EPA Releases ELG Standard for Storm Water

For the first time ever, the U.S. EPA has set a numerical standard for sediment leaving construction and development sites.  The limit has been set at 280 NTUs (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) at the outfall from Construction and Development sites as a daily average.

This limit does not apply on days where the site receives the equivalent rainfall of a 2 year 24 hour storm or greater.

This rule goes into effect for sites where 20 acres or more are disturbed at any one time and in 2014 for sites where 10 acres or more are disturbed at any one time.  This rule will be enforced by the States in most cases and the States can adopt the rules early and can make them more strict.

We will stay on top of this issue.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

http://www.landmarkjcm.com/

302-323-9377 x143 Jim or x141 Keith

Price vs. Value (How do you decide?)

Environmental Data Resources (EDR) posted a great blog article the other day about selecting an environmental consultant to perform your Phase I Environmental Assessment and not just looking at price (you usually get what you pay for, or worse).

The article is here.

This has been an ongoing debate in our company over the last twenty years and we have lost our fair share of contracts to someone who had a cheaper price.  Many of those losses came back as new jobs when the client realized their mistake.  Here are some examples:

• The Phase I Environmental Assessment was $500 cheaper but they recommended a Phase II when one really wasn't needed.
• The Phase I Environmental Assessment was cheaper but they missed a buried debris pit that cost me $20,000 to clean up after I bought the property.
• The wetland delineation was $1000 cheaper but they mapped 2 acres of wetlands that really weren't. (One time the other consultant mapped 75 acres of wetlands that really weren't).
• The survey price was cheaper but they laid out all of the houses wrong and I had to go get 25 variances from the County.

We always use the same example when discussing this in the office.

Do you ever go ask your doctor for his best price and then go shop around for a cheaper price?  Of course not, we want the best doctor we can find.

Shouldn't it be the same way with your Engineer, Surveyor or Environmental Consultant?  You usually have large sums of money riding on every deal and one mistake could be the difference between success and failure.

We pride ourselves in adding value to our services (see this blog) and we may not always be the cheapest but we hope you will always find us to be the best value.

http://www.landmarkjcm.com/

Jim, Clients On the HBADE Board of Directors

At Monday's HBA/DE inaugural luncheon, Jim McCulley was again sworn in as a Board member. What's different this time is that Jim is an Officer and Member of the Executive Commitee! This can only help strengthen the Home Builders, as Jim's participation and involvement will continue on this new level. Besides being a long serving Board member and earlier winner of the Associate of the Year and the President's Award, Jim is the authority on responsible environmental issues for HBA/DE and the Board. He also represents Landmark/JCM and Delaware as a member of the NAHB Board of Directors and their Environmental Committee as well. That's Jim on the far end (photo by Jay Greene).

Also we're pleased to congratulate Fred Fortunato of Benchmark Builders (first on nearest end), Scott Bradley of Bestfield Homes (mr. beard) and Kevin Whittaker (second from left) of Whittaker Homes. All are clients of ours, for inauguration onto the Board of Directors. Fred becomes the Senior Vice President, Scott is our Vice President representing Kent County and Kevin VP for New Castle County. Not shown but also sworn onto the Board are clients: Steve Bomberger, Immediate Past President; Don Yoos of J.S. Hovnanian and Sons, and Bob Thornton of Silverstock Builders. The oath of office was administered by our client Kevin Kelly of Leon Weiner & Assoc.

Way to go guys!

Howard is a Big Winner

Howard Fortunato, manager of the Green Systems Division at Landmark/JCM http://www.landmarkjcm.com/ was presented with the Associate of the Year award from the Homebuilder's Association of Delaware (HBADE).

Here is a link to the Delaware State News Article: LINK

Howard has been the President of the HBADE Green Building Council for two years and has been instrumental in advancing green residential construction in Delaware.  Howard assisted Silverstock Builders in building the first Gold Certified Home under the NAHB Green Building Guidelines in the Nation and has assisted many builders in building green homes in the State.

Congratulations Howard!

You can reach Howard at howard@jcmenv.com

Chesapeake Bay TMDL Public Meeting

The U.S. EPA held a public meeting in Laurel, Delaware last night to discuss the proposed Chesapeake Bay TMDL.  Jim attended and testified on behalf of the Homebuilders Association of Delaware.  Click here to see his testimony.

The TMDL that is being developed will allocate the pollution loadings allowed by each State within the watershed (see map) and the airshed (yes, I said the airshed, see additional map below).

The States will be responsible for dividing up their allocation of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sediment to each of the discharging groups with input and suggestions from EPA.  If the States do not meet their allocation goals, there will be consequenses imposed by EPA under The Clean Water Act.

Delaware's preliminary allocations are 5.25 million pounds of Nitrogen and 0.28 million pounds of Phosphorus.  The real work now begins with developing the implementation plans to achieve these goals.

Meeting with EPA on Chesapeake Bay

Jim and Keith Rudy met this morning in Kent Island, MD with builders from Maryland and Delaware and representatives from the U.S. E.P.A. to discuss the upcoming initiatives related to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order.

According to EPA, the States now have draft TMDL numbers and should be developing implementation plans.  It was clear from the discussions that EPA is leaning towards recommending no new development in the basin with 2:1 offsets for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.