaver County; Clarks Run Watershed, Beaver County;
Saltlick Run Watershed, Fayette County; and Wallace Run Watershed,
Fayette County.
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NJDEP has added five new areas to its Brownfield
Development Area program. The program will coordinate the cleanup
and revitalization of blighted properties encompassing nearly 500 acres
in Camden, Middlesex and Hudson counties.
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A new report
from the EPA estimates $202.5 billion is the nationwide capital
investment needed to control wastewater pollution for up to a 20-year
period. The estimate includes $134.4 billion for wastewater treatment
and collection systems, $54.8 billion for combined sewer overflow
corrections, and $9.0 billion for stormwater management.
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EPA, with state and national partners,
released a comprehensive
plan to reduce stormwater runoff and sewer overflows by
promoting green infrastructure approaches
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Guinness World Records has confirmed that
the state of North Dakota holds the world record for the most snow
angels made simultaneously in one place. That's 8,962 snow angels,
created by people waving their arms while lying in the snow covering the
state Capitol grounds. Michigan, the former record holder at 3,784 snow
angels, vows to try and snatch back their title.
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Stopping Unwanted Catalogs and Junk Mail Reduces Greenhouse Gases and Saves Energy
According to Environmental Defense, production of
the 19 billion catalogs annually in the US requires 53 million trees,
uses 38 trillion Btu’s of energy (enough to
power 1.2 million homes), contributes 5.2 million tons of carbon dioxide
emissions, and results in 53 billion gallons of wastewater discharges by
the paper industry. Not to mention, they are just annoying. Some new websites
are helping consumers reduce
the amount of junk mail cluttering their mailboxes.
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- Catalog Choice
allows consumers sign up for opt-out requests for individual
catalog titles. Users find the catalogs they received
on a list, then enter their customer identification numbers from the
mailing labels to decline the catalogs. Catalog Choice then contacts the
catalog providers and requests the names be removed from their mailing
lists.
- Another means to reduce unwanted catalogs is to register with the
Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service (MPS) for a $1
fee. Fill out the form online and stop the junk mail associated with the
DMA.
- Ecocycle
will walk you through the necessary steps on how to deal with list
brokers and other direct marketing firms that are not part of the
Direct Marketing Association.
- If you prefer to pay someone else to
perform the legwork to halt the flow of junk mail and catalogues, GreenDimes
or 41 Pounds are two of
several companies nationwide that organize
information about a customer’s unsolicited credit card offers or catalogs.
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Link of the Month:
EPA Launches New Indicators Website
An environmental indicator measures the
condition of the environment and its change over time. The EPA mid-Atlantic Water Protection program uses the environmental
indicators tool to measure progress in reaching its goals toward water
quality improvements. EPA's recently
launched Water Protection program website highlights these indicators, what
they are and how EPA uses them to measure and report success. http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/indicators/index.htm
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What Would You Wish For?
Did you ever wish someone could teach
you how to speak Italian or help you put a roof on your garage? Are you skilled in
massage therapy or website design, and willing to trade your services? ASKWISH.COM is a free website
that allows people to share their
skills and barter for services with other wishers. No money is exchanged -
users trade "wishbones" toward other wishes. Type in your zip code
and find out what people are wishing for in your area. http://www.askwish.com
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New Tools and
Publications:
New CWP Model Wetland Ordinance
Article
"A Local Ordinance to Protect Wetland Functions" is the latest
release from the six-part Wetlands & Watersheds Article Series from the
Center for Watershed Protection. This article introduces a new type of model
ordinance for local protection of wetlands. Existing federal and state wetland
permitting programs address some direct impacts to wetlands, such as filling,
but are not designed to regulate inputs of stormwater or other pollutants. Local
development regulations can fill this gap in wetland protection since local
governments typically have control over local land use regulations and
decisions. An adaptable model Wetland Drainage Area Protection Ordinance is
provided. http://www.cwp.org/wetlands/articles.htm
Habitat Priority Planner Released
NOAA Coastal
Services Center's new Habitat Priority Planner is a new
spatial decision support tool designed as an ArcGIS toolbar to assist resource
managers, researchers, and land-use planners in prioritizing important areas in
the landscape or seascape for conservation or restoration action. What makes
this tool unique is the ease with which the scenarios can be displayed and
changed, making this a helpful companion when working with a group. In addition
to the scenarios, the tool also generates pertinent reports, maps, and data
tables. http://www.csc.noaa.gov/hpp/.
An informational webinar is being held on February 5. Register at www.ebmtools.org/contact.html.
EPA Launches New
Decentralized Wastewater Tool
US EPA has recently launched their Wastewater Information System Tool (TWIST), a Microsoft Access
based information management system developed to help communities
inventory and manage decentralized wastewater systems. TWIST is an off
the-shelf, user-friendly management tool that will allow state and local
health departments to effectively inventory and manage small wastewater
treatment systems in their jurisdictions. It's designed to track information
related to homes and facilities served, permits, site evaluations, types of
systems, inspections, and complaints. An EPA Watershed Academy
webcast was held on January 16 that provides an introduction on how to use
TWIST. The webcast is
available online at http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.
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Newsletter
Editor/ Design and Layout:
Rebecca
Buerkett
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An email version
of F. X. Browne, Inc.'s Lake and Watershed
News is now available. To be added to our mailing list, please visit
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F. X.
Browne, Inc. – Environmental Consulting
Engineers – Planners – Scientists
30 Years of Excellence & Innovation
Corporate
Office: Lansdale, PA
Pocono Office: Marshalls Creek, PA
New York Office:
Saranac Lake, NY
For more information, call us at (215) 362-3878 or visit:
http://www.fxbrowne.com.
For a printer
friendly version of the newsletter, click here.
Unless otherwise cited, all photos
in this newsletter © Rebecca Buerkett. Photos may not be used or reproduced without
permission.
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