LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE
The
Association of National Estuary Programs (ANEP) was
instrumental in achieving the reauthorization of the National
Estuary Program last year, and increasing the authorized
level of funding for the program from $12 million to $35
million. Recently, a letter from more than 60 House members,
led by Representatives Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and Ellen Tauscher,
and a letter from 15 Senators, led by Senators Lincoln
Chafee (R-RI), John Warner (R-VA), Patty Murray (D-WA),
and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), were sent to the relevant House
and Senate appropriations committee chairs with those
signed on strongly urging expanded support of the NEPs.
The Appropriations subcommittees that approve funds for
EPA (and the NEPs) are scheduled to meet to decide appropriations
at the end of June. Tight fiscal constraints have already
led to a four percent decrease in overall funding for
EPA.
NEP
NEWS
San
Francisco Estuary Project - The most comprehensive
study ever conducted on seafood consumption in the San
Francisco Bay Area found that 90 percent of the individuals
who catch and eat fish from the bay do so at levels estimated
to be within the state's recommended health advisory guidelines.
But an equally important finding is that a majority of
anglers have no or only vague awareness of these consumption
guidelines. The study also found that the amount of fish
people consumed did not appear to be influenced by education
levels and income, or whether people fished from the shoreline
or boats. Differences in ethnic background were a more
important factor. Asian and African-American anglers,
in particular, were more likely to eat fish from the bay
in amounts that may increase their health risks. The study
makes several recommendations to address the safety of
eating bay fish:
Under
its charge to help develop the scientific understanding
for better management of the estuary's resources, the
San Francisco Estuary Institute convened a multi-agency
task force to guide the study. The California Department
of Health Services provided the staff to conduct the study.
Over a 12-month period in 1998 and 1999, more than 1,300
anglers were interviewed on piers, shorelines, marinas
and fishing boats, making it the most comprehensive study
about San Francisco Bay anglers conducted so far. For
more information, see http://www.sfei.org/rmp/sfcindex.htm
In
May 2001, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project
and Foundation (SMBRP/F) received the California Environmental
Protection Agency's Program Excellence Award for
its Boater Education Program (BEP) at the Agency's Statewide
Hazardous Waste and Used Oil Conference in Lake Tahoe.
The award acknowledged the SMBRP/F for its innovative
efforts to reach local watercraft owners and also recognized
the BEP as an outstanding model of how programs can communicate
a core of community-specific messages on pollution prevention
and environmental stewardship. Starting with a $21,000
grant in 1996, the BEP has, over the last five years,
secured and leveraged more than $500,000 to implement
a comprehensive boater education agenda. It now targets
boaters in six Southern California counties to receive
information on a wide variety of pollution prevention
issues, and has secured strong partnerships with local,
regional and statewide organizations. To date, over 75,000
boaters in these target counties have directly received
the educational message carried through these program
efforts. For more information on the SMBRP's Boater Education
Program, including details regarding its new video, "Our
Playground, Their World," please contact Miwa Tamanaha
at mtamanah@rb4.swrcb.ca.gov
or call (213) 576-6615.
EPA Administrator Whitman has approved the Comprehensive
Conservation and Management Plan for the Charlotte
Harbor National Estuary Program. Congratulations to
the Director Rudy Rudolph, Maran Hilgendorf, and other
staff for their hard work in developing the plan and continued
progress implementing the specific actions that will restore
and protect this national treasure for years to come.
The
Sarasota Bay National Estuary Program has recently
deployed more than 700 artificial reefballs into Sarasota
Bay. Several young members of the local 4-H club were
on hand to help deploy about 30 reefballs the children
made as part of their service to this community. The reefballs
will be placed in six locations around Sarasota Bay. These
specially designed concrete reefs will serve as nursery
areas and habitat for many kinds of bay life. The reefballs
are designed to improve areas in Sarasota Bay damaged
by dredge and fill operations. Each reefball is about
4 feet by 3 feet and weighs around 400 pounds. They are
made of specially reinforced concrete and are pH-balanced
to fit in the bay environment.
The
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary assisted in
coordinating the Delaware River Sojourn, a week-long paddling
event that began on June 16, in upstate New York, and
finished in the Delaware Estuary on June 23. This year's
sojourn participants paddled the Cohansey and Maurice
Rivers in Cumberland County, NJ. During the last two days,
educational programming was offered on small-town waterfront
revitalization, wetland restoration, and local Cumberland
County folklore. For more information contact Joe Matassino
at jmatassino@delawareestuary.org
or at (800) 445-4935.
CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS/ SYMPOSIUMS
Barataria-Terrebonne
Estuary Program held a workshop entitled " Status
and Trends of Key Indicators for the Barataria-Terrebonne
Estuarine System". BTNEP's challenge at this workshop
was to establish an easily understood and scientifically-valid
suite of indicators that objectively represent 1) the
condition of the BTES ecosystem as it relates to the seven
priority problems in the BTNEP CCMP; and 2) the region's
natural resource-based economy of quality of life. This
workshop was held June 13, 14, 2001.
The
Delaware Estuary Program and the Partnership for the
Delaware Estuary hosted a two-day workshop in Philadelphia
on June 25 and 26 to coordinate the education and outreach
efforts of NEP's across the country. During the first
day, the fourteen NEPs who attended were provided with
the opportunity to present their most successful programs
and to offer advice to the other sites. On the second
day, a facilitated brainstorming session was held in which
all the attendees discussed potential collaborations and
opportunities for regional or national initiatives. For
more information about the workshop, please contact Kathy
Klein at kklein@delawareestuary.org
or at (800) 445-4935.
The
Policy Committee of the New York-New Jersey Harbor
Estuary Program (HEP) approved, as part of its budget,
$15,000 to support a National Estuary Program Habitat
Conference. The HEP Habitat Work Group will organize and
conduct an information-sharing conference focusing on
National Estuary Programs. The aim is to bring together
diverse minds from other NEPs to compare successes and
challenges related to ecological protection, restoration,
and ecosystem health. The two day conference would
review: restoration, monitoring and research; acquisition,
protocols, and implementation; creative programs for habitat
protection; and zoning mechanisms. The funds will
fund publication of abstracts, buses to model sites around
the harbor, administrative materials costs, and food.
The conference dates have not yet been selected.
Other programs interested in cosponsoring or participating
in the conference should contact Marc Matsil, Chair of
the HEP Habitat Work Group, Marc.Matsil@parks.nyc.gov."
