Is That Wetland Federal? Choosing the Jurisdictional Determination Path and Building a Field Record That Holds

Mark Sudol, PhD, Senior Advisor | Dawson & Associates

Dr. Mark Sudol is a Senior Advisor at Dawson & Associates, bringing more than 25 years of senior-level federal environmental permitting experience, including five years as Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Regulatory Program. He advises clients on environmental permitting strategies, regulatory requirements, and approaches to navigating federal agency processes. His expertise includes Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting, jurisdictional determinations, wetlands mitigation, and federal environmental regulations.

• Education & Credentials

Dr. Sudol earned a Doctor of Environmental Science and Engineering (D.Env.) and a Master of Arts in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Rochester.

• Recognition & Leadership

Dr. Sudol’s federal leadership includes directing the USACE Regulatory Program and overseeing policy responses to significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting federal environmental permitting, including Rapanos and Northern Cook County. He also led the development of the Corps’ Mitigation and Monitoring Rule governing wetlands restoration for projects involving wetland impacts. In addition, he served as Acting Director for Operations and the Regulatory Program at USACE headquarters, contributing to national policy and budget decisions across the Corps’ Civil Works districts.

• Professional Involvement

Dr. Sudol has participated in professional and advisory organizations focused on wetlands science, environmental mitigation, and restoration. His affiliations include the Society of Wetland Scientists, the National Hazard Mitigation Association, and the Mitigation Banking Association. He has also served on the Upper Newport Bay Technical Advisory Committee, the Bolsa Chica Restoration Steering Committee, and the National Wetlands Mitigation Action Plan Interagency Committee.

• Experience

Before joining Dawson & Associates, Dr. Sudol served as Chief of Regulatory for the USACE Los Angeles District and later led the Corps’ national Regulatory Program. During his federal service, he oversaw the development of policy and guidance addressing federal jurisdiction over navigable waters, including the significant nexus framework following major Supreme Court decisions. He also contributed to national-level decisions involving water navigation, hydropower, recreation, and regulatory programs.

At Dawson & Associates, Dr. Sudol advises clients on strategies for obtaining environmental permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, navigating jurisdictional determinations, and improving permitting efficiency. He is also an experienced resource on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments, and on Endangered Species Act regulations. His combination of federal regulatory leadership and consulting experience helps clients address complex environmental permitting requirements and understand the practical implications of agency policies.

Larry Liebesman, Senior Advisor | Dawson & Associates

Larry Liebesman has written Supreme Court amicus briefs in SWANCC, Rapanos, and Sackett, the cases that frame federal wetlands jurisdiction, and has practiced environmental law for more than 40 years with a focus on the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. As a Senior Advisor at Dawson & Associates, he negotiates federal and state environmental approvals and has defended those permits in federal and state courts.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Liebesman earned his J.D. with honors from George Washington University Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Rutgers University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

• Recognition & Leadership

A nationally recognized environmental litigator during his years at the U.S. Department of Justice, he received the Department’s Special Achievement and Special Commendations Awards. He has been named a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer, received the Environmental Leadership Award from the National Stone Sand and Gravel Association, and was named Consultant of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Maryland. He sits on the Leadership Council of the Environmental Law Institute and has served as Planning Co-Chair of the American Law Institute course of study “Species Protection and the Law.”

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Liebesman wrote The Water Supplies Guide to Wetlands Regulation and Management (American Water Works Association, 1996) and co-authored the Endangered Species Act Desk Book (Environmental Law Institute, 2nd ed., 2010). As an adjunct professor at George Washington University and University of Baltimore law schools, he taught Endangered Species and Wetlands Law. He has testified before Congress on proposed Endangered Species Act reform legislation and serves on the Maryland State Water Quality Advisory Committee and the Howard County, Maryland Environmental Sustainability Board.

• Experience

During 11 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, Mr. Liebesman was lead counsel in Bersani v. EPA, which upheld EPA’s veto authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, and in NRDC v. EPA, which upheld major portions of EPA’s NPDES program. His Supreme Court amicus work extends beyond the wetlands cases to South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe, Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon, and Bennett v. Spear.

He has also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and on detail to the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, where he worked on CEQ’s NEPA regulations. In private practice he obtains Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act permits for commercial, residential, public works, and mining projects, and handles matters on the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay, including the impact of stormwater on the Bay’s water quality.

SESSION 1 – Ascertaining the Governing Regime and the JD Path on Split-Jurisdiction Wetland Sites | Larry Liebesman |12:00pm – 1:00pm

This is a one-hour advanced session on Section 404 geographic jurisdiction for agency counsel and applicant counsel. It covers the evolution of CWA WOTUS regulation, the status of regulation following the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, and the difference in WOTUS coverage in light of Court injunctions and the application of the March 2025 continuous surface connection memo to the culverts, berms and ditches. It will also cover whether to seek an approved JD, accept a preliminary JD, or skip federal reviewing light of pending WOTUS rule and state programs. The profile fits an attorney who has handled JD files on both sides of the regime line in the last few years and will set the stage for Session II’s discussion of technical evidence on identifying continuous connection.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Field and Remote-Sensing Evidence That Proves or Defeats Continuous Surface Connection | Mark Sudol | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This is a one-hour, unified session on Section 404 jurisdictional evidence, building an Approved Jurisdictional Delineation (AJD) package for submission to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) illustrating counsel what to commission, check, and challenge on wetlands, culverts, berms, roads, ditches, and flow duration issues in ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial streams. The session will cover the current rule, policy, and guidance including the March 2025 direct-abutment memo and the pending rule on wet-season and perennial streams. The session will cover a typical complex wetland situation and include options for the counsel to review, critique, and summarize critical issues for an AKD submission. The session will also cover the USACE Aquatic Resource Delineation Report (ARDR) and linkage with the AJD.

The session calls for a wetland scientist who has defended connection and flow evidence before Corps districts since March 2025 and knows which evidence reviewers accept, reject, or send back.