Advantus helped Osage Bio Energy develop the United States’ first major barley to ethanol production facility by helping to establish positive community relations and streamlining permit issues with DEQ. [Read More].
Case Study - Virginia Fountainhead Alliance
Advantus provided leadership to the Virginia business community by representing their interests in comprehensive stormwater regulations developed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VADCR) and the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Working with key business leaders, Advantus established the Virginia Fountainhead Alliance, a group of landowners and mixed-use commercial developers. The Alliance has played a vital role in changing the terms of the stormwater regulations debate and achieving a positive result for Virginia businesses by bringing science-based solutions to environmental protection.
The Client:
A group of mixed-use and commercial developers hired Advantus to join in the discussions on the proposed stormwater regulations and promote their interests for both environmental protection and economic development.
As a result, Advantus team members formed the Virginia Fountainhead Alliance.
Specific Challenge
The Virginia Board of Soil and Water Conservation (Board) was considering the development of stormwater regulation standards that the Alliance felt were extraordinarily and unnecessarily rigorous and not grounded in sound science.
Included in these regulations was a change to the phosphorous standard that would have drastically increased the cost of commercial development and made the majority of commercial and mixed-use projects too expensive to pursue.
Strategies and Tactics
Leveraging contacts gained from years of government and legislative work and using the technical resources of its Environmental and Energy Practice Group, Advantus established the Fountainhead Alliance encouraging examination of the proposed standard to include science-based rationale for the proposed phosphorus standard and protect the interests of the land developers.
Additionally, the Alliance also criticized the regulatory process for being disconnected from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) process for evaluating the appropriate allowable phosphorous limits. The Alliance argued that a state phosphorus regulation should not be made until the EPA makes its recommendation.
Results
The Fountainhead Alliance won an early victory when it argued that the proposed statewide phosphorus standard was developed around Chesapeake Bay watershed data and therefore had no relevance with waters outside of the Bay watershed. VADCR responded to this by recommending to the Board that it amend the proposed new standard to apply only to the Bay watershed. The Board adopted that recommendation.
The Alliance was one of the first groups to learn that data produced by the EPA showed that Virginia was doing far better than was commonly believed in curtailing the flow of phosphorous into the Chesapeake Bay. Upon learning this, the Alliance publicized this news with communications to business organizations and media releases. The publication of the new EPA data by the Alliance fundamentally shifted the debate and created a very different direction for the issue. The Alliance’s claims that the proposed standard lacked a valid scientific basis could no longer be easily ignored. Regulators and environmentalists recognized that moving forward with the new standard was no longer justifiable.
As a result of the Alliance’s efforts, The VADCR Soil and Water Conservation Board approved a revised phosphorous standard that would increase slightly, minimizing the impact to Virginia businesses. This revised standard would be synchronized with any revisions to the EPA’s policy on phosphorous standards.
These renewed actions will allow the regulations to be revised to be more science- based and more business logical. During the 2010 General Assembly Session, the Fountainhead Alliance advised on the language of the legislation that was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor. The stormwater regulatory policy will be effective nine months after the EPA’s regulations review process or December 2011, whichever comes first.