It’s been busy around SMG keeping our clients up to date with various regulations. We have also been busy keeping our staff on top of pressing and influential regulations through training events. I recently attended a week-long wetland delineation training course in Bucks County, Pennsylvania put on by The Swamp School. The training covered the US Army Corps of Engineers 1987 Manual and Regional Supplements used to delineate wetlands in Kentucky and the surrounding states. An emphasis was placed on the potential changes coming to these methods as a result of the EPA’s new Water of the US definitions. A combination of class and field exercises allows me to delineate wetlands using the Corp’s methods and submit these for approval. I also learned to catalog a significant quantity of wetland plants in the field as well as those being propagated at Aquascapes Unlimited, a local wetland plant nursery in the area.
If you are curious about what the new Waters of the US definition might mean for your site you can see a brief overview from our partners at the Swamp School here (http://d258jt32o5tsbc.cloudfront.net/neweparules15.html). If you need assistance in this area you can contact me at josiahf@smithmanage.com.