LEGISLATIVE
AFFAIRS
**
Two National Estuary Restoration Strategies Released:
1) The Estuary Habitat Restoration Council (comprised
of representatives from EPA, USDA, NOAA, US Army Corps of
Engineers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service) released
a draft estuary habitat restoration strategy for public
comment in the Federal Register on May 3, 2002 (p. 22415).
Comments are due June 17. The Estuary Restoration Act signed
into law in November 2000 created the Council, and directs
it, among other things, to develop a national strategy to
maximize the benefits and foster coordination of federal
and non-federal estuary restoration activities; 2) On
May 24, 2002 Restore America's Estuaries released a National
Strategy to Restore Coastal and Estuary Habitat (see
www.estuaries.org). RAE, supported by NOAA and other partners,
began producing its report before passage of the Estuary
Restoration Act. The Estuary Habitat Restoration Council
plans to use the RAE report as a resource to help finalize
the national strategy required by the Estuary Restoration
Act.
**
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Passes
Legislation on Clean Water/Drinking Water State Revolving
Funds, Land Use Planning and Brownfields: On May 17,
the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee
passed S.1961, the Water Investment Act of 2002, which reauthorizes
the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
(SRF). The bill authorizes $41.5 billion in assistance over
the next five years, continues to authorize Clean Water
SRF assistance to go to NEP projects, and additionally authorizes
assistance to go to certain watershed projects. Among the
11 amendments adopted, one applies Davis-Bacon wage requirements
to all SRF projects, and another changes the state SRF allocation
formulas. On March 20, the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee passed companion legislation--H.R. 3930, the Water
Quality Financing Act of 2002. Both bills address funding
of priority projects, which could have the impact of directing
additional SRF resources to NEP projects.
**
In addition, on April 25, 2002, the Senate EPW Committee
passed S. 975, the Community Character Act that would provide
$25 million of grants a year for fiscal years 2002-2006
to states, tribes and local governments for land-use planning.
During the same markup, the Committee also passed S. 1079,
the Brownfields Site Redevelopment Assistance Act that would
provide up to $60 million in grants for fiscal years 2002-2006.
**
EPA Solicits Comments on FY 2003 Proposed Targeted Watersheds
Project: EPA has proposed a $21 million Targeted Watersheds
Project in its FY 2003 budget. On May 23, 2002, EPA provided
notice and request for comments in the Federal Register
on the potential design of its proposed watershed competitive
grants program. Comments are due by July 8, 2002. The notice
is available at:
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2002/May/Day-23/w12968.htm.
NEP
NEWS
MANATEE-FRIENDLY
NEIGHBORHOODS WANTED- Tampa Bay area neighborhoods that
help to promote manatee protection can now earn special
recognition for their efforts through an innovative program
developed by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program's Manatee
Awareness Coalition (MAC).
The
"Manatee-Friendly Neighborhood" program honors
communities that complete activities to educate their residents
about manatees and the seagrass habitats they depend upon.
Activities range from posting manatee caution signs on a
percentage of neighborhood docks, to conducting neighborhood
monofilament line cleanups, to supplying nearby boating
businesses with boater's guides and other informational
materials
to their patrons. Neighborhood Manatee Watch is an extension
of the existing boater-oriented Manatee Watch program administered
by Tampa BayWatch and coordinated by the MAC.
Washington
State's Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team (Action
Team) issued its third biennial report on the health of
the Sound, Puget Sound's Health 2002. The report
analyzed data for 19 indicators to help determine whether
the Sound's health is getting better or worse. Eight of
the 19 indicators showed
Puget Sound's health is getting better; two measurements
showed the Sound's health is getting worse; three were mixed;
four documented continued concerns about persistent toxic
contamination problems; and two were new indicators about
nearshore habitats. The Action Team concluded that overall,
the quality of water, the health of some marine animals
and other factors signaled improvement in the health of
Puget Sound. However, other indicators or measures of the
Sound's health warned of concerns for the overall ecosystem.
You may view Puget Sound's Health 2002 on the Internet
at: www.wa.gov/puget
_sound or call (800) 54-SOUND.
The
New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program awarded
$37,200 in small grants to encourage citizen participation
in protecting and restoring the estuary. The HEP Public
Involvement and Education Mini-grant Program, established
in 1991 during development of the CCMP, was last offered
in 1994. This year fifty-five organizations applied
for up to $4000 in funding to address the concerns identified
in the CCMP: habitat and living resources, toxics, dredged
material management, pathogens, floatable debris, nutrient
and organic enrichment, rainfall-induced discharges, and
public involvement and education. Among the efforts
being funded are a series of estuary-focused teacher training
workshops, a homeowners' guide to reducing non-point source
pollution, a 6th grade storm-drain marking project, and
a volunteer clean-up project to remove debris and restore
a tidal marsh.
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The Maryland Coastal Bays Program has helped facilitate
another 1,600 acres of protected area in and around the
coastal bays watershed through the state's Rural Legacy
program. The Rural Legacy Area helps connect some 30,000
acres of protected lands in the southern coastal bays watershed.
On Friday, April 26, 2002, EPA Region IV Administrator Jimmy
I. Palmer, Jr. joined with Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama
and representatives from government, industry, business,
environmental interest groups, and municipal officials in
Mobile, Alabama in a ceremony to announce US EPA Administrator
Christine Todd Whitman's approval of the Mobile Bay NEP's
CCMP. A major accomplishment for the South Alabama area,
the Mobile Bay CCMP contains some 29 action items geared
toward environmental initiatives in and around the estuary.
The Governor put the plan into action by announcing a $5.9
million restoration plan along Battleship Parkway, aka "the
Causeway". Opening sections of this land bridge would
help to restore hydrologic conditions between the Tensaw
Delta and Mobile Bay proper.
The
Center for the Inland Bays (Delaware Inland Bays
Estuary Program) would like to announce that Eric H. Buehl
has joined its program as the Habitat Coordinator. Mr. Buehl
was previously employed with the Sussex Conservation District
where he was District Coordinator. He began his employment
with the District in 1990 under the Sediment and Stormwater
program.
As
part of our on-going education and outreach program, the
San Francisco Estuary Project (SFEP) participated
in two festivals in the Bay Area to celebrate Earth Day.
On April 17, the City of Oakland sponsored a fair in its
City Center, in which SFEP had a booth. The EPA's Wetlands
posters were the hit of the fair. The other big event was
the Berkeley Bay Festival, on April 27. SFEP was part of
a large contingent of various environmental organizations,
both non-profits and regional and state agencies. The Coast
Guard provided free boat rides on their patrol boats, State
Fish and Game brought aquaria full of native fish and other
estuarine creatures, and every booth had an interactive
project for the kids.
MEETINGS
& CONFERENCES
Call
for Presentations! The Inaugural National
Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration
will be held April 13-16, 2003, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Restore America's Estuaries will host the conference, to
be held at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor Hotel. This will
be the first nationwide forum focused solely on the goals
and practices of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration.
Incorporating the non-profit, government, business and academic
sectors, the Conference will enable networking and communication
throughout this growing movement. Visit www.estuaries.org
for more conference information and the full "Call
for Presentations." Session proposals are due by September
13, 2002
