Meeting Notes - October 19, 1999

Mid-Atlantic Federal Partners for the Environment (MAFPE)

Hosted by US Geological Survey

Reston, Virginia

MOU Resigning

Members of the Executive Committee signed the Memorandum of Understanding. The document now has 13 signatures. EPA will obtain one more signature, now that the Federal Highway Administration has agreed to join the partnership. USGS released a press release on October 25 announcing the MOU signing and work that the federal partners will pursue. To obtain a copy of the press release and view a photo of the MOU signing access USGS= Internet web page at: http://www.usgs.gov.

Discussion of Opportunities for Inter-agency Collaboration

At the June 15, 1999 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Federal Partners, the executive committee members agreed that the group needed to determine specific projects/areas of focus where their inter-agency collaboration could be most effective. The executive committee named representatives to form a workgroup, and charged the workgroup with identifying projects that could benefit from multi-agency involvement. The group, led by Jeff Underwood of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, under took a process for identifying projects and determining the best opportunities for multi-agency collaboration.

On October 19, Jeff facilitated the discussion of five proposals the workgroup had developed and recommended for the executive committee=s consideration and selection:

- Effects of Urban Sprawl on Environmental Quality in the Mid-Atlantic Region

- Assessment of Remote-Sensing Application Issues in the Delaware River Basin and

Delaware Estuary

- Geohydrologic Assessment of Large‑Scale Surface Coal Mining

-Anthracite Initiative

-The Delaware River Basin Pilot: A Test of the Framework for Environmental

Monitoring and Related Research (FEMR)

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Oct. 19, 1999 Meeting Notes

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During the discussion, the partners agreed that they needed to show measurable results, that their multi-agency efforts should be a public investment, and that the projects need to have a high profile. An additional suggestion surfaced and was proposed by EPA. Several of the agencies agreed that Habitat Restoration and Remediation could be a beneficial addition to the existing proposals presented by the workgroup. It was also agreed that the NY/NJ Harbor offered opportunities for a collaborative project to be implemented and that the options should be explored further. The NPS, ACE, NRCS and FWS were supportive to the suggestion. EPA is in the process of working with several other agencies to identify areas that would benefit best from this effort. Following the proposal presentations, the executive committee members discussed their viewpoints and reached a decision:

The group came to consensus on a two-tier approach for implementing all the proposed projects. First, the partners will lend their support and involvement to two projects considered to be tier one B (1) Effects of Urban Sprawl, and (2) Habitat Restoration/Remediation for the New York-New Jersey Harbor and Hudson River. The other four proposals were identified as tier two projects, meaning that each federal agency will have the option of participating in work relating to any of the four projects, based on each agency=s interest and potential level of involvement.

Action Item: The lead agency(ies) that submitted each proposal will follow-up by establishing inter-agency teams to further explore the projects and determine specific priorities and areas for work. Each participating agency will identify how and what it can contribute to the work efforts. Once the projects have been further defined, each team will be expected to present an update to the executive committee at the next meeting in January 2000.

Working Lunch Discussion

Outcome of discussion:

- Partners agreed to meet on a quarterly basis;

- The agenda should be discussed openly prior to the meeting. Multi-agency input is essential;

- EPA will organize and host the next meeting to be held in late January;

- We will invite the participation of the River Navigators working in the Mid-Atlantic region;

- We will take advantage of the two e-mail listserves created for this group to improve communications between the federal partners. Any of the members can use the listserves: mafpex@usgs.gov (contains only the executive committee members) and mafpe@usgs.gov

(contains the agency representatives only);

- We will solicit the involvement of other federal agencies such as Department of Defense agencies, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Transit Administration (letter sent by EPA R3 to FTA in August; awaiting response. EPA Region 2 also did outreach to other federal agencies such as DOE, HUD and DOH; awaiting response).

- At this time, we will not pursue the development of a regional newsletter as a communications tool. Instead, we will find out whether a mechanism exists at the national level for reporting on our progress and success, and will suggest that the national communications team consider a newsletter to showcase CWAP;

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- EPA will remain as the liaison between this federal partners group and the national steering committee and action teams. Of the two EPA CWAP coordinators, Terri White, the coordinator for EPA R3, will be the staff-level contact. A senior executive from EPA R3 or R2 will be named soon to serve as the other POC.

Action Item: EPA will plan for next meeting in late January 2000 and will offer three tentative dates. New York=s Liberty State Park was offered as a location, but subsequent to the meeting, it was suggested that the partners choose another location. Liberty State Park may not be the ideal place to hold a winter meeting. The NJ State Aquarium in Camden or the EPA Federal building in NY are two possible options.

CWAP Priorities

Judy Troast of the Bureau of Reclamation presented information on three upcoming CWAP activities which would involve the regional federal coordination teams (FCTs):

- CWAP=s key action #108 which calls for a National Watershed Forum. Regional Watershed Roundtables would be held to engage diverse stakeholders in a dialogue on community-based watershed protection and restoration. The regional roundtables would lead up to the National Watershed Forum to be held in 2001. There is $15K available to hold a roundtable in the Mid-Atlantic region. Although other roundtables have been held recently with local watershed groups in this region, the federal partners have the option of endorsing another roundtable or using the funds to support follow-up activities related to some of the previous roundtables.

- The national Watershed Framework Action Team=s recommendation to establish Regional Watershed Assistance Coordinators (WACs) as a resource to local watershed groups. Regional WACs would assist local groups in identifying and accessing federal assistance for watershed-related restoration and protection. The WAC position could be funded by one of the regional federal agencies.

- CWAP=s key action #102 which calls for a Year 2000 Watershed Restoration Progress Report. The report will include information on the Unified Watershed Assessment/Watershed Restoration Action Strategy process, and the progress in implementing other related key actions of the CWAP. The report will go to the President, the nation=s governors, tribal leaders, and the public. Information represented in this report will reflect the multi-agency efforts under CWAP.

Action Item: EPA will provide summaries on the other roundtables held with local watershed groups in the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Basin, Roanoke, Virginia areas, the New York/New Jersey Harbor, the Great Lakes and others. Based on this information and follow-up discussion at the next meeting, the partners will decide whether to endorse holding a roundtable(s) in an area(s) where stakeholders= needs haven=t been addressed. For example,

local groups in parts of New Jersey and New York weren=t included in previous roundtables.

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It’s also been suggested that the previous roundtables and their outcomes have sufficiently met the other important purpose of the regional roundtables B to use the findings to help shape the agenda and planning for the National Watershed Conference in 2001. Therefore, in making their decision, the Mid-Atlantic Partners should consider whether the $15K would be most useful for another roundtable vs. some other related activity as a follow-up to the previous watershed meetings.

Summary/Next Steps

Discussion was brief and focused on what items (in addition to updates on the inter-agency projects) to cover at the January 2000 meeting. We decided that one agenda item should be a discussion of the progress we are making on specific CWAP actions that call for multi-agency involvement. The partners had agreed at the June meeting that this was important to do.

Action Item: EPA will send out a list of 32 CWAP key actions that call for the involvement of four or more federal agencies. In preparation for the January 2000 meeting, each regional agency should prepare a brief summary on what it has done or how it has been involved in those keys actions on the list. Please send the summaries to Terri White at EPA R3 at: white.terri-a@epa.gov by December 20, 1999.

EPA Regional Administrator Mike McCabe had mentioned earlier in the meeting the value of learning about other programs and resources that can support our activities. He noted that the Water Resources Development Act, signed by President Clinton in August 1999, authorizes up to $6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to carry out projects relating to flood control, navigation and various environmental restoration and protection initiatives. He suggested we get the Army Corps to talk to us about the Act and the projects coming along to see how we can link our activities to some of those projects, and benefit from the funding that would be available.

Action Item: Anyone with a suggested agenda topic for the January 2000 meeting should forward it to Cyndy Belz at EPA R2 at: belz.cyndy@epa.gov by December 6, 1999. EPA is proposing January 26 as the date for the next one-day meeting. Alternative dates are January 25 and 27. Please notify Cyndy Belz by December 1, 1999 of your availability on the preferred date of the 26^th, as well as the back-up dates.