Kleinfelder is proud to participate in Florida Environmental Network’s 36th Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School!
The conference is held at JW Marriott Marco Island in Marco Island, FL from Tuesday, July 19 through Friday, July 22, 2022 and is attended by more than 1,000 attorneys, consultants, engineers, state and local government officials, developers, landowners, and others with a strong interest in environmental issues in Florida.
The programs feature a unique break-out format and are substantially revised and updated each year to afford the most advanced and current instruction available on Florida’s environmental, energy and growth management laws, rules and programs.
Kleinfelder Program Manager Ed Murawski will be presenting during two courses on Thursday, July 21 and one on Friday, July 22, and Kleinfelder Ecologist Cole Fredricks will present during one course on Friday, July 22. More information about their presentations can be found below.
Florida Environmental Network is part of the Florida Chamber Foundation’s ongoing effort to keep its members and other business organizations informed of the numerous environmental and growth management laws, regulations, and issues affecting Florida citizens and businesses, and this summer’s event is the largest environmental conference in the state.
Kleinfelder Speakers
Program Manager Ed Murawski
Wetland Jurisdiction Methodology: A State and Federal Update
Thursday, July 21 – 11:30-12:10 PM (Ed Murawski)
Thursday, July 21 – 1:30-3:10 PM (Ed Murawski)
This course is updated every year to address recent rule and policy changes at the state and federal levels. If you want to know precisely how wetland jurisdiction is determined, and the subtle and not so subtle differences between Florida’s uniform statewide wetland methodology and Federal wetland methodology, and how these differences may or may not apply to your project after the state assumption of the Federal 404 program, this is your course! This carefully designed panel discussion will analyze state and COE wetland jurisdictions, making use of comparisons and contrasts as appropriate; covers the application of vegetation, soils, and hydrologic indicators in determining the presence of wetlands using state and COE methodologies; covers altered and non-altered sites; emphasis on practical application and dispute resolution; examples and case studies will be discussed. You will also hear the latest updates on wetlands law and regulation at the federal level, including the status of recent and ongoing legal challenges, any new guidance or policy put forward by the new Administration, and what they could mean for development in Florida. This course is designed for extensive audience participation.
Emerging Extraction Industry Challenges and Opportunities
Friday, July 22 – 8:30-10:10 AM (Ed Murawski)
Banning hydraulic fracturing, expanding phosphate mining, reopening old oil fields, searching for solutions at legacy sites, and a host of new and old challenges and opportunities for the extractive industries will be discussed and debated by a diverse panel of experts and practitioners. Recently renewed oil exploration has excited great promise and wealth, along with controversy and consternation. Mining continues to be a bedrock industry with new markets and areas emerging in Florida, as well as emerging technology to deal with legacy sites. The extractive industries touch all levels of government, generate fierce interest from a wide array of stakeholders, and require substantial engagement by landowners, mineral owners, oil and mining operators, as well as local governments, citizens, and developers. This panel will present the hot-button permitting, policy, and planning issues facing regulators, local governments, property owners, operators, and the public as related to mining operations and post-mining development. This course is particularly relevant for developers and large tract landowners or agricultural operators contemplating diversifying their portfolio, as well as policymakers, government officials, and oil and mining operators.
Ecologist Cole Fredricks
Successful Applications of Imperiled Species Management Practices
Friday, July 22 – 8:30-10:10 AM (Cole Fredricks)
No less than a dozen landscape-scale wildlife and habitat planning programs are currently being implemented collaboratively in most cases by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, other regulatory agencies, and conservation organizations. These initiatives generally involve the development of state-wide management plans for high profile wildlife species, implementation of a revised state listed process for imperiled wildlife species, habitat identification and ranking analyses for preservation, best management practices for wildlife on agricultural lands and consolidation of regulatory processes. Each of these programs has the potential to profoundly affect the ways we conserve listed species and the habitats upon which they depend. They also will affect the responsibilities of regulators, land managers and consultants. Members of this panel will offer a review of these evolving policies by detailing key species issues and providing examples of successful project applications. Come prepared with your questions. Audience participation is encouraged!