20221493 Ver 1_EMH Farm MY1 and AMP Comments + Approval_20240624

Re: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
Friedman -Herring, Andrew <[e-mail]>
Mon 6/24/2024 9:44 AM
To:Kevin Yates <[e-mail]>
Cc:Merritt, Katie<[e-mail]>;Kenan Jernigan <[e-mail]>
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for sending the updated info about the transect photos. No need to reupload the MY-1 report, I
will just upload your response email to LaserFiche instead. Just make sure to incorporate the comments
into the MY2 report.
The only outstanding question we have is if the existing permanent plots within the supplementally
planted area (Plots 4, 9-14, and 17) were planted as well?
If not, and plots were left out of the supplemental planting area, then you will need to include at least 5
random transects, of equal size comparable to fixed plots, that adequately represent the AMP areas, and
include that data in the MY2 report. All data normally recorded for fixed plots, including height and
vigor, will need to be recorded for the transects. It may be determined that transect data will need to be
included with the Year 3 report as well, considering the planting effort was substantial and took place at
least 1 year after the initial planting.
Since all the issues identified at As -Built and Year 1 of monitoring have been addressed, DWR officially
approves the MY1 report, and this site is ready for credit release. We already have your monitoring bond
on file, so Katie will be in contact shortly with the remaining credits from Task 2, and the credits for Task
4. I'm not sure the exact amounts on those, so I'll leave that to Katie.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best,
Andrew Friedman -Herring
Environmental Specialist II
Division of Water Resources - 401 & Buffer Permitting
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Office: (919)-707-3644
Mobile: [phone]
[e-mail]
From: Kevin Yates <[e-mail]>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2024 8:45 AM
To: Friedman -Herring, Andrew <[e-mail]>
Cc: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>; Kenan Jernigan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails with the Report
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Hey Andrew and Katie,
Apologize for just getting back to you, see my responses below. I will get these responses
incorporated into the MY-1 report and uploaded.
Katie, per our conversation, we had talked about you emailing the anticipated MY-1 credits to be
released, so that I could make any corrections to the credit release request if needed. Wondering if
you could email that out today or tomorrow?
Thanks!
Kevin
Kevin Yates
979-624-6901
www.clearwatermitigation.com
W4 CLEARWATER
MITIGATION
On Wed, Jun 12, 2024 at 11:55AM Friedman -Herring, Andrew<[e-mail]>
wrote:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for reaching out, your email was well timed! DWR has just completed the review of the EMH
Farms MY1 report and AMP memo and have the following comments:
1. Thank you for providing the documentation of AMP implementation. Plots 4, 9-14, and 17 are
all within the supplemental planting areas. Did planting efforts include planting within the
plots as well? If not, and plots were left out of the supplemental planting area, then you will
need to include at least 5 random transects, of equal size comparable to fixed plots, that
adequately represent the AMP areas, and include that data in the MY2 report. All data
normally recorded for fixed plots, including height and vigor, will need to be recorded for the
transects. It may be determined that transect data will need to be included with the Year 3
report as well, considering the planting effort was substantial and took place at least 1 year
after the initial planting. Secondly, the figure included in the AMP shows 3 transects (1, 2, & 3).
Photos provided with the AMP only show transects 1 & 2. Did you also have a photo
representing transect 3? Photo 1 of the planting crew planting Transect 3 was mislabled as
Transect 1. Photo 1 was taken facing Transect 3, and should be labeled as such (Pic 1-
attached).
2. A requirement for an easement boundary check to be performed every year is noted in section
5.3, but does not seem to be included in this monitoring report. Even if no encroachments are
found, make sure this information is explicitly included in each of the annual reports, either as
a stand-alone subsection or as part of section 5.3. Please include the MY1 boundary check in

response to this comment. An annual boundary inspection was conducted for MY-1. During
the inspection there were no encroachments found and all boundary marking signs were
visible and intact.
3. Section 5.1 states that heights for planted stems only need to be included in years 1, 3, and 5.
This is only true for mitigation sites where the BPDP was signed after the official guidance was
changed at the provider meeting in November 2023. Please make sure to report stem heigh for
years 1-5 for all sites initiated under the old DWR guidance. Noted. Stem heights for years 1-5
will be reported going forward.
Thank you for your attention to these comments. Please provide an adequate response to all items
above along with supporting documents if required.
Once DWR receives a response to the comments above, issuance of monitoring report approval and
credit release can be determined and the credit release request can be submitted at that time. Let me
know if you have any other questions.
Best,
Andrew Friedman -Herring
Environmental Specialist II
Division of Water Resources - 401 & Buffer Permitting
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Office: (919)-707-3644
Mobile: [phone]
[e-mail]
From: Kevin Yates <[e-mail]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2024 5:39 PM
To: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>
Cc: Friedman -Herring, Andrew <[e-mail]>; Hartshorn, Blake
<[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
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Katie, just to confirm, I should hold off on sending credit release request until you or staff have
reviewed and approved the AMP / MY1 report?
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin Yates
979-624-6907
www.cleGrwatermi'tig-ation.com

q' CLEARWATER
' MITIGATION
On Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 5:34 PM Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]> wrote:
Thank you Kevin.
From: Kevin Yates <clearwatermitigation gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2024 11:14 AM
To: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>; Friedman -Herring, Andrew
<[e-mail]>
Cc: Hartshorn, Blake <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails
with the Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.
Hey Katie and Andrew,
Just an FYI, I have uploaded the EMH Farm (DWR 2022-14930) Adaptive Management Plan
verification documents to the DWR portal.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin Yates
919-624-6901

www.clearwatermitigation.com
V CLEARWATER
MITIGATION
On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 6:18 PM Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]> wrote:
You will provide confirmation of AMP implementation by uploading the information (pictures,
planting table, summary, figure, etc) and choosing "remediation plans" from the draw down
menu for "document type".
Thank you
Katie
Get Outlook for iOS
From: Kevin Yates <clearwatermitigation gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 6:24:49 PM
To: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>
Cc: Hartshorn, Blake <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails
with the Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.
Hey Katie,

You are correct regarding credit revisions required per the as -built survey. The BPDP credit table
had 678,297.564 credits and was revised per the As -Built to 676,473.201 credits, which would be
a total reduction of 1,824.363 (both original and revised credit tables attached). Would you like
us to go ahead and deduct the entire 1,824.363 credits from the task 3 -credit release request in
order to reconcile and zero out the credit request going forward? I think this would be the way
to go.
Regarding the AMP, it was included with the reviewed and approved As -Built Report. Would
you like documentation of AMP completion submitted through the online portal, via email, or
would you like to conduct a site visit?
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin Yates
919-624-6901
www.clearwatermitigation.com
V CLEARWATER
MITIGATION
On Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 5:10 PM Merritt, Katie <katie.merritt@deq. nc.gov> wrote:
Hey Kevin,
We have not received any documentation that confirms you have completed the AMP.
Additionally, the AMP approval is being submitted with your Task 3 credit release, so we have
not formally approved that (did we?). Until that documentation has been received and
reviewed, we cannot issue the 1.5%. Therefore, modify your credit release request form to be
just for 10% for Task 3. Also, it doesn't look like you factored in how many credits we have
already released versus how many should have been released when based on Mitigation Plan

numbers vs AsBuilt numbers. I'm showing on my end that we have to deduct some credits
from the overall amount to make even on what we already issued for Task 1 & Task 2. Make
sure your credit release request includes that as well. This is what I'm seeing on my end that
we owe you for Task 3:
10% of the Randleman buffer Restoration, Enhancement and Preservation Credits
(0.10 x 676,473.201 ft2 — 67,647.320 ft2) minus 702.380 ft2 yields 66,944.940 ft2.
From: Kevin Yates <clearwatermitigation gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 5:33 PM
To: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>
Cc: Hartshorn, Blake <[e-mail]>
Subject: [External] Re: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious
emails with the Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.
Hey Katie and Blake,
I've uploaded the credit release form for EMH Farm with the attachments, and just an FYI,
1.5% was held back per the initial credit release letter for task 1 &2 (attached). The amp was
fully implemented per the letter and site visit notes, so you will see the additional 1.5%
added to the Task 3 request of 10% for a total of 11.5% credit release request.
Call or email me if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Kevin
Kevin Yates
919-624-6901

www. dearwatermitigation. com
W4k' CLEARWATER
MITIGATION
On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 1:49 PM Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]> wrote:
Hey Kevin,
Since you now have everything you need to get a credit release, please submit your Credit
Release Request Form information at your earliest convenience.
https://www.deq.nc.gov/credit-release-request-form
Thank you,
Katie
From: Friedman -Herring, Andrew <[e-mail]>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 10:18 AM
To: clearwatermitigation gmail.com
Cc: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>
Subject: Signed MY1 Monitoring Bond - EMH Farm Buffer Mitigation Bank
Hi Kevin,
Attached to this email you will find the signed Monitoring Bond for the EMH Farm
Buffer Mitigation Site.

I am preparing to review the MY1 report for this site, but I don't seem to have a
paper copy of the report. Do you know if a hard copy was submitted to DWR in
addition to the file uploaded to LaserFiche? Let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Andrew Friedman -Herring
Environmental Specialist II
Division of Water Resources - 401 & Buffer Permitting
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Office: (919)-707-3644
Mobile: [phone]
[e-mail]
Email correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third
parties by an authorized state official.