Proposed National Rulemaking to Strengthen the Stormwater Program | NPDES | US EPA

Proposed National Rulemaking to Strengthen the Stormwater Program | NPDES | US EPA:

EPA has initiated a national rulemaking to establish a program to reduce stormwater discharges from newly developed and redeveloped sites and make other regulatory improvements to strengthen its stormwater program. This website provides information on activities related to this proposed rulemaking:

Rulemaking Considerations

The proposed national rulemaking is considering the following key rulemaking actions:

• Develop performance standards from newly developed and redeveloped sites to better address stormwater management as projects are built;
• Explore options for expanding the protections of the municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) program;
• Evaluate options for establishing and implementing a municipal program to reduce discharges from existing development;
• Evaluate establishing a single set of minimum measures requirements for regulated MS4s. However, industrial requirements may only apply to regulated MS4s serving populations of 100,000 or more;
• Explore options for establishing specific requirements for transportation facilities; and
• Evaluating additional provisions specific to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

'via Blog this'

Elevation Certificate Updating

Collier Co. Preliminary FIRM Map

Hendra & Associates has performed over 140 FEMA Elevation Certificates for the past 2 years for homeowners and businesses. This service work equates in client Savings in your Flood Insurance premiums which can range from $100 up to roughly $5,000 per year in reduced costs. If your home or building carries flood insurance and are located within a flood zone, check with your insurance agent and ask if your current Elevation Certificate is up to date or you need one. FEMA has recently updated the Flood Maps for Hillsborough and Lee Counties and your existing certificate may need updating, as well.

Collier County is in the process of being issued new maps. Here is a link to compare the old maps to the new maps. Collier County DFIRM Map Viewer

The Pavillions at Ballast Point Elevation Certificate photos

Hendra & Associates was recently contracted to perform FEMA Elevation Certificates for The Pavillions at Ballast Point in Tampa, FL. There were 19 building structures onsite and each require a separate certificate. This picture is a collage of the numerous pictures taken with Geotagging capabilties along with online tools by Google. By Geotagging the photos, makes a quick organization of where the photos were taken. This service is typical for our clients.

DoD Selection Results

As part of team of well qualified consultants, including Hendra & Associates, was recently ranked 3rd out of 45 selected solicitations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers USACE District, Norfolk IDIQ contract.

Hendra & Associates Facebook page

Hendra & Associates now has a Facebook Page to keep friends up to date with our successes and other news. Hendra & Associates, Inc Facebook Page. Please click the Like button to subscribe to our page.

New Project Awards

Our surveying department has recently been awarded 4 new construction projects. Two located in St. Petersburg and two located in Naples, Florida. The two projects in St. Petersburg are a commercial office and a adult living facility (ALF). The two Naples projects are a new 116 lot residential subdivision for a top 5 homebuilder in the nation and an expansion of a mental health facility.

NAVD88 or NGVD29? Confusion of Vertical Datums

VERTCON Height Differences between NAVD88 & NGVD29

As we perform our survey work and provide elevation certificates, we find that there is quite a confusion as to what the elevation datum the public is referencing. NGVD29 or NAVD88? The latest adopted vertical datum is NAVD88 for local and federal governments. As the switch from old plans to new, the conversion can be wrongly utilized for construction. This confusion can end up being very costly by incorrect construction or insurance premiums by the change or difference in the two datums elevation. As with South Florida, for example, Tampa Bay area the difference from NGVD29 to NAVD88 is lower by about 0.8 to 0.9 feet, while in Fort Myers/Naples the change is 1.4 to 1.6 feet lower. See the attached image for the height differences in centimeters.

FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps have been slowly updating from NGVD29 to NAVD88, so when the homes are constructed or are older, these homeowners typically do not know which datum they are referencing and thus the confusion. For a complete description via the web, click on the links below.

NAVD88 Wikipedia
NGVD29 Wikipedia
Conversion of datums VERTCON

Elevation Certificates for StorMax in St. Petersburg

Hendra & Associates was recently contracted to perform FEMA Elevation Certificates for StorMax in South St. Petersburg, FL. Work was performed utilizing state of the art GPS system and high end laser level to acquire the data. The picture is a collage of the numerous pictures taken with Geotagging capabilties. By Geotagging the photos, makes a quick organization of where the photos were taken. This service is continued typical for our clients.

Consumer Alert! - Compliance Services Annual Minutes Letter

CONSUMER ALERT! Please be aware that COMPLIANCE SERVICES (not to be confused with the Florida corporation, Compliance Services, Inc.) is mailing notices to business entities requesting that "Annual Minutes" and a fee of $125.00 be sent to them for filing. These notices are NOT from the Dept. of State, Division of Corporations. "Annual Minutes" are NOT required to be filed with any agency. They are to be kept by the business entity itself. Do NOT confuse these notices with the messages sent by the Division of Corporations reminding each business entity to file its 2011 Annual Report.

CONSUMER ALERT! Arvitas, LLC is a private company sending e-mails to businesses in Florida offering to file annual reports. ARVITAS IS NOT AN AGENT OR REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE FLORIDA DEPT. OF STATE, DIVISION OF CORPORATIONS. Arvitas is acting on its own to solicit business for its own company. It is offering to file annual reports for business entities in Florida at an inflated fee. They do not offer any additional service than what is available to the public on sunbiz.org. The Attorney General´s Office, on behalf of the Dept. of State, is currently pursuing legal action against Arvitas.


We have received the Compliance Services letter, twice now. This practice is very deceiving so I am posting this as an Alert as reported by Sunbiz.org.

source: www.sunbiz.org - Home

Survey Plat underway for a local top 10 US Homebuilder

Hendra & Associates, Inc. is pleased to announce a recent award of Survey Services to assist in the development of various Southwest Florida subdivisions. This contract was generated from one of the top 10 U.S. Homebuilders that has seen a recent increase in demand for new home sites. Work has begun by creating the subdivision plats to be approved by the local agencies for construction. From this work, we can proceed with the Field Stakeout of the lots for use in sale and construction. More details to follow as the project progresses.