I am writing in STRONG SUPPORT of the continued regulation of Certified Professional Wetland Delineators (PWD) by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). The continued certification of PWDs by DPOR and its Board is necessary to protect the citizens of VA who must rely upon professional ecologists and scientists for on-demand specialty services to negotiate the regulatory maze for conservation and development interests.  There seems to be fundamental misunderstanding by JLARC and the BPOR reviewers of the necessity of this licensed PWD practice. It is clear to me that JLARC and BPOR have erroneously concluded that PWD licensure does not satisfy all occupational criteria for regulation under State Code Section 54.1- 100. Indeed, all FOUR criteria are met:  (1) THE UNREGULATED PRACTICE OF THE OCCUPATION CAN HARM PUBLIC HEALTH, SAEFTY, and WELFARE: Prior to the PWD certification, there were occurrences of delineations being performed in VA by untrained and underqualified persons resulting in unresolved permitting scenarios, extra and unnecessary expenses, project delays, and superfluous meetings, additional needless hearings, and especially in northern VA, litigation against regulatory authorities and the individuals who performed the shoddy delineation work. The PWD process provides the public in general who need these specialty services with state-licensed, vetted, and fully qualified professionals. This regulatory licensure ensures the reduction of risk to individuals, organizations, municipalities, and corporations from harm caused by improper wetland delineation work. This comes at a time when federal regulations have significantly changed and the Commonwealth's reaction to those changes are in a state of flux and upheaval at present. Trained PWDs help make sense from this uncertainty because they have a vested interest to keep current of regulations and procedures related to delineation - because of the PWD licensure. The extra training and examination creates added values that no other parties doing delineations possess. (2) THE OCCUPATION'S WORK HAS INHERENT QUALITIES THAT DISTINGUISH IT FROM OTHER OCCUPATIONS: The practice of wetland delineation requires technical expertise and knowledge in botany, limnology, microbiology, earth and soil science, hydrology as well as an intimate knowledge of federal, state, and locality wetland management and permitting to include the State Chesapeake Bay Protection Act. No other occupation which brings to bear applied science in active practice requires proficiencies in all these technical disciplines. (3) THE PUBLIC NEEDS AND WILL BENEFIT FROM STATE ASSSURANCES OF COMPETENCY: The public’s need for wetland, stream, and regulatory buffer delineation services requires well-trained, qualified professionals to reduce the risk from the harm and chaos caused inaccurate delineation practice. There are no other certification programs which can provide assurances of competency in the practice of wetland delineation in Virginia.  The BPOR should review the national-scope Association of Wetland Managers’ article entitled State Wetland Delineator Certification Programs prior to providing final comment on the JLARC report. Virginia’s PWD program is the oldest and arguably the best of its kind in the United States. The JLARC report claims that the Virginia 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). JLARC’s report states this 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 Virginia. The PWS certification has differing step-ups, and qualification criteria. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not successful in implementing a true national certification with one big reason being funding and another being the incredible variation between regions and states making it impossible to implement. More importantly, it is not Virginia-specific in focus or application for delineation services in particular, evidence alone which is counter to any claim of equivalency.  The PWS is an global certification program.  It can be obtained based on a wider range of educational and/or experiential backgrounds in any specialties related to wetland ecology, management, or regulation, and is not focused on delineation.  Many competencies cannot be verified. Education and experience can be obtained anywhere in the world and therefore does not require any knowledge of U.S. regulatory wetland constructs. The PWS certification also does not require knowledge of wetland communities specific to Virginia or the Mid-Atlantic region and does not require experience or education in the practice of wetland delineations and requires no examination of technical proficiencies.  Prior to providing final comment on the JLARC report, BPOR should make a full comparative review of the PWS and PWD certification requirements. (4) THE PUBLIC IS NOT PROTECTED BY OTHER MEANS: The work performed by a PWD ensures that the work is performed by a person with the proper and verified qualifications. The licensed PWD is bound to perform delineation work under stringent ethical and professional standards.  There are no other protections for the public from the improper practice of establishment of wetland boundaries through field delineation. In conclusion, the PWD certification is necessary to protect the Commonwealth of Virginia and its organizations, municipalities, and individuals from inaccurate delineations and costly mistakes for development and conservation by ensuring protection of wetland resources. There are no other certification programs that can provide assurances of competency to perform this work or these specialty delineation services in Virginia.  DPOR should re-acknowledge the value of the PWD by retaining it as a licensed profession through continued regulation of the Virginia Professional Wetland Delineator Certification.

I thank you for your consideration of my comments. 

Sincerely,

Robert A. S. Wright, PWS, PWD, CNRP, Senior Env. Scientist, EEE Consulting, Inc.