My Internship With the EPA

The EPA

• Region 3 “Mid- Atlantic”- responsible within the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

• Office in Philadelphia

Water!

• Water Department– Administers programs

authorized by the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act

– I was in the Water Protection Division (WPD)

What I Did

• Worked on the Integrated Watershed Strategy and Targeted Watershed Programs

• Attended seminars on wetland delineation

• Attended a meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Hydric Soils Committee

• Helped Organize the 9th Annual Wetlands and Watershed Workshop

• Attended a Grasses, Sedges and Rushes Identification class

R3 Integrated Watershed Strategy (IWS)

Vision Statement

Strategic alignment and implementation of cross-programmatic activities on a

watershed basis to accelerate results, improve efficiencies and account for

environmental improvements.

February 2005

March 2005

May – July 2005

July – September

2005

October – December

2005

February – April 2006

April – June 2006

June –July 2006

1st Team Meeting

Track Division Activity

Name Group

Team Mtgs

Id’d Name

Activities

Barriers

Timeline for Development of Integrated Watershed Strategy

MAC

Briefing

Team Mtgs

Id’d Programmatic

Indicators

Assessed Data Gaps

Inventoried Existing Data Sets

Team Mtgs

Developed WPRI from

Programmatic Indicators

Team Mtgs

Identified ReVA

&

Combined Programmatic

Indicators

Write IWS

&

Brief

WPD & EAID

Management

Finish

Draft IWS & Focus on

Target Watershed

(Where I come in)

• Watershed Protection Resource Index (WPRI)– The “universal tool”

developed

• Next Step: Targeted Watershed Program– Select a watershed to

use as an example• The Monocacy

Watershed

 Air    Human Health Water   8 or 12 Digit HUCs

Public Water IntakesLand

Percent Forest Habitat - Interior  Proportion of Stream with Riparian Forest  Percent WetlandsToxics  N/ADemographics  Percent of Population with Low Income  Percent Population 65+  Percent of Population Under 5Plant/Animal Species  Native Aquatic Species Abundance   Native Terrestrial Species Abundance  Threatened & Endangered Aquatic Species  Threatened & Endangered Terrestrial Species

WPRI Receptor or Resource Indicators

 Air    Ozone Design Value  PM 2.5 Design Value   Nitrogen Deposition   Sulfur Deposition Water  Total Nitrogen in Streams   Total Phosphorous in Streams   303d Stream Miles   Nitrate in Groundwater Land   Ag on Steep Slopes   Proportion Ag/Urban Land Cover   Road Crossings per Stream Length 

Toxics    TRI    Pre-1979 Housing  Demographics    Population Growth    Population Density  Plant/Animal Species    Exotic Aquatic Species    Exotic Terrestrial Species

WPRI Stressor Indicators

Stressors

Re

so

urc

es

High QualityLow Threat

(HL)

DegradedRestorable

(DR)

HighlyImpacted

(HI)

High QualityHigh Vulnerability

(HH)43

21

43

21

43

21

Ranked Watershed “Groupings”

43

21

High

High

Low

WPRI – Regional Watershed Assessment Results

What EPA programs can work here?WPD - Non Point Source Program,EAID - Wetlands, HSCD - Remedial

Wetland Delineation

• The 1987 Army Corps of Engineers Manual– Requires:

• Hydrology• Hydrophytic Vegetation• Hydric Soils

• Got Food Poisioning during the 2nd day

Mid-Atlantic Hydric Soils Committee

• Members work together to pursue and identify important research needs and to establish a collection of information to better identify hydric soils in the field.

• Main Focus: Regionalization of the 87 Manual – Too Old/South-east Bias

9th Annual Wetlands and Watershed Workshop

• Atlantic City, NJ– Monday October 23rd-Thursday the 26th

• http://wetlandsworkgroup.org/wetreg9/9th_workshop.htm

• Main Topics:– Wetland Restoration and Creation: Innovative

Technologies– Design and Effects on Hydrology and Plant Diversity

in Aquatic Environments– Discussion of the Implications of the Recent

Supreme Court Decision

Conclusion

• I learned a lot.

• Bureaucracies can be very frustrating

• Overall, it was interesting to see the current in the policy side of things, while also doing some work in the field.

• The Supreme Court decision also added something extra.