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Policy Activities
Nature does not listen to politicians,
and the policy legislators create often does not
account for the vagaries of the weather, the limits
of our scientific knowledge, or the volatilities
of the economic market. Our senior management
has, collectively, fifty years of wisdom in analyzing,
writing, and advocating both for and against public
policy.
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Community-Led Watershed Approach
 Over
the past decade, TIAER has developed and refined the Planned
Intervention Microwatershed Approach (PIMA) for designing
policy recommendations and for practical application in a
watershed. It integrates local stakeholder input and participation
to create a community-led, assessment-based, and performance-driven
institutional framework for controlling polluted runoff from
agricultural operations. It satisfies state and national water
quality objectives.
For details, see The Planned Intervention
Microwatershed Approach (PIMA) in TMDLs: Reducing
Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollutants.
With the advent
of the federal Unified Strategy and its requirement
for comprehensive nutrient management plans, TIAER worked
with industry leaders to modify PIMA. The result is APCO,
Agricultural Producer Certification Program. APCO, like PIMA,
is community-led, assessment-based, and performance-driven,
with the added features of on-farm assessments, a formalized
CNMP, and environmental certification of producers.
This program is fully described in
Alternative Approaches to Agricultural Watershed
Management.
Policy Analysis and Testimony
 Ron
Jones, director of TIAER, has testified before state and federal
legislatures numerous times, most recently in the fall of
1999. We have prepared
statements for others and analyzed pending legislation. In
addition, our legal staff can research regulatory status or
policy matters and brief you accordingly.
TMDL Development
Based on our participation with the Bosque
River Advisory Committee, we have experience with the requirements
and omissions in the TMDL regulations and in the effects of
TMDL implementation on stakeholders. We can facilitate meetings,
prepare unbiased scientific data, and suggest policy for the
present and the future.
Meetings and Conferences
 TIAER
has organized meetings and conferences from small groups of
thirty to large conferences of over 200 attendees. We can
develop the theme, book facilities, design publicity and other
materials, promote the event, and book speakers.
These are a few of the more notable meetings
we have sponsored:
- Industry-Led Solutions II, Washington,
D.C. January 2001
- Industry-Led Solutions I, Washington,
D.C. January 2000
- EPA Region 6 Nonpoint Source Watershed
Conference, Dallas, Texas, September 2001
- EPA and Tetra Tech Cost and Capability
Conference, Iowa, 1999
- Strategic Dialog Regarding Municipal
and Agricultural Residuals, Sacramento, California, September
2000
- International Workshop, World Health
Organization, Stephenville, Texas, October 1996
For more information, e-mail
us or call 254-968-9567. Your call will be directed depending
on the type of service you are requesting.
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