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2 Basin
Road
Windham, ME 04062
207-892-3399
FAX: 207-892-3089
aswm@aswm.org
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If you are unable to find the information you are looking
for, please search the ASWM website using Google below. |
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ASWM has a New Webpage on Floodplains
Wetlands are often subject to severe natural hazards, flooding being the most pervasive. Coastal and estuarine wetlands are often subject to 9-15 feet of inundation and high energy waves during a severe hurricane or coastal storm. Similarly, wetlands adjacent to major rivers are often subject to 8-10 or more feet of flooding during a 100-year flood event. Lake fringe wetlands like those adjacent to the Great Lakes and depressional wetlands are often subject to long term fluctuations of 6 or more feet due to fluctuations in precipitation in the watershed. For news coverage on recent flooding throughout the U.S. and floodplain management issues with related publications and links, visit http://www.aswm.org/science/floodplains/index.htm
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FUTURE
ASWM WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIA
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Monday and Thursday: Field Trips
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Conference
Friday: Workshops sponsored by Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists
Plans are underway for Wetlands 2008. Global climate change will be the primary topic at ASWM's annual conference. Carbon sequestration and wetlands, sea level change, and strategies for managing wetlands in response to long term changes in temperature and precipitation will be important topics. Other related topics will include wetland research priorities, monitoring trends in wetlands and related resources, management strategies, invasive species, biodiversity and policy responses to a changing environment. The purpose of this symposium is to describe challenges, identify opportunities, and share cooperative strategies for protecting, restoring and conserving wetlands in response to climate change. |
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For more information go to:
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ASWM
Rapanos/Carabell
Website
The ASWM Rapanos/Carabell
website contains extensive information on the Rapanos/Carabell
Supreme Court case and associated federal guidance as
well as related information on Clean Water Act jurisdiction
issues. |
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11th
Circuit Court Decides a Perennial Stream is not subject
to Clean Water Act for a Section 402 Discharge
By Jon Kusler, Esq., Ph.D., Association of State Wetland
Managers, Inc.
On October 24, 2007 the 11th Circuit Court of appeals
(Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) overturned the lower,
district court Clean Water Act convictions of several
individuals for dumping waste water into a stream because
the U.S. government had not sufficiently demonstrated
that the stream had a "significant nexus" to navigable
waters and was, therefore, a "navigable water" of the
U.S. and subject to CWA jurisdiction. Rapanos had not
been decided when the case was considered by the lower
district court so there was no need to explicitly show
"significant nexus" in the trial at this level. Just how
much evidence government will need to introduce to establish
a "significant nexus" in a retrial remains to be seen.
It is possible that government will have little difficulty
in establishing a "significant nexus" once the actual
words "significant nexus" are used in the retrial jury
instructions and jury deliberations. Nevertheless, the
language of the court in rejecting EPA's expert testimony
presented at the district court level as insufficient
suggests that this court and perhaps other courts will
demand more evidence of hydrologic, biological, or other
sorts of connections than government agencies are ordinarily
able to supply given limited budgets and staffing. [read
more] |
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| Federal
Register Notice: EPA
and Army Corps of Engineers Guidance Regarding Clean Water
Act Jurisdiction after Rapanos |
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U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act Definition
of "Waters of the United States" |
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U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program CwW Guidance |
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| "Significant
Nexus" Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Decision Paper |
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| The
summary and recommendation section:
Recommended
Actions to Clarify Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Issuance
of the Consolidated Decision, Rapanos v. U.S. 126 S. Ct. 2208
(S.Ct. 2006) |
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2">Please click here
or the link above to view the
March edition of Wetland Breaking News. Or see links below.
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EDITOR'S
NOTE |
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RESOURCES
AND PUBLICATIONS
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EDITOR'S
CHOICE [or
see below]
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POTPOURRI |
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NATIONAL
NEWS
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JOB
OPENINGS |
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LEGISLATIVE
NEWS
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STUDENT
JOBS |
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STATE
NEWS |
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MEETINGS
AND TRAINING |
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| Editors
Choice |
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| ASWM’s Wetlands 2008: Wetlands & Global Climate Change |
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| September 16-18, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. Field trips and workshops information is now posted on the conference website as well as online registration. Among the field trips, there will be a Columbia River estuary restoration tour, a bicycle tour of Portland, Ross Island kayaking tour, and a visit to the Tyee Winery and wetlands. Visit: http://www.aswm.org/calendar/wetlands2008/field_trips_workshops.htm to learn more about field trips and workshops. To register, visit: http://www.aswm.org/calendar/wetlands2008/registration_2008.htm |
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| State Takings Legislation Limits Environmental Regulation, Report Says |
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InsideEPA News – June 13, 2008
A recently released academic report raises broad concerns for state laws requiring compensation to landowners for regulatory actions that restrict the use or otherwise diminishes the value of their property, contending that strict state legislation often has the unintended consequence of limiting local environmental regulation. The Track Record on Takings Legislation: Lessons from Democracy’s Laboratories, charges that states with the most stringent and far-reaching laws limiting so-called regulatory takings -- particularly Florida and Oregon -- have numerous examples where environmental regulatory action was thwarted because of local governments that either cannot or will not pay the large sums of money which regulatory action requires. The study, written by John Echeverria and Thekla Hansen-Young of the Georgetown Environmental Law & Policy Institute, focuses on property rights laws in Florida and Oregon, with an eye toward requirements in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, as well as a California ballot initiative that passed soon after the report was issued. California voters June 3 approved Proposition 99, a law that prohibits the California and local governments from taking private land for the use of another private owner. The rule, however, still allows eminent domain for reasons of public health and safety, as well as environmental remedy for hazardous land. The results of Florida and Oregon’s approach have a number of lessons for other states, the Georgetown study argues: takings legislation can undermine community protections; the laws benefit special interests; it creates land use conflicts; it provides financial windfalls for land owners; and the laws undermine public participation in land use decisions. For direct link to the report, go to: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/TrackRecord.pdf For related blog discussion, visit: http://lawoftheland.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/georgetown-center-publishes-
takings-report-focusing-on-florida-and-oregon/ |
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| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirms non-navigable status for most of L.A. River |
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By Deborah Schoch - Los Angeles Times – June 5, 2008
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced today that they are standing by their decision that most of the Los Angeles River is not navigable. The ruling sparked sharp criticism from some other regulators and conservationists who warned that it will weaken federal Clean Water Act rules protecting the river's sprawling 834-acre watershed. (For the record: This article and the headline state that the river's watershed covers 834 acres. The watershed covers 834 square miles.) They believe the ripple effect of the decision will make is easier to develop large areas of the Santa Susana, Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains because landowners will not be required to obtain certain federal permits. Some federal and state officials fear that the decision also may undermine rules against discharging wastewater and storm water into the river's tributaries. For the full article, go to: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-me-river5-2008jun05,0,2812420.story |
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| EPA Reaffirms Clean Water Act Permit Not Needed for Water Transfers |
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| EPA is publishing a final rule that clarifies water transfers are excluded from regulation under the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The rule defines a water transfer as an activity that conveys or connects waters of the United States without subjecting the transferred water to intervening industrial, municipal, or commercial use. This exclusion does not apply to pollutants introduced by the water transfer activity itself to the water being transferred. "EPA's Water Transfer Rule gives communities greater certainty and makes clear they have the flexibility to protect water quality and promote the public good without going through a new federal permitting process," said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. "Clean water permits should focus on water pollution, not water movement. EPA is committed to working with our state, tribal, and local partners to reduce environmental impacts assoc will coiated with transfers andntinue to use all appropriate tools such as standards, best management practices, and watershed plans." For additional information, including a copy of the final rule, visit the NPDES website: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/agriculture, or contact Virginia Garelick, Water Permits Division, Office of Wastewater Management at (202) 564-2316 or garelick.virginia@epa.gov. |
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| Excavator Agrees to Settle Wetlands Case That Went to Supreme Court Over Permit |
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A Wisconsin developer has settled a federal lawsuit over the excavation and dredging of a wetland in a case that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, agreeing that the site is subject to Clean Water Act permitting requirements (United States v. Gerke Excavating Inc., W.D. Wis., No. 03-C-0074-C, 5/15/08). Under the settlement, announced by the Justice Department May 30, Gerke Excavating Inc. also agreed to pay a $42,500 civil fine (73 Fed. Reg. 31,146). The agreement was outlined in a proposed consent decree filed May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers originally sued Gerke Excavating and other parties in federal court in Wisconsin in 2003 for failing to obtain a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit before excavating and dredging a 5.8-acre tract containing wetlands. The district court found the defendants liable for unpermitted dredging and filling of wetlands (United States v. Thorson, 219 F.R.D. 623, 58 ERC 1700 (W.D. Wis. 2003); 71 DEN A-6, 4/14/04 For Notice of Settlement, visit: http://regulations.justia.com/view/112050/ |
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| New Climate Report Foresees Big Changes |
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By Andrew Revkin – New York Times – May 28, 2008
The rise in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activities is influencing climate patterns and vegetation across the United States and will significantly disrupt water supplies, agriculture, forestry and ecosystems for decades, a new federal report says. The changes are unfolding in ways that are likely to produce an uneven national map of harms and benefits, according to the report, released recently and posted online at climatescience.gov. For the full story, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/science/earth/28climate.html?_r=3&ref=science&
oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |
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Report Reveals U.S. Wetlands Conservation Goals Surpassed Expectations |
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On Earth Day 2004, the Council on Environmental Quality established a national wetland initiative to restore or create (by 2009), at least one million wetland acres; improve or enhance at least one million wetland acres; and protect at least one million wetland acres. On Earth Day 2008 the council reported that the goals had surpassed the 2004 projections. The current figures indicate that approximately 1,197,000 acres have been restored or created, 1,079,000 acres improved, and 1,324,000 acres have been protected. For the complete report, visit the Council on Environmental Quality website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/wetlands/2008/index.html |
Please click here
to view full Wetland Breaking News.
Migratory
Bird & Wetland NewsLink - June 2008 Issue
Bimonthly International News Service |
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Photos by
Jeanne Christie, ASWM |
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