VELCO ROW Stewardship Accreditation Experience Right of Way Management 738 line miles 254 miles above 200 kV 13000 acres of right of way 4610 acres above 200 kV Vermont Ecosystems Rare Threatened and Endangered species ID: 750794
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New England Chapter ISASeptember 29, 2014
VELCO ROW Stewardship Accreditation ExperienceSlide2
Right of Way Management
738 line miles 254 miles above 200 kV
13,000 acres of right of way
4,610 acres above 200 kV
Vermont Ecosystems
Rare, Threatened and Endangered species
80% forested
Mountainous terrain
Wetlands and water bodies
Streams
Unique natural areas
Wildlife corridors
Agricultural areas
Archeological areasSlide3
ROW Steward Program
The ROW Steward Program (RSP) is an initiative that grew out of the utility vegetation management industry’s commitment to the practice of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM). The RSP was developed as a means of recognizing excellence in the application and practice of IVM on the North American electric power grid.
IVM: A system of managing plant communities in which compatible and incompatible vegetation is identified, action thresholds are considered, control methods are evaluated, and selected control (s) are implemented to achieve a specific objective. Choice of control methods is based on effectiveness, environmental impact, site characteristics, safety, security, and economics
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The RSP was developed and is now led by a diverse group of stakeholders including electric utilities, vegetation management contractors, consultants and suppliers, academics, environmental non-government organizations (ENGO), regulators and more. Slide4
ROW Stewardship CouncilSlide5
ROWSC Board and CommitteesSlide6
Value of ROW Steward Accreditation
Value for IVM PractitionersDirect and Indirect Cost Savings Using Systems Approach to Cost Effective Vegetation Management
Company Recognition as an Environmental Steward
Value for Agencies
Fosters Confidence that IVM Practitioners Will Meet Their ObjectivesImproves Relations With State & Federal Agencies & Stakeholder GroupsAssures Compliance with Regulation & Reduces Need for New RegulationValue for Public
Positive Relations by Engaging Stakeholders throughout the IVM Process
Stakeholders are Notified and Understand Impact
Societal and Community Impacts are Considered in IVM PoliciesSlide7
Benefits Of Accreditation
Benefit No. 1: Directly reduce treatment cost
IVM emphasizes biological prevention and control methods that can reduce the abundance of undesirable plants (tall-growing trees), which leads to a reduction in treatment efforts over time. Biological and ecological prevention and control commonly are produced by the careful removal of undesirable plants while not disturbing desirable, low-growing plants (shrubs, forbs, grasses, etc.). Herbicides often are most cost effective for this type of treatment compared to other treatments (physical, mechanical, or cultural).
Benefit No. 2: Indirectly reduce treatment cost
Benefit No. 1 emphasizes short-term (10-20 years) monetary gains to be made from using an IVM approach. In the longer term (>20 years), a wide variety of positive gains can be made for a company using IVM that lead to indirect cost savings, e.g., reduced or minimized regulations (Benefit No. 3), positive public relations (Benefit No. 4), and all of the other benefits listed below too.
Benefit No. 3: Increase positive relations with regulators
Vegetation management on power line corridors has been relatively free of regulations, but that is changing today due to society’s growing interest in the broader environment and their heightened awareness of the importance of power line corridors (particularly with the recent, broad reaching blackouts). Slide8
Benefits Of Accreditation
Benefit No. 4: Increase positive relations with publics IVM places strong emphases on engaging publics in planning, conducting and monitoring vegetation management activities and their outcomes. Positive public relations could lead to reduced lawsuits or inefficiencies of time spent rebuilding public confidence due to their being ignored through various stages and processes of vegetation management.
Benefit No. 5: Maintain elements of institutional memory
Much of what is developed in an IVM program is based on both education and experience which resides in the vegetation manager. If he or she leaves a company without documenting policies, procedures, practices and effectiveness of programs, the next vegetation manager will face inefficiency in time and other resources as she or he “recreates the wheel”. IVM as accredited by ROW Steward includes emphases on documenting key elements of the IVM system.
Benefit No. 6: Ethics and Sustainability
Sustainability is a central paradigm for IVM. Sustainability definitions commonly include the stricture that what we do to the land does not compromise future generations from having the same opportunities for environmental, social and economic values from the power line corridor and the associated landscapes. Ethically, vegetation management should not compromise these values that Slide9
ROWSC PrinciplesSlide10
Technical Requirements
10 Principles and 32 CriteriaPrinciple #1: Compliance with laws, standards, and best management practices.
Laws and regulations are constructs developed to protect natural resources and associated benefits and values accruable to society. IVM practitioners meet or exceed all laws, regulations, and guidelines related to vegetation management on rights-of-way (ROWs) and safety of vegetation management workers
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Principle #2: Tenure and use rights and responsibilities
Sustainable ROW vegetation management requires that the right of use of the land be properly documented.
Principle #3: Community and worker relations
The IVM program provides for outreach to affected communities and stakeholders
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Principle #4: Management Planning
Documentation of objectives, philosophy, principles, procedures and practices are critical to long-term, sustainable management, as embodied by various levels of plans, including resource inventories and maps. Written program management plans establish performance expectations and accountability for both successes and opportunities for improvement as judged against stated goals and objectives. Improvement in maintenance practices are predicated on learning from both successes and opportunities for improvement. Slide11
Technical Requirements
Principle #5: Understanding Pest and Ecosystem DynamicsKnowledgeable managers and practitioners are able to identify both incompatible and compatible vegetation and plant communities in the managed system, and understand the effects of various IVM methods based on knowledge of life histories and ecosystem processes. This is foundational knowledge for Vegetation Managers and vegetation management workers.
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Principle #6: Setting Management Objectives and Tolerance Levels
IVM, as developed adapting principles from Integrated Pest Management (IPM), depends upon basic elements to function as a system. Tolerance (a.k.a. “action threshold”) levels are one of the fundamental elements of IVM. Vegetation management actions are scheduled based on conditions and maintenance activities occur when tolerances are exceeded and at the optimal time to meet stated objectives. Primary operational objectives of reliability, access, safety, and regulatory compliance are considered in the context of socioeconomics and environmental desires.
Principle #7: Compilation of a Broad Array of Treatment Techniques
IVM does not focus on the use of one treatment; instead, every ROW management situation has a treatment prescribed only after considering all viable treatment options. A complete “toolbox” of treatment options is available and used. Slide12
Technical Requirements
Principle #8: Accounting for Economic and Ecological Effects of Treatment Cost effectiveness and expected ecological effects over time are used as a basis for selecting IVM treatments. The preferred approach systematically establishes compatible vegetation cover types that assist in reducing populations of incompatible trees on the ROW.
Principle #9: Site-Specific Implementation of Treatments
ROW corridors are divided into vegetation maintenance units based on their operational, economic, ecological and socioeconomic significance. Each maintenance unit l has a specific prescription. A record of vegetation maintenance performed on each unit is retained and serves as a benchmark for future evaluations of treatment effectiveness
Principle #10: Adaptive Management and Monitoring
IVM includes a continuous improvement mechanism. Quality control and quality assurance monitoring are used to ensure that outcomes meet stated vegetation management objectives. Quality monitoring includes the collection of appropriate data to evaluate successes and failures of vegetation management outcomes. Monitoring procedures are consistent and replicable over time sufficient to allow comparison of results, make an assessment of the need for changes, and to support continuous improvement.Slide13
Detailed Audit of Entire IVM Program
NATF Peer ReviewNERC AuditHerbicide Inspection
OSHA Compliance Audit
EPA Audit
Similar to a Combined Audit of the following all wrapped into one:
Who in their right mind would volunteer for that ?????Slide14
VELCO Audit Team
Jeff Disorda Lead
Right of Way Management
Bryan McMann
Bill Conn
Jacob Watrous
Steve Shaw
CAD/GIS
Andrew Flynn
Jarrod Harper
Environmental
Brian Connaughton
Tim Follensbee
Nancy Rooker
Right of Way
Sandy Fogg
Human Resources
Gina KelleySlide15
The Audit
Task 1: Project Initiation, Weeks1-3Audit planning , contract development, gap analysis, preliminary document submittals
Task 2: Document Reviews, Weeks 4-8
Auditors review documents for Principle and Criteria Indicators
Task 3: Office and Field Visit, Week 9Auditors visited VELCO offices and made site visits to 18 right of way sites
Auditors interviewed staff from Vegetation Management, Environmental, Right of Way, and CAD/GIS teams.
Task 4: DRAFT Audit Report, Week 10
Auditors provide draft report to VELCO for Comment
Task 5: Final Draft Report, Week 13
Auditors review comments/ incorporate any additional documentation
Task 6: Final Draft approved by ROW Steward Steering Committee
ROW Steward Accreditation Received
Slide16
VELCO Audit Team
Jeff Disorda Lead
Right of Way Management
Bryan McMann
Bill Conn
Jacob Watrous
Steve Shaw
CAD/GIS
Andrew Flynn
Jarrod Harper
Environmental
Brian Connaughton
Tim Follensbee
Nancy Rooker
Right of Way
Sandy Fogg
Human Resources
Gina KelleySlide17
The Field AuditSlide18
Findings
Good Practice (GP): This is a strength in performance of IVM that generally is above industry norms.
30
Observation (OBS)
: This category is not a weakness or gap per se, but is an area that could be considered for possible improvement in vegetation management practice so as to rise to highest levels of performance.
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Recommendation (REC)
: This type of weakness or gap is near to being a non-conformance with a required corrective action and
should
be closed to improve in the sustained practice of IVM.
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Non-Conformance—Required Corrective Action (NC)
: This type of weakness or gap must be closed to be fully accredited as a ROW Steward and to be judged as fully performing the necessary elements of sustained IVM.
NONESlide19
Principle Scores
Principles:
1) Legal/Reg. Compliance;
2) Tenure & Use Rights;
3) Community & Worker Relations;
4) Management Planning;
5) Understanding Pest & Ecosystem Dynamics;
6) Setting Management Objectives & Tolerance Levels;
7) Broad Array of Treatment Techniques;
8) Accounting of Economic & Ecological Effects;
9) Site-specific Treatments;
10) Adaptive Management & Monitoring.Slide20
Overall Scores
The overall audit score is
4.4 out of 5.0
indicating performance above industry norms. No items of non-conformance were found.
All principles and criterion are listed and explained in Appendix 3. Scores by Principle ranged from 4.0 to 4.75 and are presented in Figure 2. Scores by Criterion ranged from 3.5 to 5.0 and are presented in Figure 3. Twenty two criterion (69%) were scored a 4.5 (all verifiers observed) and 8 (25%) were scored a 5.0 (all verifiers plus).
The audit team recommends VELCO be accredited as a ROW Steward
Slide21
Benefits of Accreditation – VELCO Additions
Opportunity to review program in detailed manner both internally and externallyAllowed for multiple departments to work on a common goal and build inter-departmental relationships
Better understanding of departmental roles
Better understanding how provided information is utilized
Provides focus for continuous improvementSlide22
Good Practices – Common Themes
High commitment to safety and the environment Use of technologyExceptional stakeholder engagement
Row management accomplished by cross-functioning team of vegetation managers, environmental, GIS and right of way staff is exemplary
The practice of personal contact with landowners to discuss planned maintenance activities and the benefits of IVM is informing the public and helping VELCO apply the most efficient treatments for the site more consistently. Slide23
Observations – Common Themes
Extensive documents(TVMP, ENV Manual, Specs) could be condensed for utilization by field crewsLandowner satisfaction survey could be implemented
VIP could be utilized by vegetation management contractors
The update to the TVMP could also include discussion of height and density and the clearance required by NERC under the new FAC-003-2 and consider if a 4-year cycle is the right cycle length across all voltages and in all ecosystems
VELCO staff could contribute to industry R&D by publishing studies done on bird habitat. Slide24
Recommendations – Common Themes
Annual reporting should be made available on the website. VELCO should update the TVMP to include a discussion on how incompatible species density influences cycle length.
VELCO should prepare a document on the VIP inventory process. A written guideline for use and updates of VIP would help ensure that data is routinely kept up to date. Slide25
Period of Accreditation Slide26
Jeffrey S. Disorda
Supervisor of Right of Way Management
Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc.
jdisorda@velco.com
802-770-6240