NAHB
National Association
of Home Builders
Granger MacDonald 2017 NAHE Chairman of the Board
gmacdonald@macdonald-companies.com
September 21, 2017
Mr. Thomas Carpenter Designated Federal Officer / Sr. Biologist US EPA Science Advisory Board, MC 1400R 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC 20460
Dear Mr. Carpenter,
On behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), I am writing to recommend that Michael Rolband be appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chartered Science Advisory Board (SAB).
NAHB is a federation of more than 700 state and local associations representing more than 140,000 member firms nationwide. NAHB's members are involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, land development, property management, and light commercial construction. Collectively, NAHB's members employ more than 1.26 million people and construct about 80 percent of all new housing units within the U.S. each year. Given the wide range of activities they conduct, NAHB's members are often required to comply with various EPA policies and regulations to meet their business goals. Of particular interest to NAHB's members are EPA regulations, policies, and guidance pertaining to the definition of "waters of the United States" and stormwater runoff.
Mike Rolband has been an active member of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA), Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV) and NAHB since the early 1990s and has provided expert environmental compliance assistance to NAHB's members at the local, state, and national levels. In recognition of his service and commitment to the home building industry, Mike has received multiple awards from his state and local associations over the years, including HBAV Associate of the Year (2000, 2011), NVBIA Associate of the Year - (2010, 2016), and Fairfax Chapter of NVBIA Special Service Award (1993).
Mike Rolband is a distinguished wetland scientist and the founder and president of Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI), a 120+ person natural and cultural resources consulting firm headquartered in Gainesville, Virginia. Mike has led WSSI from its roots in 1991 as a one-person wetlands consulting firm into an integrated multi-discipline natural and cultural resources consulting firm focused on solving Clean Water Act permitting challenges and regulatory requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Under his direction, WSSI has provided natural and cultural resources studies and permitting on over 7,500 projects and nearly 275,000 acres of land across the Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, he has testified before the U.S. Congress, and lectured before numerous organizations on stormwater management, mitigation, wetland and stream regulatory policy, and Chesapeake Bay Act Regulations on many occasions. Mike was instrumental in developing Virginia's wetlands laws in the 2000 legislative session, as well as over a dozen pieces of state legislation involving wetlands, streams and stormwater regulations.
120115th Street NW | Washington, DC 20005 | T 202 266 8200 | 800 368 5242 j nahb.org
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Mr. Thomas Carpenter Designated Federal Officer / Sr. Biologist US EPA Science Advisory Board September 21, 2017 Page 2
As an engineer and a recognized expert in the environmental sciences - in particular, wetland and stream ecology, water quality / quantity, hydrology, and ecosystem services - Mike will be able to provide strategic advice to the EPA Administrator on a variety of EPA science and research programs related to complex environmental systems. Mike's experiences, including his field expertise and his service on the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board and numerous committees at the state and local government level related to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, stormwater, and wetland and stream regulations, make him particularly well suited to serve on the SAB.
Finally, in addition to his expertise in the environmental sciences, his many accolades, and the success of WSSI, Mike Rolband gives back. In the area of wetland and stream restoration, Mike created the Wetland Research Initiative that has funded $3.5 million to date on grants to several universities since 2007 and recently created the 501(c)(3) Resource Protection Group, Inc. to continue the program.
On behalf of NAFIB, thank you for considering Mike Rolband for appointment to EPA's Chartered Science Advisory Board.
Best regards,
120115th Street NW |Washington, DC 20005 |T |800 368 5242 |nahb.org
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