Happy New Year to our AEP Membership! And Happy 50th Birthday to AEP! We are excited to kick off our 50th year with a talented and dedicated Board of Officers and Directors.
Our Board’s Executive Officers for 2024 include:
• President – Mindy Fogg, City of Carpinteria
• Executive Vice President – Konnie Dobreva, E|P|D Solutions, Inc
• VP of Finance – Lynn Calvert-Hayes
• VP of Administration – Corinne Lytle-Bonine, AES Clean Energy
• NAEP Liaison – Marie Campbell, Sapphos Environmental, Inc
• Director-at-Large – Kristin Blackson, WSP
• Director-at-Large – Claudia Garcia, City of Berkely
• Director-at-Large – Emma Haines, PlaceWorks
Our Officers, along with our nine Chapter Directors, met in January to plan for upcoming programs and member services. A substantial investment of time and resources will be dedicated to implementing our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Initiative and Strategic Plan. More details coming soon…
Look for the 2024 CEQA Statutes and Guidelines in the mail – all paid members in good standing receive a complimentary copy of the book each year. Huge thanks again to ICF International and specifically Terry Rivasplata and Elizabeth Irvin for their hard work in producing and editing AEP’s CEQA Statute and Guidelines. We are extremely appreciative for Mr. Rivasplata’s summaries of CEQA court cases and legislative actions. Many thanks also go to Grant
Reddy with PlaceWorks for graphic design support.
Most of our California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Advanced Workshops are scheduled for early February this year. Special thanks to Chris Mundhenk with Ascent Environmental for serving as the Curriculum Coordinator. Each year, Chris reaches out to a network of CEQA professionals to collaborate on the selection of relevant topics and preparation of the workshop materials. The agenda and locations are available in this issue of the Environmental
Monitor and online at https://www.califaep.org/2024_advanced_ceqa_workshop.php .
The 2023-2024 Legislative Session continues as the deadline to introduce bills for this session is February 16, 2024. Our Legislative Review Committee will continue to work with our Lobbyist, Matt Klopfenstein, in Sacramento to review and comment on legislation that affects our profession. We are also planning our Day-at-the-Capitol in March where our committee members will meet with various legislators to discuss this year’s CEQA bills.
The 2024 Conference will be held in person at the beautiful JW Marriott, Anaheim on March 24-27. Come celebrate 50 years of AEP with us in Anaheim! We are still accepting sponsorships for this upcoming conference. If you would like to showcase your services to over 400 environmental professionals, then this is the best way to get your brand exposed! Online registration and hotel reservations are also still open but filling up quickly. More Information is available in this issue of the EM and at www.califaep.org .
I hope that you continue to enjoy and appreciate the benefits and services that AEP provides, including: CEQA Portal, AEP Mentorship Program, the AEP Institute, the Environmental Assessor, CEQA and NEPA Essentials Workshops, and the AEP Podcast – Environmental Leadership Chronicles. We strive to keep our members updated with the most current information in the environmental profession as well offer numerous in-person and webinar trainings to make your careers more fulfilling and rewarding.
If you would like to get more involved with AEP, we have many opportunities at the local and state levels. We also welcome input and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to talk with any chapter or state board member if you have comments on the organization or questions on involvement.
We appreciate your continued dedication to AEP and thank you for being a member!
Sincerely,
Mindy Fogg
AEP President
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