Editors Note: 
The deadline for PA DEP Watershed Growing Greener Grant applications is rapidly approaching on March 5^th, 2004. This program is the most comprehensive funding program for lake and watershed projects in Pennsylvania, including source water protection and flood protection grant programs as well as funding for education and outreach, watershed group organization, watershed assessments, BMP implementation, and more. If your group is interested in applying for Growing Greener funding, please visit the PA DEP website at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/growgreen/defaultdep.htm, or contact F. X. Browne, Inc. at info@fxbrowne.com or 800-220-2022 to discuss ideas or receive technical assistance with the grant application process.

In other news, under newly adopted NJ DEP rules, New Jersey municipalities will have to file for a NPDES Phase II stormwater permit by early March. The rules will be in the February 2, 2004 NJ Register. Rules for stormwater management for new development will also be adopted on February 2, 2004. For updated information about the new New Jersey stormwater regulations, visit the Stormwater page on the F. X. Browne, Inc. website here. (No longer active)

Feature Article

The Salt of the Earth: Winter Roads in Your Watershed

This is the time of year when I begin to flip longingly through seed catalogues and my imagination yearns for the sound of spring peepers. I sigh as my eyes catch sight of the sandals cast haphazardly under my dresser after last year’s Indian summer canoe trip. However, winter is far from over (especially here in the Adirondacks), and some of the biggest winter storms are likely yet to come. With snow and ice come hazardous driving conditions, and with hazardous driving conditions come road salt and sand. Road salt can do more than just corrode your vehicle – it can seriously impair aquatic ecosystems. More…

Next Month’s Feature Article: Maintaining Your Riparian Buffer

How Did Groundhog Day Come To Be, and Why is Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Considered Groundhog Central?
The Groundhog Day tradition originated from the ancient Candlemas celebration on February 2. The traditional saying goes, “If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight. If Candlemas day be shower and rain, Winter is gone and will not come again.” It was believed in many European countries that some type of burrowing animal (a hedgehog was popular) would come out on Candlemas to judge the quality of the weather. This tradition was brought to America via German settlers, including the early Pennsylvania Dutch, but as hedgehogs were not native to the New World, they used groundhogs.
Why Punxsutawney? It is said that in the summer of 1887, a group of local hunters and gourmets held a groundhog hunt and picnic and celebrated the event by barbequing their game and washing it down with locally brewed beer. Inspired by the hunt, the fellowship, or the beer, the city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper dubbed the picnickers the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club". He recalled the Pennsylvania Dutch legend of the groundhog as a weather prophet and claimed for the Punxsutawney Groundhog all weather rights. He created a home for him on Gobbler's Knob and a fame that is now worldwide. In the early years, the Punxsutawney ceremony was held in secret and only Phil's prediction was revealed to the public. Several wealthy local dignitaries continued and embellished the tradition of Punxsutawney Phil over time. Since 1966, Phil's fearless forecast has been a national media event in the small town of Punxsutawney, creating what has been called "one of the greatest ongoing publicity campaigns in history." http://www.groundhog.org/

News Clips

New Report Reveals Riparian Buffer Effectiveness

A recent Agricultural Research Service report provides proof that forest buffers are not only highly effective at removing nitrogen from agricultural runoff, but can efficiently remove phosphorus as well. More…

New Jersey Meadowlands Municipalities Gain Planning Tool

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) recently unveiled a GIS digital mapping system designed to improve the planning capabilities of the 14 Meadowlands communities. More…

Susquehanna River Report Shows Decreasing Nutrient and Sediment Loads

A recent Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) report showed a decrease in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads being transported from the Susquehanna River to the Chesapeake Bay during 2002. More…

Aerial Surveillance Catches Wetland Violators Red-Handed

A new Massachusetts aerial surveillance program has already discovered over 1,500 illegally filled wetlands. More…

Little Known Groundhog Day Facts
	For most of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. He is taken to Gobbler's Knob and placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out at 7:25 am on Groundhog Day, February 2, to make his prediction.
Approximately 90% of the time, Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.
During Prohibition, Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.
In the years following the release of the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, record crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney.
The movie Groundhog Day was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois.
Other famous weather-predicting groundhogs exist, including Dunkirk Dave (New York), Shubenacadie Sam (Nova Scotia), Wiarton Willie (Ottawa), Unadilla Bill (Nebraska), General Beauregard Lee (Georgia), and Peewee the Woodchuck (Vermont). Louisiana even has its own weather-prognosticating crawfish named Claude!

Policy Update

	EPA recently published its preliminary Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2004/2005 in the Federal Register. The preliminary Plan describes the current status of EPA's planning for the effluent guidelines program, presents the results of EPA's annual review of the effluent guidelines it has already promulgated for industrial categories, and identifies industrial categories that EPA expects to investigate further for the possible development or revision of effluent limitations guidelines. The 45-day comment period closes on Feb. 17. The complete text of the Federal Register notice and major supporting documents are available on the Internet at www.epa.gov/guide/plan.html.
	PA DEP is making available for public comment its draft 2004 Integrated Waterbody List and the Assessment and Listing Methodology used to create the list. The list, formerly known as the 303(d) List because it is required by Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act, is now comprised of five parts that collectively report on the designated use attainment status of Pennsylvania surface waters.  Waterbodies reported as having impaired water quality are now displayed in Part Five of the 2004 Integrated Waterbody List. The draft 2004 Integrated Waterbody List and Assessment and Listing Methodology are available on the DEP’s web site at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/watermgt/wqp/wqstandards/303d-Report.htm.
	The Bush administration recently proposed revising a policy that limits mining activity near streams. The Interior Department's proposal would eliminate an existing policy that says land within 100 feet of a stream cannot be disturbed by mining activity unless a company can prove that the work won't affect the stream's water quality and quantity. Environmentalists say the changes will encourage "mountaintop mining," which involves shearing off the tops of ridges to expose a coal seam and pushing dirt and rock into nearby stream beds. The Administration claims the new rule is needed to clarify the intent of the buffer zone rule, which was last amended in 1983. Public comments are being accepted until March 8th, 2004. To view the Federal Register Notice, visit http://www.osmre.gov/pdf/streambufferzonerule.pdf.
	PA Governor Rendell recently vetoed a House Bill that would have allowed farmers to sue municipalities to invalidate ordinances that improperly regulate farming operations, and to recoup their legal fees and court costs. The governor said the bill did not balance the business needs of farming with the concerns about runoff from farming operations. He directed the PA Departments of Environmental Protection and Agriculture to craft a more comprehensive approach to nutrient management.
	The Bottomland (hardwood) Timber Establishment on Wetlands initiative is a new effort under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) aimed at improving air and water quality as well as increase wildlife habitat along wetland areas. The initiative allows producers to enroll in a CRP practice on lands suitable for growing bottomland hardwood trees or adapted shrubs that will provide multipurpose forest and wildlife benefits.  Up to 500,000 acres can be enrolled under the program nationally with acreage limits assigned to each states. A fact sheet on the initiative is available at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/publications/facts/html/bottomland03.htm, or by contacting your local Farm Services Agency office.
	The Supreme Court recently ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency can override state officials and require anti-pollution measures that may be more costly. The 5-4 decision, a victory for environmentalists, found the EPA did not go too far when it overruled a decision by Alaska regulators, who wanted to let the operators of a zinc and lead mine use cheaper anti-pollution technology for power generation. The Clean Air Act allows state officials to make some decisions involving facilities within their borders, but still gives the EPA wide authority to enforce the anti-pollution law passed by Congress in 1970. The case is State of Alaska v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 02-658.

Grant Programs
  (Click on a grant for more information)

PA DEP Growing Greener Watershed Grants

Susquehanna Streamside Cleanup Grants

PA Compost Infrastructure Development Grants

National Species Recovery Fund Grants

New Jersey Water Education Grants

Federal Five Star Restoration Grants

NJ Garden Club Grants

Barnegat Bay Watershed Grants

Private Stewardship Grant Program

New Publications

Watershed-Based NPDES Permitting Implementation Guidance

A guidance document describing EPA's recommendations for watershed-based permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program is now available online. This approach is aimed at achieving new efficiencies and environmental results through the NPDES program. The watershed approach to permitting provides a process for considering all stressors within a hydrologically defined drainage basin, rather than addressing individual pollutant sources on a discharge-by-discharge basis. The Guidance is available online at: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/watersheds.

NJ Deer Management Tools

The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has two new products available to help residents with deer management issues. The first is a reference manual, “Managing New Jersey’s Deer Population.” The second is a website, http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~deer/, with information about the relationship between deer and people in New Jersey. Both resources are focused on the potentially positive and negative impacts of deer on human quality of life, and outline different approaches to deer management. The manual is available from the Rutgers County Extension office; call 732-932-9762 for information or purchase.

Environmental Education Materials Guide

Module II: Finding and Choosing Environmental Education Materials, part of the Essentials of Environmental Education for Pennsylvania series, is now available from the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education (PCEE). The primary goal of this publication is to provide information on how to use basic technological skills to locate environmental education (EE) resources. Module II examines numerous tools used to choose and evaluate EE materials and offers information (including Web site links) on Pennsylvania and national EE resources. All modules are appropriate for non-formal and formal educators as well as students in pre-service teacher preparation programs in both Pennsylvania and around the country. For more information on the Essentials of EE project or to obtain copies of the modules, contact the PCEE at pcee@sru.edu or 724-738-4555, or visit the PCEE Web site at www.pcee.org.

Environmental Compliance Assistance Website

Every state and every locality has its own unique set of environmental regulations and permit requirements.  It is often difficult to find the needed information.  But that is exactly what contractors and builders/developers have to face on a daily basis.  The CICA Center is an environmental compliance assistance website for contractors and builders/developers.  It provides information for contractors and builders on environmental regulations and permit requirements including stormwater, solid waste (C&D debris), hazardous waste, air, wetlands, endangered species, and green building.  CICA provides straightforward explanations of what is required for compliance; visit their home page at http://www.CICAcenter.org.  CICA is continually updating their web pages and welcomes any comments directed to improving the accuracy of the information on their site.

Newsletter Editor: Rebecca L. Buerkett Newsletter Design and Layout: Dianne M. Brown

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