Legislative

John W. Peterson founded KEMPS Consultants, Inc. with expertise in natural resources public policy, water resources, and erosion and sediment control, in April, 1994, after a forty-year highly successful career at the top of the USDA federal civil service (the Senior Executive Service, SES).

At retirement he was an Assistant Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service (SCS), one of the agency’s top line officers in the career service. Peterson has a B.S. in Civil Engineering, a M.A. in Public Administration, and a LL.B. in Law. From 1994 to 2004 John also served as the Executive Director of the National Watershed Coalition. In that role he served as the National Watershed Coalition’s representative in Washington, DC, and was the drafter and lead champion for the successful passage of PL 106-472, the Small Watershed Rehabilitation Act of 2000. That was the first major USDA water resources legislation passed in over 22 years, and it allowed USDA to assist watershed sponsors in bringing their dams up to current safety standards. John is recognized nationally for his expertise in watershed planning, dam safety, and erosion and sediment control. He directed USDA’s watershed planning for 6 years. He is a three-term president of the International Erosion Control Association and currently their Mid-Atlantic Chapter President, and a Fellow of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. He is currently a director of the Potomac Nationals Baseball Booster Club. The Potomac Nationals are the High Class A farm team of the Washington Nationals. John is a veteran and he retired in 1991 from the US Army, after a 32 year active and reserve career, as an Infantry Colonel (Viet Nam, Desert Shield/Storm). He is active in many professional organizations. In 2004 & 2005, John served on the Ad Hoc Dam Safety Committee for the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board. He is an elected Director (vice-chair) of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and is the Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts Board Representative to the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD). He serves as the Director of Government Relations for the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA), and is an elected director of the Time-Share Owners Association of the Ocean Cove at Palmetto Dunes Resort at Hilton Head Island, SC. One of the things John is proudest of is the John W. Peterson Agricultural Scholarship established by the Organization of Professional Employees of the US Department of Agriculture (OPEDA). John and Blanche have five grown children and six grandchildren, and live in Burke, VA.

• Public Sector Pensions and the deficit, 02/17/2011
• Are you doing Succession Planning?, 02/16/2011
• Is carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant?, 02/07/2011
• January 2011 Monthly LICA Government Relations Report, 02/04/2011
• EPA Revokes mine permit, 01/19/2011
• Group sues EPA over Chesapeake Bay cleanup, 01/11/2011
• EPA Enforcing Greenhouse Gas Rules, 01/02/2011
• CHESAPEAKE BAY TMDL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Biographical Summary: John W. Peterson, PE, CPESC
• Lobbying or government relations: Tips on working with your Member of Congress.
• Unions profiting from favoritism by Administration’s GSA, 01/24/2011
• Surveying the Washington Landscape: Comments by Bruce Josten, US Chamber of Commerce VP for Government Affairs, 11/17/2012
• President Proposes a Federal Pay Freeze, 12/04/2010
• Comments Received on the Ethanol Article, 12/01/2010
• Is the U.S. Transportation System in Crisis?, 11/17/2010
• How will new House Members Deal with Agriculture Cuts? How Would You?, 11/16/2010
• KEMPS-LICA Chapter Legislative Award, 11/19/2009
• The 2011 Farmers Almanac Weather Predictions, 11/04/10