I SUPPORT the continued regulation of Certified Professional Wetland Delineators (PWD) by the
Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) in its
current form. Certification of PWDs is necessary to protect the Commonwealth and its citizens and
continues to satisfy the 4 criteria required for an occupation to be regulated (§54.1-100):
1) The unregulated practice of the occupation can harm public health, safety or welfare.
Prior to the PWD certification, instances of delineations performed in Virginia by unqualified
individuals resulted in permitting issues and lawsuits against both the regulatory authorities and
the individuals who performed the work. The Association of State Wetland Manager’s 2007 State
Wetland Delineator Certification Programs article describes that “wetland delineations are
generally required for dredge and fill permits. An inaccurate delineation can delay a permit
application.”
Worse, an inaccurate delineation or poor understanding of Virginia regulations can not only be
costly to the permittee, it increases the onus of regulators with limited staff and time increasing
permit issuance backlogs. Removing and/or reducing the scope of the Professional Wetland
Delineator certification will increase the likelihood that key infrastructure projects are delayed
which decrease the attractiveness of Virginia to investors in key sectors like energy, transportation,
utilities, and data centers and INCREASES the regulatory burden on permit applicants.
The practice of not accurately identifying wetlands can affect the protection of water resources
within the Commonwealth, resulting in the unregulated loss of wetlands, thus decreasing water
quality, effecting the quality of drinking water supplies, and negatively impacting Eco-tourism.
The importance of trained professionals in delineation has recently been reaffirmed at the state
level by the establishment of the new Virginia State Waters Delineator (VSWD) Certification
Program though the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ). This new certification
recognizes that the PWD certification is a critical component to assuring reliable and consistent
identification of State Surface Waters, as holding a PWD certification is a prerequisite to the State
Waters Delineator Certification.
2) The occupation’s work has inherent qualities that distinguish it from other occupations.
Virginia has the oldest, active wetland delineator certification in the United States and the only
such certification that requires proficiency in botany, soil science, hydrology, and federal and
Virginia regulations. No other occupation requires these proficiencies, and there is not a federal
wetland delineator certification or equivalent certification.
3) The public needs and will benefit from state assurances of competency.
The public needs and will benefit from state assurances of competency because Virginia regulates
and requires permits for impacts within wetland and surface water boundaries currently
unregulated at the Federal level. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does not confirm the
boundaries or permit impacts to isolated wetlands or ephemeral streams. There are no certification

programs aside from the PWD which can provide assurances of competency in the practice of
wetland delineation and regulatory interpretation and permitting in Virginia.
Using a certified PWD reduces the risk and harms which can be caused by improper delineation and
poor regulatory applications and helps assure potential Virginia economic investors that their
projects can move through the permitting process on schedule. It reduces their permitting burden
and reduces undue costs and delays. Accurately identifying wetlands affects the protection of
water resources within the Commonwealth, helps mitigate unregulated loss of wetlands, and helps
to maintain water quality, effecting the quality of drinking water supplies, and generating revenue
from Eco-tourism.
In light of the recent changes in federal regulation resulting from Supreme Court Decision in the
Sackett vs. EPA Case, permitting timelines have been thrown into limbo, with the U.S Army Corps of
Engineers temporarily declining to provide Approved Jurisdictional Determinations of wetland
delineations. To keep wetland permitting moving forward at the state level, the VDEQ has begun
implementing its new Virginia State Waters Delineator (VSWD) Certification program, which
requires that a VSWD have a PWD certification in addition to a stream identification and
assessment certification. The DEQ has announced that wetland and stream delineations
performed by certified VSWD will be provided expedited 30-day review under the Permitting
Enhancement and Evaluation Platform (PEEP) tracking program, while wetland and stream
delineations performed by non-VSWD certified practitioners will not have any assurances of this
expedient review. Keeping the PWD certification will be critical to providing more certainty and
timely reviews in the state project permit review process.
4) The public is not protected by other means.
No other certification program provides assurances of competency in the practice of wetland
delineation and regulations in Virginia. There is not a federal wetland delineator certification or
equivalent. The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) international Professional Wetland Scientist
(PWS) certification does not require any specific proficiency related to wetland delineation or
regulation. It doesn’t even require knowledge about wetlands in the United States! Per the PWS
certification application website, the SWS Professional Certification Program “recognizes that
Professional Wetland Scientists will have an extremely broad range of technical specialties.” In a
previous review of the PWD certification, the 2020 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
(JLARC) Report evaluation of the need for continued regulation of the PWD certification (RD690)
incorrectly asserts that the PWD certification is unnecessary as there is an equivalent national
certification program (i.e. the Professional Wetland Scientist [PWS] certification through the
Society of Wetland Scientists); that the PWS certification provides the same level of assurance to
consumers and the public. It does not. One can receive the PWS designation without ever
conducting a wetland delineation, without any familiarity in federal wetland delineation
guidance/requirements, and/or without familiarity with application of the Clean Water Act or
Virginia-specific regulations. The PWS certification does not provide the Virginia regulated public
assurance that their project will receive an accurate delineation or be guided through the Virginia
and Federal regulatory process appropriately because they are not a requirement to receive the
PWS designation.

Please review the 2007 Association of Wetland Managers article entitled State Wetland Delineator
Certification Programs. There have been past assertions that the PWS national certification
provides the same level of assurance to consumers and the public. The PWD and PWS certifications
are NOT substantially similar and the PWS certification does NOT provide Virginia consumers with
the same assurances in certifying the competencies of an individual in the practice of wetland
delineations within the Commonwealth.
In conclusion, the PWD certification is necessary for the Commonwealth of Virginia because it protects
the public from inadequate delineations, avoids costly errors in development, reduces permitting
backlog for regulators, and ensures protection of wetland resources and the Virginia economy. There
are no other certification programs that can provide assurances of competency to perform this work. I
urge DPOR to acknowledge the value of the PWD and recommend the continuation of the Virginia
Professional Wetland Delineator Certification.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments.

-Austin Ziletti