Josiah Frey
The Rise of Consent Decrees
-August 12, 2015
On Thursday, August 6th , 2015, EPA announced that Arch Coal, Inc. will enter into a Consent Decree for Clean Water Act violations. Arch Coal is the latest example of EPA levying Consent Decrees as a preferred enforcement tool in recent years. EPA’s website shows that it has enforced Consent Decrees and levied multi-million dollar […]
The Northern Long-eared Bat 4(d) Rule – What Does it Mean?
-May 19, 2015
While Northern Long-eared Bat listing went into effect earlier this month, the real question people are asking is “what does the 4(d) rule mean for me?” As part of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized under Section 4(d) to issue regulations to conserve threatened species. In the case of […]
Public Comment for New TMDL’s in Western Kentucky
-May 12, 2015
On Thursday, May 7th, a 60 day public comment period opened for the 2014 draft listing of impaired waters focused on two Western Kentucky watersheds. Specifically, the Green River and Tradewater River basin management units are the focus of new impairment listings for the 2014 303(d) list. Included on this list are tributaries of Floyds […]
Ohio Supreme Court Revokes TMDL Derived NPDES Limits
-April 2, 2015
In a decision on March 24th, the Ohio Supreme Court effectively declared that the Ohio EPA cannot enforce certain limitations found in many Ohio NPDES permits. The ruling in the Fairfield County v. Nally case invalidated NPDES permit discharge limits that were established due to Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) in adjacent streams. The Court […]
SMG Obtains 2015 Kentucky Wastewater Laboratory Certification
-April 2, 2015
SMG has qualified and been certified as a field-only laboratory for Kentucky’s Wastewater Laboratory Certification program. Special thanks to Josiah Frey, an Environmental Scientist at SMG, for leading SMG through the qualification process. To learn more about the Kentucky Wastewater Laboratory Certification requirements, see 401 KAR 5:320 or the SMG article on the subject.
SMG’s South Wireless Summit Insights
-March 26, 2015
Last week, I joined telecommunication industry leaders, suppliers, and contractors in Nashville to discuss the state of the wireless telecommunication industry. While much of the discussion centered on carrier spending projections for 2015, the focus shifted to the future build out and current struggles of small cell deployment. It appears that future wireless build-outs will […]
Monarch Butterfly Pre-Review Comment Closing
-February 19, 2015
In a move that could have significant ramifications for Midwest landowners and farmers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced on December 31st, 2014 that it will consider the monarch butterfly for listing as a threatened or endangered species. Now, the 60-day window to submit scientific and commercial data for the species is coming […]
USFWS Alters Course on Bat Listing
-January 26, 2015
This month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed to downgrade the listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat from “endangered” to “threatened with a 4(d) rule.” This change in listing is likely due to comments from state forester associations and regional fish and wildlife agencies made in November of 2014 (click here for more […]
Climate Change Analysis Added to the NEPA Process
-January 5, 2015
On December 18th, the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a revised draft guidance describing how Federal agencies should assess impacts to climate change in their NEPA project reviews. This new guidance supersedes a similar CEQ document released in 2010 that was never finalized. The new document is significant in that it now […]
Northern Long-Eared Bat Comment Period Re-Opened
-December 1, 2014
On the heels of significant comments by two regional fish and wildlife agency associations and two state forester associations, the US Fish and Wildlife Agency (USFWS) has re-opened the comment period for the listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat as an endangered species. These four state associations rejected the call to list the species as […]