I am being asked to do two things on an ALTA Survey that I have not seen before. And I have done TONS of ALTA's. Is this statement something outside of the surveyors expertise?
1) add the statement: “According to the national wetlands inventory, www.fws.gov, there are no wetlands on the subject property.” Is this statement beyond what a surveyor should make?
2) Certify to item 19. (location of wetland areas as delineated by appropriate authorities)
It has been a while since I went to Gary Kent's ALTA Class, and I a fuzzy on what he had to say about this item, but in my mind I have been telling myself that this is when a wetland study has been done, and we locate the flags.
I'd avoid statement 1 because I'm not an expert in wetlands determination.
I'd certify to 19 making the statement to the effect "I found what I found set by others"
#1 is just reading a government issued map - no different than using a flood insurance rate map.
1. I telling the attorney that I am not qualified to delineate wetlands and my insurance company will not allow me to put that statement on the map. (Can't an attorney or paralegal look that up?)
2. About the same. I am not qualified to delineate/determine whether wetlands are present.
I would gladly do both, if they provide me with a letter from an environmental expert qualified to delineate wetlands that the property is free of wetlands.
> I would gladly do both, if they provide me with a letter from an environmental expert qualified to delineate wetlands that the property is free of wetlands.
Think you are correct and would suggest citing the letter and naming the expert providing the same. If there are wetlands located by the expert I would meet with that expert on site to confirm flags have not been moved and include a statement naming the person delineating the location and state the date of physical location. Remember water/wetland boundaries are subject to change over time.
I agree with this. You don't have to be a floodplain expert to read a flood map. Why are we afraid of reading a map and making a statement about the information on the map?
