|
Editor's
Notes:
|
The NJ Highlands Master Plan public meetings
have been scheduled. The
public
comment period has been extended to March 2.
Training Sessions for the new PA Stormwater BMP Manual
have been scheduled during
the next few months. Please join Dr. Frank Browne, President of F.X.
Browne, Inc., as one of the DEP-selected trainers for this program. See our Events page for more details.
F. X. Browne, Inc. recently participated in
the Montgomery County Conservation District's
"Seeing is Believing: A Showcase of Stormwater Best Management
Practices in Montgomery County." The program included a guided bus tour for
municipal officials and engineers of area stormwater BMPs (our Lansdale office's constructed
stormwater wetland was part of the tour). For those of you who missed
it, the MCCD is offering an online Virtual Tour of
the BMPs which were included. Check out the Virtual Tour at www.montgomeryconservation.org/bmptour.htm.
|
|
Topic of
the Month
Useful Lake
Management Documents Available on LWWMD Website
The Lake Wallenpaupack
Watershed Management District (LWWMD), formed to help protect and improve
the water quality in Lake Wallenpaupack, PA, has updated their website to
include some very useful lake management documents. More...
| Wondering
What to Do With Your Used Christmas Tree?
|
|
Don't throw it out - why not Treecycle!
Trees can be chipped for mulch, turned
into backyard wildlife habitat, or used to cover sensitive plantings.
Some hunting and fishing groups collect trees and use them to provide
habitat for fish and wildlife. To find a tree recycling center near
you, visit Earth
911's Treecycling website and type in your zip code.
|
|
|
News Clips
|
Draft NJ Highlands Plan Restricts Development in more than 80% of
Highlands Region
The master plan to save North Jersey's Highlands
Region would restrict development in more than 80 percent of the
mountain region stretching from Mahwah to the Delaware River. That
proposed area is much larger than what was planned when the
Highlands Act became state law in 2004 and is the result of more
detailed state studies of the region since then. More...
Monroe County PA Completes Stormwater
Management Plan
Monroe County finally has a stormwater management
plan that 17 municipalities along the Brodhead and McMichael Creeks
Watershed are to use as a model for enacting local ordinances. Municipalities will have six months to enact ordinances
that generally comply with the county's stormwater plan. More...
Penn State Researcher Shows Scrap Tires Can Be Used to Filter
Wastewater
Dr. Yuefeng Xie, associate professor of environmental engineering
at Penn State Harrisburg, has developed a method that uses crumb
rubber to filter wastewater, which can help ease the overabundant
scrap tire problem in the state
and clean up the environment at the same time. More...
PA Concerned About Invasive Pig Population
For years, Pennsylvania's scattered wild pig
population has been of little interest to anyone except hunters and farmers.
But now the state's free-roaming pig population is getting a closer
look from a public/private task force focused on health threats wild
pigs may pose to livestock and humans. More...
|
|
Policy Update
|
EPA signed a final
rule that describes two circumstances under which National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are not required to apply
pesticides to waters of the United States. |
|
A
proposed
USEPA rule would provide a financial incentive to states to use
higher NPDES permit fees to support clean water permit programs. |
|
|
NY Governor Pataki recently announced the
release of the 2006
New York State Open Space Conservation Plan, which provides an
outline for protecting environmentally-sensitive lands and waters
throughout the state. |
|
|
More than $1.7 million in federal grant
money has been designated to maintain and improve trails in New Jersey through
the Federal Highway Administration's Recreational Trails Program. In the
coming year, NJ DEP will administer approximately $1 million in
competitive grants for groups that operate and maintain trails.
|
|
|
A
new national report, Greening
America’s Schools, reveals that building energy-efficient
schools results in lower operating costs, improved test scores and
enhanced student health. |
|
|
A PA Supreme Court decision
has prohibited municipalities from charging an administrative fee on
garbage to help pay for nonmandated recycling programs, a move which
could hurt small or rural counties. |
|
|
The
PA DEP has published the final
version of its Trading of Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Credits
- Policy and Guidelines. Also published is Appendix A, which provides
nutrient trading criteria specific to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. |
|
|
The
PA DEP is inviting comments on TMDL
plans in the following watersheds: tributaries to Trout Run in
Pine Run Watershed (Clearfield Co.),: West Creek Watershed (Elk &
Cameron Cos.),: East Branch Mahoning Creek Watershed (Cleafield &
Jefferson Cos.), and Laurel Branch Run Watershed (Clearfield Co.). |
|
|
The
PA State Conservation Commission and the PA DOT have announced that Driving
Surface Aggregate is now approved for Liquid Fuel Tax Funds
expenditure to rebuild local roads. |
|
Appalachian Trail Coalition Plans Mega-Transect
A diverse group of organizations has launched a
project
to begin
long-term monitoring of the Appalachian Trail's environmental health, with plans to
tap into an army of volunteer "citizen scientists" and their
professional counterparts. Together, they will monitor the 2,160 mile
trail as a "mega-transect" representing the entire Eastern
Seaboard, collecting information about
the health of plants, air and water quality, and animal migration patterns
to build an early warning system for the 120 million people that live
along the east coast.
|
|
2007's Wackiest Calendars
Need a new calendar for your cubicle? Cute doggies and kitties are all
well and good, but these are a little more fun
|
|
Extraordinary
Chickens - A calendar of exotic chickens (Gonzo would love it)
|
|
Extreme
Ironing - Depicts people ironing in extreme locations, such as
underwater (ouch)
|
|
Men
of Mortuaries - Real-life funeral home employees bare it all to
raise money for breast cancer research
|
|
Lab
Bugs Gone Wild - A dozen of the most-feared bacteria and viruses up
close
|
|
Peeps:
A Candy-Coated Adventure - A whole calendar dedicated to
oddly-colored, overly preserved Easter candy
|
|
USA Weekend, October 27-29, 2006
|
|
Link Of
The Month
The New Jersey Environmental Digital Library (NJEDL)
The New Jersey Environmental Digital Library
(NJEDL) is an online library of environmental literature and multimedia related to
New Jersey. The NJEDL collection includes documents and reports, scientific
studies, photographs, videos, maps, and more. Most of the items in this
collection are considered "grey literature" - unavailable through
common research tools like library catalogs and indexes. The goal of the
library is to
locate, acquire, and preserve these valuable but hard-to-find resources for
citizens and researchers to use, and to make the collection digitally
available. http://njedl.rutgers.edu/njdlib/
|
|
New Book Changes Thinking About
Children's Connection to the Natural World
|
|
The Last Child in the Woods, authored
by Richard Louv and published by Algonquin Books, directly links the
absence of nature in the lives of today's wired generation to some of
the most disturbing childhood trends: the rise in obesity; attention
disorders; and depression. Louv brings together a body of research
indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy
childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of
children and adults. More than just raising alarms, however, Louv offers
practical solutions to cure "Nature-deficit disorder."
|
|
New
Tools and Publications
Report Card Issued on Sewage Management in the
Great Lakes
The Canadian Environmental Group Sierra
Legal released its first Great Lakes Sewage Report Card, an
investigative report that analyzes 20 cities in the Great Lakes basin and
grades them based on how well they manage their sewage. The Great Lakes Sewage Report Card represents the first-ever
ecosystem-based survey and analysis of municipal sewage treatment and sewage
discharges in the Great Lakes basin. The report grades cities on issues such
as collection, treatment and disposal of sewage based on information
provided by each municipality. The report documents that many cities in the region have antiquated
systems for collecting and treating sewage and regularly release untreated
sewage into local waterways. In addition to grading the cities, the report provides an analysis of the
region’s patchwork of sewage treatment laws and policies, and offers
several recommendations to ensure the protection of water quality in the
Great Lakes for future generations. http://www.sierralegal.org/reports/great.lakes.sewage.report.nov.2006b.pdf
Guide to Managing Peak Wet Weather Flows Released
The “Guide to Managing Peak Wet Weather Flows in Municipal
Wastewater Collection and Treatment Systems”, recently released by the Water Environment Federation (WEF), offers suggestions to
municipal wastewater treatment operators to deal with sewer overflows during wet
weather events. The guide provides a framework for owners, planners, designers and
operators of wastewater treatment collection and treatment systems to set
objectives and evaluate alternatives for managing wastewater flows during heavy
rains. The guide recognizes the regulatory framework that wastewater
treatment plants and associated collection systems operate, and provides a “proactive”
planning process that can be used to identify realistic solutions for days when
heavy rainfall occurs. http://www.e-wef.org/timssnet/products/tnt_products.cfm?primary_id=P06103E&Action=LONG&subsystem=ORD.
Archived Stormwater Webcast Features Stormwater BMP
Maintenance
In case you missed the December 6, 2006
EPA stormwater webcast, Killing Two Birds
with One Stone: Building a Local Program to Maintain Your Stormwater
Practices and Prevent Pollution from Municipal Operations, it is now
archived and can be viewed at any time on the EPA website. The webcast features Tom
Schueler of the Center for Watershed Protection, and discusses aspects of two of the six minimum
control measures: maintaining post-construction
Best Management Practices (BMPs) and municipal operations/good housekeeping.
The webcast includes a
brief discussion of the requirements, examples of successful local programs,
the top maintenance headaches faced by MS4s, and introduces new tools to
help build a successful maintenance program. www.epa.gov/npdes/training. Also,
you can now download these webcasts and listen to them on your iPod or MP4
player.
Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Planning Guide
Published
The American Fisheries Society (AFS) has released a new publication:
"Fisheries Ecosystem Planning (FEP) for Chesapeake Bay," a valuable
guide for ecosystem-based fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay and coastal
region. In November 2005, the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) executive council
formally adopted an ecosystem-based approach to develop new or revised CBP
Fishery Management Plans using the FEP for guidance. This guide describes the
structure and function of the bay's ecosystem, including key habitats and
species interactions. Recommendations to implement ecosystem-based approaches to
fisheries management for bay residents and coastal species are included, as well
as recommendations for research to enhance knowledge of the ecosystem and its
fisheries. http://www.afsbooks.org/x55051p.html
Riparian Tree Planting Pocket Guide Released
The North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources (NCDFR) has recently released the Riparian and Wetland Tree
Planting Pocket Guide. This new publication provides guidance for
successfully planting trees in riparian and wetland areas. The pocket guide’s
target audience includes those engaged in NC’s stream and wetland
restoration work; however, the document can also be used by forest land
owners that want to enhance forest management near water resources. http://www.dfr.state.nc.us/publications/RiparianPocketGuide.pdf
|
|
Newsletter
Editor/ Design and Layout:
Rebecca Buerkett |
|
|
Subscribe to this newsletter!
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
http://www.fxbrowne.com/subscribe.
|
F. X.
Browne, Inc. – Environmental Consulting
Engineers – Planners – Scientists
29 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.
|
