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The regulation of activities impacting Wetlands is ever changing. Determining the level of impact is an important first step in the development project. Let our experiences guide you through the complex maze of delineation, agency coordination and permitting. Together, we can create an environmentally sound, yet practical solution.
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- Preliminary & Pre-acquisition Wetland Surveys
- Field Wetland Boundary Determinations
- Regulatory Agency Coordination:
- Field Boundary Review
- VA DEQ, MD DOE & DNR and Local Jurisdictional Determinations
- Permit Preparation and Application
- Mitigation Analysis
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Wetlands are those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated conditions.
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Wetlands lie along the natural wetness continuum between the better drained, rarely flooded uplands and the permanently flooded, deep waters of lakes, rivers, and coastal embayments.
Wetlands include the variety of marshes, bogs, wet meadows, swamps and bottomland forests. They usually lie in upland depressions or along rivers, lakes, and coastal waters where they are subject to ponding or periodic flooding. Some wetlands occur on slopes associated with ground water seeps and springs.
To identify wetlands accurately, one must determine where along the natural wetness continuum the wetland ends and the upland begins.
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Since its enactment in 1988, this legislation has significantly changed the development process. Delineation of Resource Protection Areas (RPA) and Resource Management Areas (RMA) is now a pre-development requirement. SES has completed more than 50 RPA and RMA delineations.
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- Preliminary & Pre-Acquisition CBPA Surveys
- RPA Studies and Boundary Delineation
- RMA Delineations and Opt-out Studies
- BMP Infiltration Trench Studies
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In 1980, the legislatures of Virginia and Maryland established an organization that would coordinate the legislative planning efforts between the states in the restoration of the Bay. This organization was called the Chesapeake Bay Commission. In 1985, Pennsylvania joined the effort.
Between 1983 and 1987, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C. and separate representatives from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania worked together to form an agreement of goals and priorities for cleaning up the Bay. Finally, in 1987, the Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed and became the basis for each state to create and implement programs to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
The Virginia General Assembly responded to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement by enacting the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act in 1988. The Act established the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board and the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department (CBLAD). The Board developed regulations to provide guidance to localities creating their own Chesapeake Bay Preservation Programs. CBLAD was created to provide staff support to the Board and also to provide technical assistance to the localities. Once the Board approved the regulations, each Tidewater locality was given one year to establish its Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas and enforcement mechanisms by incorporating development performance criteria through a separate ordinance or by revisions to existing zoning and subdivision ordinances.
The Act is a critical element of Virginia's multifaceted response to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The Bay Act established a cooperative program between state and local government aimed at reducing nonpoint source pollution. The Bay Act Program is designed to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries by requiring wise resource management practices in the use and development of environmentally sensitive land features. At the heart of the Bay Act is the idea that land can be used and developed in ways that minimize impact on water quality.
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What is nonpoint source pollution?
Sediments, nutrients and toxins find their way into the Bay by way of storm water runoff. Sediment is collected as the storm water runoff flows over loose or exposed soils. Nutrients are washed off fertilized lawns or agricultural fields during rain storms. Toxins, such as gasoline, oil and antifreeze, are washed off parking lots, roads or any other impervious surfaces from which water drains. These are all examples of what is commonly referred to as nonpoint source pollution since the pollutants are derived from many different sources.
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