Transcript Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean

Mid-Atlantic Regional Council
on the Ocean (MARCO)
Presented to the
62nd Annual Interstate Seafood Seminar
Bob Connell
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Water Monitoring & Standards
What is the Council’s Goal
To successfully address the challenges facing our
coastal waters, the Governors of New York, New
Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia have
committed to a new comprehensive, regional
approach, creating the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Council on the Ocean.
Our five states will work to maintain and improve
the health of our ocean and coastal resources,
and ensure that they continue to contribute to
the high quality of life and economic vitality of
our region’s communities well into the future.
Priorities
Our 5 States will work together to develop a set of shared
actions to address these priorities:
• Protection of important habitats and sensitive and unique
offshore areas on a regional scale.
• Promote improvements in the region’s coastal water
quality as a necessary focal point for regional action.
• A regional approach to support the sustainable
development of renewable energy in offshore areas.
• Prepare the region’s coastal communities for the impacts
of climate change on ocean and coastal resources.
Habitat
• Secure federal action to
protect key habitats and
identify emerging threats.
Lead: New York
• Improve data sharing and
management to address
critical information gaps and
reduce redundancy across
data-collection efforts.
Lead: Virginia
• Secure reliable funding and
other resources to sustain
regional and federal
coordination efforts.
Lead: Virginia
Water Quality
• Call for changes to federal legislation
that will help to improve water quality
and to re-engage the federal
government in addressing water quality
issues.
Lead: Maryland.
• Identify key water quality and
ecosystem assessment regional
information gaps, and develop
strategies to address them.
Lead: New Jersey
• Identify region-wide efforts to control
marine debris and floatables.
Lead: New Jersey.
• Explore non-point source pollution as a
regional water quality issue needing
further coordination.
Lead: Maryland.
Offshore
Renewable Energy
• Remove unnecessary Federal &
State barriers to the appropriate
development of offshore renewable
energy development.
Lead: Delaware.
• Proactively investigate and
provide for future needs, funding
options, best practices, and
innovative research and
development.
Lead: Delaware.
• Integrate renewable energy siting concerns into the data
management and comprehensive offshore mapping effort
underway for the MARCO habitat protection goal.
Climate Change
• Work with the federal government to
promote adaptation and, where
appropriate, integrate climate change
and sea level rise planning measures
into federal policies and programs.
Lead: New Jersey.
• Address data gaps for assessing
regional vulnerability.
Lead: New Jersey and Delaware
• Facilitate a climate change and sea level rise information exchange
between States.
Lead: Maryland.
• Develop consistent communications and messaging to convey the
information on climate change impacts to the public.
Lead: Delaware.
Stakeholder Conference
Mid-Atlantic Ocean Conservation:
Building Partnerships to Take Action
December 9-10, 2009, New York City
Sponsored by the
MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL COUNCIL ON THE OCEAN
A Partnership in Ocean Conservation
MARCO Summit
A Partnership in Ocean Conservation
December 9 - 10, 2009
Attendees by State
Attendees by Interest
Greatest Concern
Other
Climate Change
Offshore Renewable Energy
Habitat Protection
Water Quality
Can't choose
0%
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Water Quality
Opportunities
1. Linking water quality to habitat
restoration and protection: sea grass
and shellfish beds (53%)
2. Redefining standards and indicators to
include both human and biological health
criteria (41%)
3. Improve storm water and waste water
management and infrastructure (35%)
Water Quality
Opportunities
4. MARCO actions: legislation, public
educational opportunities, influence state
coordination, link stakeholders, data
sharing, build capacity, portal for
information sharing, leverage resources
(28%)
Water Quality
Challenges
1. Effectively addressing threats such as invasives, sea level rise,
and marine debris (plastics); aging sewerage systems and CSOs
to coastal and ocean water quality (46%)
2. Addressing lagoon and coastal bays as well as ocean waters and
land-based sources of pollution to them (36%)
3. Enforcement of water quality regulations; use of existing authorities
(32%)
4. Building capacity/consensus locally for smart development and
infrastructure changes (32%)
5. Better and more consistent monitoring, assessment, data collection
and analysis (site specific and regional) (29%)
MACOORA
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Regional
Association (MACOORA)
• One of eleven regional associations in the
United States focused on ocean observing.
• Represents a partnership of marine and
estuarine data providers and users from state and
federal agencies, private industry, nongovernmental institutions and academia.
State & Federal Representatives
MARCO Water Quality
• NJ – Leslie McGeorge, NJ
Dept. Env. Protection
• EPA R2 – Janice Rollwagan &
Mario DelVicario
• NY – Kenneth Smith, NY Dept
of State
• EPA R3 – Renee Searfoss
• USGS – Eric Vowinkel
• DE – John Schneider, DE
Dept. Water Resources
• MD – Bruce Michael, MD DNR
• VA - Ellen Gillinsky, VA DEQ
• NOAA – Rob Magnien
• MACOORA – Judith
Krauthamer & Bob Tudor
For more information:
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean
www.midatlanticocean.org
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Region Association
www.macoora.org
Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System
http://www.marcoos.us