Swamp Stomp
Volume 14, Issue 15
Changes to the National Wetland Plant List
I have been checking twice a day on the federal regulations.gov site to see if the new EPA waters of the US rules have been posted. As of April 14, 2014 they have not. I sat in on a webinar with EPA last week and they had said that they would be in the federal register by the end of last week (4/11/14). As soon as they are posted I will send out a quick note to all of our newsletter subscribers.
There has been some grumbling in Congress about these new rules. However nothing has moved forward or backward. It is Congress after all. They are now in recess. Perhaps now would be a good time to publish the new rules while they are on break. We will keep an eye on it.
There has been one more important wetland update that happened this month. On April 3, 2014 the new 2014 National Wetland Plant list was published. This new list has some significant changes in it and it to be used on all active wetland delineations. There is some “grandfathering” for projects currently under review however; it is the intention of the Corps to require this list to be in full use by May 1, 2014.
The following is a summary of the rating changes from 2013 to 2014.
|
Region* |
Type |
OBL |
FACW |
FAC |
FACU |
Total |
|
AGCP |
new |
13 |
16 |
8 |
6 |
43 |
|
range ext. |
29 |
28 |
50 |
50 |
157 |
|
|
AK |
new |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
range ext. |
4 |
4 |
3 |
12 |
23 |
|
|
AW |
new |
8 |
10 |
5 |
12 |
35 |
|
range ext. |
29 |
16 |
30 |
51 |
126 |
|
|
CB |
new |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
range ext. |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
|
|
EMP |
new |
8 |
11 |
7 |
9 |
35 |
|
range ext. |
40 |
59 |
53 |
57 |
209 |
|
|
GP |
new |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
|
range ext. |
36 |
34 |
52 |
53 |
175 |
|
|
HI |
new |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
range ext. |
2 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
16 |
|
|
MW |
new |
4 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
14 |
|
range ext. |
16 |
38 |
29 |
40 |
123 |
|
|
NCNE |
new |
15 |
16 |
6 |
14 |
51 |
|
range ext. |
24 |
29 |
25 |
56 |
134 |
|
|
WMVC |
new |
2 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
25 |
|
range ext. |
24 |
26 |
25 |
27 |
102 |
|
|
National |
new |
54 |
71 |
39 |
56 |
220 |
|
range ext. |
206 |
240 |
272 |
356 |
1,074 |
These species were reevaluated using challenge study protocols. An asterisk indicates that a species was formally challenged with a written challenge proposal. The remaining species were informally challenged via email inquiries.
| Species | Region | Pre-Challenge Rating | Decided by | Post-Challenge Rating |
| Alliaria petiolata (Bieb.) Cavara & Grande | AGCP | FACW | National Panel | FACU |
| * Aristida beyrichiana Trin. & Rupr. | AGCP | —- | Regional Panel | FAC |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | AGCP | —- | National Panel | FACU |
| Lonicera japonica Thunb. | AGCP | FAC | National Panel | FACU |
| * Agalinis calycina Pennell. | AW | —- | Regional Panel | OBL |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | AW | —- | National Panel | FACU |
| * Pogogyne clareana J.T. Howell | AW | FACU | Regional Panel | FACW |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | EMP | —- | National Panel | FACU |
| Sambucus nigra L. | EMP | FACU | Regional Panel | FAC |
| * Agalinis calycina Pennell. | GP | —- | Regional Panel | OBL |
| *Amaranthus tuberculatus (Moq.) Sauer | GP | OBL | Regional Panel | FAC |
| Ambrosia trifidia L. | GP | —- | Regional Panel | FAC |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | GP | —- | National Panel | FACU |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | MW | —- | Regional Panel | FACU |
| Centaurea jacea L. | NCNE | —- | Regional Panel | FACU |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | NCNE | —- | National Panel | FACU |
| Viburnum nudum L. | NCNE | FACU | National Panel | FACW |
| Helianthus tuberosus L. | WMVC | —- | National Panel | FACU |
There are also three new important documents about plants and wetland delineations posted on the National Wetland Plant List site. The first one has a direct relationship to the “page 29” wetland delineations discussed in the new EPA rules. The document is entitled “Use of LiDAR to Assist in Delineating Waters of the United States, Including Wetlands,” March 2014. The intention of this program is to reduce the amount of field work necessary to do wetland delineations. I am OK with using LiDAR to “assist”, but don’t take away my soil auger!
The second document is entitled,” Field Testing New Plot Designs and Methods for Determining Hydrophytic Vegetation during Wetland Delineations in the United States,” March 2014. This one is focused on a new way to calculate the presence of wetland plants by using a new model called Hydrophytic Cover Index (HCI).
The third plant document of the month is entitled, “Examining Discrepancies Among Three Methods Used to Make Hydrophytic Vegetation Determinations for Wetland Delineation Purposes,” March 2014. This document compares what we do now using the dominance test and prevalence index with the new HCI test in the aforementioned document.
We will be reviewing each of these in our upcoming newsletters.
Have a great week and Happy Easter!
Best,
Marc