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MSC IECA Quarterly News & Updates
October 2018
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MSC represented at the EPA
Region 6 Conference
Albuquerque, NM
If you attended the 20th Annual EPA Region 6 Stormwater Conference in Albuquerque this year, you would have seen and possibly visited the Mountain States Chapter booth. The conference presentation topics included MS4 Stormwater Management Programs, Construction & Industrial Stormwater Management, Watershed Protection/Total Maximum Daily Loads, and Advancing Resiliency in Water Infrastructure.
This year's conference was held on August 19 - 23 and had almost 300 people in attendance. We had the opportunity to speak with many people from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and even Arizona.
The chapter would like to thank its members who volunteered their time to work at the booth, speaking to attendees about the IECA and providing information about membership. Those members were James Redhorse - Navajo Engineering Construction Authority, Lauren Jennings - 814 Solutions and Todd Croke - Synermulch Erosion Control Products, and Brian Roche - Titan Erosion Control Products. We are looking forward to this conference returning to New Mexico, so our chapter can be more involved in this great event.
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February 19, 2018 6:45 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Wynkoop Brewery
Welcome Reception
Hosted by the Mountain States Chapter of IECA
The IECA Mountain States Chapter invites you to join us at the IECA Welcome Reception held at Wynkoop Brewery on Tuesday, February 19th from 6:45 - 10:00PM.
Pull up a stool at the large wrap-around bar, test your skills at the pool tables, dart board or shuffle board tables. Wynkoop is Colorado's First Brewpub, home to tastemakers and rulebreakers, bushwhackers and envelope pushers. For almost three decades we've been brewing handcrafted beer in our modest basement brewery underneath Denver's largest pool hall. Over the years our neighborhood has transformed and Colorado's craft beer industry has exploded. And Wynkoop is still here, serving cold beer to warm friends. Kick off the 2019 IECA Annual Conference with a true Colorado welcome. Throughout the event you will have the opportunity to go on a 25 minute brewery tour with the Brewmaster.
BILLIARDS PARLOR
Our second floor pool hall is Denver's most elegant billiards parlor. It features 15 tournament-sized billiards tables and beautifully restored turn-of-the-century charm. The back bar was rescued from the tasting room of the bygone, historic Tivoli Brewery once located across Cherry Creek. There are also 2 shuffleboards tables and 2 dart lanes. The pool hall accommodates as many as 600 for a private function, it's the perfect place for a company holiday party or charity fundraiser
Ticket will include dinner and a craft brew (or house wine) and prices are $20 for members and $25 for non-members. You can add this to your IECA Conference Registration or if you
are not able to attend other events during the IECA Conference, but would like to attend this networking event, please email Jack Cuneo at [email protected] or call the IECA office to register and pay for this event at 303-640-7554.
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Corporate Sponsors for the Welcome Reception
IECA 2019 Annual Conference and Mountain States Reception Sponsorship
Platinum Sponsor (available to 3 sponsors)
Benefits Include:
-(5) drink tickets to the Mountain States Reception during the 2019 IECA Annual Conference
-Recognition on signage during the event
-Recognition on the entrance unit at the Annual Conference as the Chapter Sponsor
Cost: $1,000 per sponsor
Contact Alden Davidson to reserve your sponsorship! [email protected] or 303-640-7554.
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News from the Mountain States Region
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Colorado Update
Heard from a friend who heard it from a friend that heard from CDPHE that the Colorado Construction General Permit will be released on November 1, 2018 and will be effective April 1, 2019. After the numerous reports of release dates prior to this one, hopefully this news is correct. It has been a very long wait. Once it is released, there will be more information available on the CDPHE website.
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Montana Update
These recent Montana headlines are examples of what drives the need for erosion and sediment control experts and soil and water conservationists throughout the mountain states.
State
The Upper Missouri WaterKeeper filed a lawsuit in Gallatin County District Court contending that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality erred in how it regulates municipal separate stormwater sewer systems (MS4s). The lawsuit states that the current MS4 permit system lets cities avoid controlling pollution to violate State water quality standards.
Municipal
Bozeman City Commission recently unanimously passed an Emergency Ordinance Update which empowers the City to shut down any residential or commercial construction project that does not follow existing stormwater rules and requirements. This action was partly a result of a spring 2018 site audit that showed 94 percent of Bozeman building projects were violating Federal and State regulations, and local stormwater rules and requirements.
Agriculture
An estimated 60,000,000 acres of Montana farmland will be affected by the expiration of the Farm Bill (FB) on September 30, 2018. In addition, the fate of countless millions of acres of forested, range, prairie, and wetland habitats await FB resolution. The short-list of soil, water, and habitat conservation programs funded by the FB include: The Land and Water Conservation Fund; Environmental Quality Incentives Program; Conservation Steward Program; Forest Legacy Program; Agricultural Conservation Easement Program; and the Wetland Reserve Program. This FB uncertainty compounds USDA 2018 Q2 national estimates which indicate net farm incomes are 52 percent less than just five years ago.
Mining
Montana ballot initiative I-186 has the potential to greatly impact the future of mining in Montana. "This measure would require the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to deny permits for any new hard rock mines if the mine's reclamation plan does not "contain measures sufficient to prevent the pollution of water without the need for perpetual treatment." The initiative also states that the terms perpetual treatment, perpetual leaching, and contaminants are not fully defined within the proposed measure and would require the state Legislature or Department of Environmental Quality to further define them. Proponents state: 1) The measure will ensure that new mines in Montana will operate responsibly; 2)
It will hold mining companies accountable and no longer allow them to leave behind a toxic mess requiring perpetual treatment; 3) This ballot initiative reflects Montana's values of responsibility and accountability.
Opponents argue: 1) Existing Montana Non-Degradation Water Quality Standards already provide outstanding protection; 2) The measure will not address historical abandoned mines issues; 3) The measure creates substantial uncertainty in future mining investments; and 4) The measure would reduce school and road funding and future employment opportunities.
Forestry
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied claims by environmental groups and ruled in favor of a wildlife habitat and forest health management project known as the USFS East Deer Lodge Valley Landscape Restoration Plan. The Restoration Plan emphasizes timber harvest within areas of concentrated tree mortality resulting from Mountain Pine Beetle and Spruce Budworm infestations. Currently there are over 20 injunctions preventing significant Montana forest projects.
Other forestry highlights are that strong demand and limited log supplies have pushed lumber and log prices to record highs (NMI, 2018, Q2). Wildfire season ended early this year, and firefighting costs to the State were a small fracture of 2017 record high spending. Montana tourism statistics indicate that depending on County location, between 38 and 78 percent of tourism businesses experienced a significant decrease in business volume in the summer of 2017 as a result of wildfire smoke.
Calendar Events
Montana Watershed Coordination Council Symposium
Society of Wetland Scientist and Society of Ecological Restoration
NW Regional Conference, Spokane, WA, October 15-18 www.ser.org
Montana Chapter American Water Resources Association
Prepared by John Whittingham, IECA Montana Representative
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New Mexico Update
Nothing new to report. Again, thank you to Brian Roche for heading up the booth at the EPA R6 conference and to Lauren Jennings, Todd Croke, and James Redhorse for helping to man the booth to spread the good word about IECA and our chapter.
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North Dakota Update
The North Dakota Department of Transportation has put a new certification requirement in their contracts for future projects. This four-year certification is required of all Prime Contractor Erosion Control Supervisors, Subcontractor Erosion Control Supervisors, NDDOT personnel and consultants working on NDDOT construction projects.
There are a number of training classes being offered this winter to help get people certified. For more information,
Click Here
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South Dakota Update
South Dakota permit fees for new construction projects took effect on July 1, 2018 and renewal fees will start being collected in January, 2019.
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Utah Update
The new Jordan Valley MS4 permit is still being worked on as there were many comments from the regulated community to be resolved.
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Wyoming Update
The Wyoming DEQ has been able to hire some new staff for the water quality division, but is still working to increase staff numbers in the land division.
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Needed: Newsletter Articles
Your MSC newsletter staff is looking for news and feature articles to improve the newsletter. We are going to be working on some short "Did You Know" articles on products and practices that are available, but may not be as utilized as they could be on construction sites. If you have a topic you would like us to feature, please send us an email at [email protected] If you have a short article you would like to submit, we are always looking for those too. We ask that the articles not promote a specific product or company, but give a general overview of the practice. If you submit an article, we will review it and either publish it or let you know why we cannot publish as written and give you a chance to edit it.
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Upcoming Events
2019 IECA Annual Conference
Denver, CO
February 19 - 22, 2019
The IECA Annual Conference and Expo is premiere educational event for the erosion, sediment control and stormwater industry. Held in February each year, the IECA Annual Conference combines intense, full and half day training courses with topic-focused technical sessions and the largest expo of its kind.
We urge everyone in the Mountain States Region that is interested in Erosion, Sediment, Stormwater, and Water Quality Issues to check out the conference agenda and plan to attend all or part of the conference in place of having a MSC Regional Conference this year. Network with other professionals in our region, and with people from all over the world. Learn about new products, best management practices, new permit language, see case studies and poster presentations, and get to know others outside your current sphere of influence.
This is the first time that this Conference and Expo has been held in Denver or the Mountain States Region. Please go to the IECA.org website to see the full conference schedule.
Conference Event Page
Since the International Erosion Control Conference is being held in Denver, the MSC Chapter is not going to hold their annual full day conference this November 2018.
We have reserved the PPE Event Center for a fall conference in November 2019.
Live Webinars presented through IECA education:
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Do you have an upcoming event that is relevant to the Erosion Control and Water Quality Industry? Send your information to [email protected] and we will include it in the upcoming events section.
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Volunteers Needed to submit newsletter articles, post articles on our LinkedIn page, and help with conference planning. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to help out.
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MSC IECA | MOUNTAINSTATESIECA.ORG
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