I strongly support the continued regulation of Certified Professional Wetland Delineators (PWD) by Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR).  Certification of PWDs is necessary to protect the Commonwealth and its citizens and it continues to meet the criteria for an occupation to be regulated as discussed below.   

1) The unregulated practice of the occupation can harm public health, safety or welfare.   Prior to the PWD certification, and indeed, even today delineations performed today by unqualified individuals, are not necessarily accurate.  This can add costs and time delays to the permittee and puts additional strain on the already limited resources of the reviewing agencies.

2) The occupation's work has inherent qualifications that distinguish it from other occupations.  The PWD certification is the only program in the nation that requires proficiency in botany, soil science, and hydrology, as well as federal and Virginia regulations.  There is no federal 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, in particular because Virginia regulates certain aquatic and wetland features that are not regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) as waters of the United States.  In fact, the COE does not have the staff to perform detailed reviews of the waters and wetlands that they do regulate.  Further, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has initiated their new Virginia State Waters Delineator (VSWD) certification program for stream assessment and identification and a prerequisite to the VSWD certification is having a PWD.

4) The public is not protected by other means.   No other certification program provides assurances of competency in the practice of wetland delineation in Virginia.  There is no federal certification program or equivalent.  The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) International Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) certification does not require any specific proficiency in wetland delineation or regulation.

In summary, the PWD certification is necessary in Virginia as it protects the public from inadequate delineations, avoids costly errors in project development, reduces the workload for federal and state regulators and assures protection of wetland resources as well as the economy of Virginia.  There is no other certification that provides assurances of competency and I urge DPOR to acknowledge the value of the PWD and recommend the continuation of the Virginia PWD Certification.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely, 

Mark Headly, PWD, PWS Emeritus