Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) have published revised “Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys” with an effective date of February 23, 2016. Included in the new standards is a revision to Table A, Optional Survey Responsibilities and Specifications, addressing the location of delineated wetlands.

History
In the expired minimum standards which took effect February 23, 2011, Table A – Item 19 required the “location of wetland areas as delineated by appropriate authorities,” if requested by the client. Although the intent of the committee charged with writing the standards was that the Surveyor simply locate any wetland delineation marks set by qualified persons, that intent was not clear from the wording. The requirement has been interpreted as requiring the Surveyor to review the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory Maps and use the information from those maps to satisfy the requirements of Item 19. However, since those maps are known to not capture many wetland areas, reliance upon them may be misleading.

New Requirement
The new requirements, effective February 23, 2016, have been clarified in Table A, Item 18. The new item states “if there has been a field delineation of wetlands conducted by a qualified specialist hired by the client, the Surveyor shall locate any delineation markers observed in the process of conducting the fieldwork and show them on the face of the plat or map. If no markers were observed, the Surveyor shall so state.”

Effect
If the client opts to include wetlands in the ALTA/NSPS Survey, both the client and the surveyor can negotiate a mutually acceptable fee with a complete understanding of the tasks involved. Existing wetlands will be accurately located and displayed without the potential errors of relying on information from the National Wetland Inventory Maps.

Solution
Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. performs wetland delineations and wetland delineation location surveys. All of our delineations are performed under the supervision of Professional Wetland Delineators (PWD), regulated by the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulations and Professional Wetland Scientists (PWS), certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists. All wetland delineation location surveys are performed under the supervision of Licensed Surveyors. The surveys are performed using either conventional survey techniques (total station) or survey grade GPS (1 centimeter (cm) accuracy), depending upon field conditions. In tree cover, conventional field survey techniques are used to obtain accurate locations since all GPS systems in these conditions can vary from 10’ to 30’ from the actual location. WSSI will also obtain U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval (Jurisdictional Determination) of the delineated and surveyed wetlands officially confirming that Waters of the United States (WOTUS) are present on site. We will provide our field survey, or the wetlands flagging by certified individuals for your surveyor to use, to meet the requirements of Table A, Item 18.

Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. is well qualified to offer those services required by Table A, Item 18 of the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys (effective February 23, 2016).

For further information about ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys, please contact Chad Laskaris, Rick Hudson, Ben Rosner, Mark Headly, Mike Klebasko, or Dan Lucey.