Live PAEP Webinar - Good News! DOTs in PA are driving innovation thru nature-based solutions and alternative procurement to reduce project cost, and drive major co-benefits for communities and ecosystems (24 Sep 2026)

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Good News! DOTs in PA are driving innovation thru nature-based solutions and alternative procurement to reduce project cost, and drive major co-benefits for communities and ecosystems.

September 24, 2026

at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

DOTs have a unique ability to drive and shape innovation within the ecological offset industry, due to the size and frequency of DOT's unavoidable impacts to wetlands, streams, endangered species, stormwater, etc. The ecological offset industry started with wetland mitigation banking but has evolved over the past 10-15 years in PA to include streams, endangered species, riparian buffers, and water-quality offsets tied to stormwater, MS4, TMDL, and CSO compliance. This change is due to an evolution in regulatory permit requirements (increasing environmental compliance burden and cost), which are requiring much more complex and expensive regulatory-compliance measures. However, cost-savings, decreases in DOT-staff administrative effort, reduced permit timelines can be found, thru innovation in procurement and a focus on nature-based solutions. These nature-based solutions, while focused on different forms of 'credits' (wetland-credits, bat-credits, sediment-pollution-credits, etc.), can have incredible co-benefits for wildlife and humans. One example include the rare mountain chorus frog that showed up on a southwest PA wetland/stream mitigation bank (and didn't care who bought the wetland credits, he/she was just happy to have a unique restored habitat that didn't exist until the mitigation bank was built). This bank was funded by coal companies, PennDOT, airports, and a slew of other private and public infrastructure developers buying said credits. Other case studies which will be highlighted include:

PTC early engagement in 404 mitigation banking in PA, driving two large banks in SW and SE PA, with the SE PA bank expanding fish habitat for prey and predatory fish. We 'expand' fish habitat when intermittent streams are restored, and post-restoration exhibit perennial flow.
PennDOT engagement in innovative MS4 procurement, leading to nature-based sediment reduction solutions within the urban Paxton Creek watershed. One BMP was developed on PA Fish and Boat Commission property, where intermittent stormwater-driven/eroding channels were restored to perennial streams surrounded by lush floodplain wetlands. This BMP was the site of the Governor's inaugural 'PA Native Species Diversity Day' a few years ago, calling attention to the incredible increase in biodiversity post-restoration of the BMP/stream corridor.
DOT's increase in bat-mitigation requirements is driving innovation in the endangered species offset space, thru the purchase of bank-credits, but we anticipate in the future driving conservation efforts focused on hibernacula restoration, in both NY and PA.

Presenter: Jon Kasitz - has over two decades of experience helping public and private clients solve complex environmental challenges, specifically those regarding wetland/stream resources, water quality, and biodiversity, His decade-plus at RES has been highlighted by the development of creative ecological offsets and water quality solutions for many of the largest public and private infrastructure projects around the state, as well as the expansion of the wetland, stream, and endangered species mitigation banking industry. As Client Solutions Manager at RES, Jon has successfully connected private companies, State agencies, and Municipalities across Pennsylvania with the best and most cost-effective nature-based solutions to their water quality and regulatory compliance challenges. Jon lives in Coatesville, Chester County and enjoys both working and recreating in the woods, fields and streams of Pennsylvania.

Registration Deadline: September 21, 2026

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members - Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.

Government/Agency - the fee for webinar is $10 per person.

Registrants will be sent an email confirming registration with log in information to event. You will also get another email closer to the date of the event, providing information on how to join the webinar.

“The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals aims to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.

2026 PAEP Annual Conference (14 Oct 2026)

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

October 14-16, 2026
Wyndham Garden Hotel
310 Elks Club Road, State College, PA

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Be Part of PAEP 2026
in State College this October!

Registration is officially open! Join your peers from around the region at the 2026 PAEP Annual Communities Corridors & Connections Conference to engage on a diverse range of hot topics facing environmental professionals today. Taking place October 14-16, in State College, PA, at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, the PAEP Annual offers the opportunity to exchange ideas and information, and analyze current trends that will expand your knowledge, connections, and ability to stay informed and prepared for the future.

Conference highlights include:

● Pre-conference workshop on Cultivating Compliance: Agricultural Resources & Transportation in Pennsylvania

● Introduction to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act-USFWS

● Turning Contamination into Opportunity - The Power of Brownfields Redevelopment in Central Pennsylvania

● Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP) and Pennsylvania Conservation Explorer (PACE): Overview and Updates

● Updates from PennDOT and PA DEP

● And more!

View the conference brochure for complete program details. Register now and take advantage of early registration rates.

Come Early for the PAEP Pre-Conference Workshop: Cultivating Compliance: Agricultural Resources & Transportation in Pennsylvania

Participants will learn about the federal Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA) and various Pennsylvania state laws applicable to agricultural land, as well as the agricultural evaluation procedures for compliance, as outlined in PennDOT’s Agricultural Resources Evaluation Handbook (Publication 324). The process of obtaining approval from the Agricultural Lands Condemnation Approval Board (ALCAB), required for condemning productive agricultural land for highway purposes in Pennsylvania, will be reviewed.

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