Agenda

Registration:                        8:00 – 8:30 am

Morning Session:                8:30 am – 12:15 pm

Lunch (On your own):         12:15 – 1:15 pm

Afternoon Session:             1:15 – 4:00 pm

Understanding Federal and Maryland Wetland Laws 

    Clean Water Act 
   Scope and reach of CWA jurisdiction 
   Regulated activities 
   Key court decisions 
   Implementing/enforcing Federal agencies 
      U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
      U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
   Other relevant federal laws
      Endangered Species Act 
      National Historic Preservation Act 
      National Food Security Act of 1985 
      Coastal Zone Management Act 
      National Environmental Policy Act 
   State criteria 
      Nontidal wetlands 
      Waterways and floodplains 
      Tidal wetlands 
      Section 401 water quality certification 
      Stormwater management law and Chesapeake Bay TMDL 
   Maryland tidal and nontidal wetlands protection acts 
      Scope and reach of jurisdiction 
      Regulated activities 
      Maryland Department of the Environment interface with federal agencies

Wetlands Permitting Process

   CWA jurisdictional determinations and judicial review
   The joint federal/state permit process
   Determining applicability of regulations
   Notice provisions
   Public interest review process
   Mitigation/compensation requirements
   NEPA documentation
   Nationwide permits and Maryland State program general permit
   Appeals process
   EPA veto and Corps permitting

Getting a Wetland and Waterway Permit

   What are waters of the U.S. and waters of Maryland?
   Types of wetlands
   How are they permitted by the state and Corps of Engineers?
   Waters delineation
   Avoidance/minimization and project purpose
   Mitigation (wetlands, streams, forests, out-of-kind)
   What is a complete application?
   Construction compliance

Getting Other Approvals from, and Coordination with, 
Other Regulatory Criteria

   Rare Species
   Stormwater management and erosion and
      sediment control
   Water quality certification 
   Higher quality waters
   Chesapeake Bay Critical Area 
   Forest Conservation Act

Credits

Attorneys
     Maryland: Non-Credit CLE
     6.0 New Hampshire CLE Hours
     7.0 New Jersey CLE Hours
     7.0 New York CLE Hours
     6.0 Rhode Island CLE Hours
     6.0 Vermont CLE Hours

Professional Engineers
     6.0 PDHs

Floodplain Managers
     6.0 ASFPM CECs

Landscape Architects
     6.0 HSW PDHs
     6.0 LA/CES HSW PDHs

Continuing Education Credit Information

This seminar is open to the public and offers Maryland attorneys 6.0 non-credit CLE hours. HalfMoon Education is a New York-approved provider of CLE. This traditional format, seminar offers 7.0 Areas of Professional Practice CLE hours to new and experienced attorneys. HalfMoon Education is approved as a CLE provider in New Jersey, and this course qualifies for 7.0 CLE hours. This course offers 6.0 CLE hours to New Hampshire attorneys. Course approval is not required in New Hampshire. HalfMoon Education is an approved Vermont CLE provider and this course offers 6.0 CLE hours.

This course offers 6.0 PDHs to Maryland professional engineers. Those seeking continuing education credit in other states will be able to claim the hours earned at this seminar, in most cases. Refer to specific state rules to determine eligibility.

The Association of State Floodplain Managers has approved this course for 6.0 CECs.

This program offers 6.0 HSW PDHs to Maryland landscape architects. It is approved for 6.0 HSW PDHs by the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education Sytem. Only full attendance can be reported to the LA/CES.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.

Speakers

Andrew Der

Executive Principal of Andrew T. Der & Associates, LLC

As a regionally-recognized water resources practitioner and leader for 32 years, Mr. Der provides regulatory and scientific expertise for public and private sector clients, with a commitment to equitable and sustainable solutions to complex projects while specializing in creative linkages between ecology and engineering. Mr. Der has been in private consulting practice since 2001, first as an associate and director of Environmental Services for two civil engineering firms, then, since 2013, principal of his own consulting firm, Andrew T. Der & Associates, LLC. He previously completed 17 years of service with the Maryland Department of the Environment as a manager successfully leading major new initiatives to regulate and restore Chesapeake Bay water resources. His specialties include water resource permitting, compliance, assessment, Clean Water Act, wetland and waterway compliance, NPDES, TMDL, and stormwater management. Mr. Der is an appointed industry representative of the U. S. EPA. He is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council Citizens Advisory Committee, Maryland Patuxent River Commission, and Montgomery County, Maryland Executive’s Water Quality Advisory Commission.

Larry Liebesman

Smouse & Mason, LLC

Mr. Liebesman is a nationally-recognized environmental lawyer and litigator with more than 40 years of experience. His practices emphasizes wetlands, water pollution, and coastal issues, as well as environmental impact assessment and endangered species law. Mr. Liebesman represents a range of clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors on a broad range environmental issues at the federal and state levels. He has negotiated Clean Water Act (CWA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) permits and approvals for commercial, residential, public works and environmental restoration projects, and he has defended challenges to those permits and approvals in court. Mr. Liebesman has also participated in landmark CWA and ESA cases and has authored amicus briefs in seven major environmental cases before the United States Supreme Court. This included the Rapanos case regarding the geographic reach of CWA jurisdiction and submitted comments on the highly-controversial EPA and Corps regulation defining Waters of the United States in response to the Rapanos. He advises clients on stormwater permitting issues and sits on the Maryland State Water Quality Advisory Committee which provides advice to the Maryland Secretaries of Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on Chesapeake Bay water quality issues. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Liebesman spent 11 years as a senior trial attorney at the Environment Division of the Department of Justice including a one year detail to the President’s Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter Administration helping to develop regulations to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). While at DOJ, he handled landmark cases under Superfund, the Clean Water Act and NEPA. Mr. Liebesman was lead counsel in NRDC v. EPA which upheld major portions of EPA’s CWA permitting program. Prior to his DOJ service, he spent two years at EPA’s Office of Federal Activities, EPA’s NEPA oversight office. Mr. Liebesman received Special Achievement and Special Commendation awards for his outstanding service at DOJ. He is a Phi Beta Kappa Graduate of Rutgers University and earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School.