Publications:
ANEP Update

October 2002

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Appropriations for NEP: On October 9, 2002, the House Appropriations Committee marked up the FY2003 VA/HUD Appropriations bill and provided $23.5 million for the National Estuary Program, or one million more than the FY2002 enacted level of $22.5 million (See House Report 107-740).  (NOTE: These numbers do not reflect recent EPA accounting changes that increased the FY2002 enacted level to $24.5 million).  Congress has adjourned for the November elections, and will reconvene on Tuesday, November 12.  Before leaving town, Congress passed a sixth continuing resolution which funds the EPA at FY2002 levels through November 22^nd.  It is still unclear whether or not Congress will pass an individual VA/HUD bill, or roll all the 11 remaining appropriations bills into one Omnibus Appropriations bill.
 
Invasive Species Legislation Introduced: On September 18, 2002, several invasive species bills were introduced in Congress.  Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) introduced H.R. 5396, the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act (NAISA) of 2002; Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced H.R. 5395, the Aquatic Invasive Species Research Act; and, Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a companion bill, S .2964.  It is unlikely any action will occur on these bills before the end of the 107^th Congress.

Highlights of NAISA include: establishes a mandatory national ballast water management program for all ships visiting U.S. ports; strengthens the Great Lakes ballast water management program; establishes minimum requirements for all ships; expands the Aquatic Nuisance Species task force membership and responsibilities; and, authorizes a total of $341 million for FYs 2003-2007. 

Coastal and Estuary Land Protection Act Passes Committee:  On September 19, 2002, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed S. 2608, the Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act.  S. 2608 amends the CZMA and authorizes $60 million a year for NOAA to create a Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection program.  Under the program, States, NERR units, and their partners can apply for grants that are competitively awarded to acquire sensitive or threatened coastal lands.  The bill report states the program is needed because there is no existing federal program that provides funding for conservation of coastal or estuarine lands, or for coordinating coastal conservation partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, private landowners, and non-profit organizations.  The report also states that partnership programs that protect coastal lands by purchasing them from a willing seller can be a cost-effective means of providing areas with permanent protection from development, and such programs are strongly supported by coastal States, which work with private land trusts and others to protect coastal property around the nation.  This program will focus specifically on protection of coastal and estuarine areas experiencing escalating coastal development pressures. The program is modeled after the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program, which provides grants to States to protect environmentally important forests threatened by conversion.

For further information contact Carrie Jelsma at 301-493-0003 or carriejelsma@aol.com.

NEP NEWS

On November 7, 2002, the Mass. Bays Program will present our annual Stephan Gersh Volunteer Stewardship Award to Mr. Joe James of Revere, a volunteer in his 70s who has greatly contributed to environmental efforts for many years in the Rumney Marsh area, which covers the towns of Revere and Saugus in our Metro Boston region.   Joe is the founding director of the Saugus River Watershed Council, which has done some great work in a challenging urban environment. 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Galveston Bay Estuary Program held a celebration honoring National Estuaries Day and the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Over one hundred-fifty invited guests attended the event, which was held outdoors at a local nature center. Guests included the Galveston Bay Council members, regional stakeholders, and agency staff from Austin, Texas.  Local government officials, city personnel, conservation groups and neighboring schools also attended.                            

October 3 - 5, 2002 marked the calendar for this year's 2002 celebration of National Estuaries Day, the beginning of a new partnership between NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System and EPA's National Estuary Program.  Live estuary tours were hosted by the following National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs) and National Estuary Programs (NEPs): Padilla Bay NERR and Puget Sound NEP in WA; South Slough NERR and the Tillamook Bay and Lower Columbia River NEPs in OR; Charlotte Harbor NEP and Rookery Bay NERR in FL; the North Inlet-Wynah Bay NERR in SC; Rachel Carson NEER and Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds NEP in NC; Jacques Cousteau NERR and Barnegat Bay NEP in NJ; and (by pre-recorded video and telephone interview due to hurricane conditions) the Barataria-Terrebonne NEP, LA; Chesapeake Bay NERR in MD, and EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program. One of 15 Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers designated by the Coastal America partnership and the National Aquarium in Baltimore (highlighting their Chesapeake Bay Conservation program) also participated. The purpose of National Estuaries Day is to promote the importance of estuaries and the need to protect them. For more information, please check out the www.estuaries.gov website.

On October 19th, the Center for the Inland Bays (Delaware Inland Bays Estuary Program) held an open house/social event at the James Farm Ecological Preserve to raise awareness and funds to support activities at the 150-acre CIB-managed property.   The open house event featured environmental displays, and seminars focusing on shellfish, water quality monitoring and horseshoe crabs.  Following the open house, an all-you-can-eat pig roast was held which attracted more than 100 hungry (and thirsty) guests. 

On September 27^th and 28^th nearly 600 students and volunteers gathered for the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership's second annual Test Fest and monitored the water quality of the main stem lower Columbia River and tributary streams in both Oregon and Washington.  The Estuary Partnership has received water quality information on over 120 sites throughout the study area.

The 3^rd annual Kids for the Columbia Jubilee took place on September 22, 2002 on Sauvie Island.  An estimated 400 people attended this Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership event, which featured hands-on children's activities including a dressing for camp relay, water filer race, and a treasure hunt.  John Farrell, award-winning performing artist wowed audiences with songs including "Habitat, Habitat" and "Rock 'n Roll for Mother Earth."  John also sang a brand new song, "Kids for the Columbia". A fund raising campaign was launched, for an education van, and about a third of the goal was raised that evening!                        

	Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner talks water quality with Coastal Bays technical coordinator Carol Cain.

The ANEP/NEP/EPA National Conference, co-hosted by the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and the Delaware Inland Bays Program was held in Ocean City, Maryland on October 15-18, 2002.  Estuary program directors, staff, and interested citizens from around the nation gathered to exchange information on invasive species, funding, education, and habitat restoration.  DE Governor Ruth Ann Minner, along with other DE officials, spoke to the meeting participants about water quality issues at a Public Policy Forum luncheon in Dewey Beach, DE. Conference participants enjoyed the choice of a boat tour, a kayak trip, or a walking interpretive tour of Assateague Island.  During the Thursday night crab feast the ANEP Minstrels led the group in fantastic music and dancing. 

Happy 30^th Birthday to the Clean Water Act - The timing of the ANEP/NEP/EPA conference was good because this month marked the 30th anniversary of their landmark law. Established with reauthorization of the Clean Water Act in 1987, the National Estuary Program came about as a result of serious fisheries and habitat declines in the nations' estuaries. By setting up citizen-based, bottom-up planning, the ambitious chapter brought about a new shift in how America's waters and watersheds would be protected. The 1987 reauthorization followed the original passage in 1972.  The act established what today is the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants in the United States. This structure included oversight of wetland protection, sewage treatment, navigation rules, point source discharges, oil pollution, ocean dumping, reef protection, water monitoring and estuary restoration. When Ohio's Cuyahoga River burst into flames in 1969, it became the poster child for just how badly a few could violate the public trust. Thirty years later, one-third of our waterways are unsafe for swimming or fishing versus two-thirds in 1972.  Ironically, industry is no longer the primary polluter of our estuaries. The masses that live, work, and build near the estuaries are the primary polluters. We are loving our estuaries to death.  For its anniversary, we should remember the tools the Clean Water Act gave us to allow us to get where we are today.  We must recognize that the last leg of the trip belongs to us, the citizens of this great country.

NEPs featured in Estuaries article - A summary of eutrophication effects in NEP estuaries, based on the NEPs' responses at the San Francisco NEP meeting several years ago and results of a survey of NEP estuarine managers, are featured in an article in the latest issue of Estuaries.  The article, entitled "Local, State, Regional and Federal Roles in Coastal Nutrient Management" is co-authored by Tampa Bay Estuary Program scientist Holly Greening and Chris Elfring, of the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council.  The article is one of 19 included in a dedicated Estuaries issue, Volume 25- 4B, on Nutrient Over-enrichment in Coastal Waters: Global Patterns of Cause and Effect.  If you would like a reprint of the article, please contact Holly at hgreening@tbep.org.

The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program will host its second annual Back to the Bayou paddling trip down historic Bayou Lafourche November 1-5, 2002.  The 5-day adventure begins at the bayou's origin at the Mississippi River, and ends in the coastal town of Larose, 65 miles from the origin, and 40 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.  Camping is available each night, and entertainment and food are offered each evening.  Entertainment will range from a photography workshop by esteemed author and wildlife photographer C.C. Lockwood, to storytelling by author Ken Wells, and Cajun French lessons by a local family.