The agreement provides funding to the virginia department of environmental quality (vadeq)

This $700,189 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Regional Wetland Program Development Grants (CFDA 66.461) program supports the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) in enhancing the state's wetlands protection and management capabilities. Key products and services to be delivered include:

1. Assessing the impact of the Supreme Court's recent Sackett decision on the jurisdictional boundaries of wetlands along Virginia's state borders, with the results incorporated into VDEQ's online Wetland Condition Assessment Tool (WetCAT).

2. Integrating Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act 2050 buffer area data into WetCAT to support climate resilience initiatives.

3. Providing training for VDEQ staff and the public on federal and state wetland laws, regulations, and court rulings to enhance understanding of the wetlands regulatory system.

The overarching goal is to improve VDEQ's ability to identify, regulate, and protect wetlands across Virginia through enhanced data, tools, and training. The project is a collaborative effort between VDEQ and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science - Center for Coastal Resources Management (VIMS-CCRM).

Specifically, the recipient will focus on supporting decision-making by 1) assessing the supreme court wetland jurisdictional ruling impact (state boundary wetlands), 2) incorporating the cbpa 2050 buffer area into wetcat, and 3) training vadeq staff and the public. The overarching goal of this project is to improve the ability of DEQ to identify, regulate, and protect wetlands in virginia. Despite no net loss policies and specific guidance for mitigation of wetland impacts, virginia continues to lose wetlands and ecosystem service capacity through both permitted activities and natural processes. The proposed activities are intended to provide additional information and guidance for wetland protection in the context of existing land uses, potential threats to wetland resources, integrated wetland management across the landscape, and linkage of wetlands to water quality and stream health.activities:the activities include two spatial assessments, which will be included in wetcat. The evaluation of the supreme court wetland jurisdictional ruling impact on virginia's shared wetland borders will provide information and enhance decision-making around those wetlands that no longer appear to be within federal jurisdiction. IT is the intent of this assessment to be incorporated in wetcat. IT will provide easily accessible, comprehensive information related to wetlands and wetland complexes that cross state boundaries to inform shared decision-making and opportunities for collaboration. The incorporation of the chesapeake BAY preservation act (cbpa) 2050 buffer into wetcat will support the implementation of climate resilience provisions added to the cbpa in 2020. Finally, the project includes training, which is critical for the regulated public and vadeq staff to navigate the laws and regulations of the wetlands regulatory system. This training will provide the knowledge that is necessary to understand the federal wetland laws (section 404 and 401, including the changes associated with the sackett ruling), state laws and regulations, and significant judicial decisions affecting wetland regulations. Finally, training and public outreach for the introduction of the virginia floristic quality assessment to DEQ staff and the public will expand the number of people identifying wetland plants and entering plant species lists into the FQA calculator in wetcat.subrecipient:tasks in this project will be accomplished by personnel from vadeq and vims-ccrm, who have worked collaboratively together since before the inception of the virginia nontidal wetlands management program in 2000. Vadeq has responsibility for the implementation and administration of the nontidal wetland regulatory program. Vims-ccrm provides scientific and technical assistance in the development and implementation aspects of the program. Over the past ten years, vadeq has developed the program regulations and permitting protocols and partnered with vims (the commonwealth's designated scientific advisor regarding wetland resources) to develop the award-winning online wetland condition tool wetcat. Vims will assist in assessing boundary wetlands impacted by the recent sackett decision, help incorporate new data onto wetcat, and help support training for vadeq staff and other stakeholders. Outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include the following: 1) a data layer incorporated into wetcat displaying the assessment of the supreme court wetland jurisdictional ruling impact on state boundary wetland borders; 2) the chesapeake BAY preservation act 2050 buffer area data layer uploaded to wetcat; and, 3) training for vadeq staff and the public. The expected outcomes include: 1) increased inter- and intra-agency and state and federal agency coordination in wetlands protection; 2) increased understanding and awareness of wetland ecological condition and the interaction