Publications:
ANEP Update
April
2002
LEGISLATIVE
AFFAIRS
Letters
have been sent to both the House and Senate VA-HUD Appropriators
requesting $35 million in FY 2003 funding for the National
Estuary Program. In the House, Representatives Jim Saxton
(R-NJ) and Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) helped obtain signatures
for a letter sent on April 17, 2002 to VA-HUD Appropriations
Subcommittee Chair James Walsh (R-NY). The letter was signed
by 49 Members of the House of Representatives. In the Senate,
Senator Lincoln Chafee helped obtain signatures for a letter
sent on April 16, 2002 to VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee
Chair Harry Reid (D-NV) and Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM).
This letter was signed by 20 Senators. In May, Appropriators
will begin to make funding decisions on federal programs such
as the National Estuary Program. For additional information,
contact Carrie Jelsma at 301-493-0003 or at CarrieJelsma@aol.com.
NEP
NEWS
Maryland
Coastal Bays NEP - Protection for coastal
bays wildlife and water quality is finally catching up to
that for the Chesapeake following passage of a bill on April
8, 2002 that, through compromise, creates a 100-foot natural
shoreline buffer in undeveloped parts of the coastal bays
watershed. It also adds protective criteria for re-development
in built areas. Passing 132 to 3 in the House and 46 to 1
in the Senate, the nearly unanimous state bill was worked
out because many parties were willing to come to the table
to learn and to discuss what was equitable to individuals
and to the community as a whole. This bill is that it is structured
around plans locals created and it gives Ocean City and Worcester
County the ability to do more if they see fit. Both Eastern
and Western shore delegates received hundreds of phone calls
and e-mails in this push for respect for the coastal bays.
Both Ocean City and the Worcester County Commissioners now
have until 2003 to come up with their own guidelines that
are consistent with the Critical Areas Law. The county will
consider adding buffer protections for nontidal streams, including
bioretention areas, and limiting pier length or creating community
piers. The state will provide several hundred thousand dollars
annually to Ocean City and the county to administer the program.
Perhaps most interesting about this debate was how it was
framed. No one questioned whether we needed buffer protection
in the coastal bays. Developers, farmers, fishermen, and scientists
have agreed for years that no law in Ocean City and a 25-foot
county law were unacceptable. Most of the concerns centered
around individual development projects, not on the 100-foot
buffer within a 1,000-foot critical area or the other water
quality or habitat provisions in the bill.
In the
City of Philadelphia, PA, and suburban Chester County, the
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, with support
from the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection, is recruiting businesses
to become Clean Water Partners. Once a Clean Water Partner
is selected, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary will
meet at that business' site to share information about stormwater
management and pollution prevention. After a site survey,
led by the Partnership's professional pollution prevention
staff, the businesses will be offered an opportunity to take
a Clean Water Partner's Pledge that would require them to
adhere to a list of ten actions that prevent stormwater runoff
pollution. Businesses taking the pledge receive a framed pledge
certificate and a window decal for display at their site,
serving as a daily reminder to their customers and employees
about their business' commitment to protect water quality.
For information call (800) 445-4935.
The
Mass. Bays Program (in conjunction with CZM and EOEA)
is sponsoring a Pumpout Boat Dedication Event in Plymouth
Harbor on June 21st to celebrate National Clean Boating Day
(which is June 22). The MBP has been working with municipal
partners for the past year to secure funding for the brand
new 23' pumpout boat, as well as a new shoreside pumpout facility.
In addition, the MBP funded the placement of a buoy with signage
to announce the availably of pumpout services upon entering
Plymouth Harbor. The event will highlight these new facilities,
and promote clean boating practices.
The Tampa
Bay NEP is a sponsor or major partner in four significant
grants that will contribute to overall understanding of bay
processes and needs. Grants have been awarded to: 1) Assess
the Potential for Using Dredge Material to Restore In-Bay
Habitat; 2) Create a Community Profile of the Ecology of Seagrass
Meadows of the Florida West Coast; 3) Examine Nutrient Flux
from Sediments in Tampa Bay; 4) Evaluate the Sources of Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in Bay Sediments
The Barataria-Terrebonne
NEP facilitated two field trips for its Management Conference
Members to the site of the proposed Morganza to the Gulf Levee
Project in Terrebonne Parish. This $600 million, 72 mile levee
system is essential for adequate flood and hurricane protection
for area residents, however, many MC members were rightly
concerned about the levees impact on current coastal restoration
efforts, impact to fisheries and other habitat concerns. The
purpose of the field trips were to provide MC members and
interested parties an opportunity to visit the levee site,
observe potential areas of concern, and to provide an open
and informal discussion of common ground solutions to areas
of concern. All participating MC members felt the trip was
very informative and worthwhile.
The
NEP National Meeting held in Washington D.C. in March 2002
provided new opportunities for exchange between the Morro
Bay NEP and the Barataria-Terrebonne NEP. Following
BTNEP Program Director Kerry St. Pé's presentation
in March on the Maritime Forest Ridge, Morro Bay NEP Director,
Mike Multari, and St. Pé made plans for Multari to
visit the BTNEP program during the Grand Isle Migratory Bird
Celebration. BTNEP is a major sponsor of this annual event.
Following a tour of the Bayou Lafourche area and a site visit
to the location of the Maritime Forest Ridge Project at Port
Fourchon, Multari spent most of his time on Grand Isle. After
an exclusive evening of crawfish eating instruction from the
BTNEP staff on Friday, April 19, Multari participated in the
event's guided birding tours, informational programs and a
boat tour to the restored Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay
on Saturday and Sunday.
1) The
Board of Directors of the Center for the Inland Bays
recently adopted a suite of environmental indicators for Delaware's
Inland Bays. These indicators include shellfish harvest data,
recreational contact closures, submerged aquatic vegetation
abundance, dissolved oxygen levels as well as a number of
other water quality parameters. A subcommittee of the Inland
Bays Scientific & Technical Advisory Committee recommended
these indicators after several months of deliberations and
development. 2) The Center for the Inland Bays has
announced its FY2003 Request for Proposals. This year's RFP
emphasizes research and demonstration activities in the Little
Assawoman Bay watershed. This announcement was prepared in
conjunction with the CIB's partnership with Delmarva's major
poultry integrators to develop a "model watershed" for the
Little Assawoman Bay.
EARTH
DAY: 1) To help celebrate the 32nd Anniversary
of Earth Day, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
coordinated a city-wide storm drain marking projects in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware, in an effort to educate
the public about stormwater runoff pollution. In the City
of Philadelphia, approximately 1,000 volunteers marked 4,000
storm drains with the message "Yo! No Dumping. Drains to River."
During the kick-off press conference, held on April 22, 2002,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3, Regional Administrator,
Don Welsh, spoke to local 5th graders about the
impacts of stormwater runoff pollution on our waterways in
the Delaware Estuary; 2) Albemarle-Pamlico NEP
Public Involvement Office staff participated in activities
at Eastern Elementary and John Cotton Tayloe schools in Washington,
NC, in observance of Earth Day. Involvement at John Cotton
Tayloe School consisted of a lesson presentation pertaining
to estuarine environments. Eastern Elementary School featured
15 environmentally focused learning stations. Approximately
250 pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students cycled through
the learning stations to experience activities ranging from
nursery area recognition (including role-playing as tiny young
fish and shellfish), to live estuarine "critters" identification,
to native American heritage and folklore appreciation.
Under
a grant funded by EPA, ANEP is currently working with
the Teaching Learning Network to produce a 30-minute documentary
on the National Estuary Program that will highlight the following
four NEPs: Maryland Coastal Bays; Mobil Bay; Narragansett
Bay; and Puget Sound. The documentary will be aired on PBS
in 2003.
MEETINGS
& CONFERENCES
The NEP
National Meeting was held on March 10-14, 2002 at the
Hotel Washington in Washington, D.C. NEP Directors and other
program staff, EPA Regional Coordinators, EPA HQ and representatives
from the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico Programs participated
in the meeting. The meeting was well attended, and the presentations
and discussions followed were well received by the attendees.
The meeting focused on Habitat, Coastal Monitoring and Indicators,
and Smart Growth. A plenary panel session was held at the
Department of Commerce Auditorium with Tom Kitsos, Executive
Director of the US Commission on Ocean Policy, and representatives
from CSO, NERRA, ANEP, EPA, NOAA, Sea Grant, and NMS.
The
Inaugural National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine
Habitat Restoration will be held April 13-16, 2003,
in Baltimore, Maryland. Restore America's Estuaries, an alliance
of community-based coastal restoration organizations, will
host the conference, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Inner
Harbor Hotel. The purpose of the conference is to mobilize
the coastal and estuarine habitat restoration community -
including participants from the government, corporate, non-profit
and education sectors - to advance our knowledge, practice,
pace and success in habitat restoration. Please visit www.estuaries.org
or contact Heather Bradley at hbradley@estuaries.org
