LDEQ Does Not See Future NPS Controls on Forestry


During the 23rd Annual Meeting in Lafayette, I found some time to interview Jan Boydston, Non-point Source Pollution director of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, as well as Emelise Cormier, Environmental Scientist and our informative speaker during the first day.

According to Ms. Boydston, the LDEQ does not see any strong push for controls on non-point source pollutants from forestry and agriculture.  However, they are worried about perceived inequalities between NPS polluters.  Other industries most likely will be permitted, such as the construction industry, municipalities, etc.  Cities with populations over 50,000 will have to obtain a permit to control storm water runoff and other NPS pollutants.  When it becomes evident that forestry operations are not subject to the same permitting process, those permitted industries may demand a uniform system that will include forestry and other agricultural operations, too.

The best thing that foresters can do to avoid this situation is to partner with other ag organizations to promote the beneficial aspects of forests and other plants on watersheds.  We need to seek out the best of the farming and ranching associations, those that promote BMPs among their constituents, and distance ourselves from the true polluters who will be permitted.  We need to create a very obvious gulf between our industries and theirs.

Currently, the Sierra Club has 38 lawsuits across the United States against state environmental quality agencies, demanding they meet the timeline for determining TMDLs on impaired streams within their state.  The Louisiana DEQ is not on track to meet this deadline because of the tremendous workload this entails.  Ms. Cormier indicated that she currently has a stack of TMDL paperwork on her desk that contains over 1000 pages of information to be analyzed.

Forestry is a renewable resource, and in between harvests serves to control rainwater runoff and erosion on slopes.  But the most important benefit of commercial forestry is its opposition to its antithesis  the sale of the land to a developer for a housing subdivison or shopping mall.  As long as a landowner can receive some monetary income from the forest, it will most likely stay forested; and without the public having to pay for a conservation easement.  This is the message that we as foresters  industrial, government, consulting, and instruction  can convey to the public to create the wide gulf we need from other NPS polluters.

The ladies from LDEQ told me that foresters need to keep doing what we are doing  implementing BMPs, practicing sustainable forestry, educating our loggers, etc. --  and document these activities.  This will help LDEQ when it comes time to decide which industries will be permitted.  They said that LDEQ is concerned about water quality, but thinks that people should have the right to use their land as they want.  With recent technology, there is a way to have both.

As a footnote to this interview, it was recently learned that Judge Lemon in New Orleans, who is the judge presiding over the Sierra Club lawsuit against the LDEQ, has been overturned on a very important issue by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Judge Lemon used a Special Master to write the court decision.  There is evidence that this Special Master may have been on the Sierra Club payroll.  The 5th Circuit has determined that Judge Lemon must make her own decision and not use a Special Master.  The decision has been remanded back to her court.  There is the possibility this may allow for some flexibility on the timeline for LDEQ to collect TMDL data.













       Jan Boydston, NPS Director LDEQ


            Emelise Cormier, Technology
                    Division of LDEQ