Mid-Atlantic Federal Partners for the Environment Meeting 5-13-02

William Muszynski welcomed two new agencies, NOAA and FAA. He indicated the importance of federal agencies working together to complete common goals and objectives and mentioned that all the people in the room need to come together to overcome barriers that prevent agencies from collaborating on common goals and objectives. He also added that in the future, it will be important to expand federal partnerships.

Mike Castle, Associate Regional Administrator, Region 3, indicated that MAFPE can accomplish many tasks. By working together the federal partners can leverage assets and administer efficient programs that achieve environmental results. In order for MAFPE to be successful will require communication and participation of senior leadership. Although Smart Growth has been the focus of MAFPE, clearly other environmental problems could be handled within a MAFPE framework.

(2) Opening Remarks

James Connaughton, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality, applauded the Cooper River success story. He said that success stories like Cooper River, need to be multiplied across the nation. He stated that it is important to innovate where necessary in the regulatory process, while encouraging partnerships. Several points were important: public - private stewardship; service and expertise delivery to the public; innovation; science-based decision making/risk management; regional public involvement; and environmental management systems. He indicated the importance of localities, states and regions. He indicated that NEPA should reflect more of a living process or more of an evolutionary approach. Other important programs include: Brownfields; conservation activities under the Farm Bill; Watershed activities through Coastal America; and the Clean Skies program.

(3) Rutgers University Urban Growth Projects

Richard Harris, Director, Rutgers University Urban Growth Projects, spoke of the importance of revitalizing Camden New Jersey in the context of Smart Growth. He provided a numerous statistics that characterize Camden as one of the most disadvantaged cities in the country. He indicated the importance of bringing people back to the City of Camden. He stated that the State Plan did not have much strength and added that it is important to make the connection between urban decay and loss of farmland and mentioned the importance of developing cooperative and regional solutions.

Rutgers would like to work with EPA to see how Brownfields money can leverage revitalization efforts in Camden, New Jersey. Perhaps EPA could arrange a special meeting in Camden, New Jersey to capture the specific needs of the city.

(4) History of MAFPE Mission and Success

Dave Russ, U.S. Geological Survey, indicated that a significant amount of business has been conducted through partnerships. Much work has been accomplished through committees and MOAs. Activities have focused on Smart Growth/sprawl, NY/NJ Harbor, Coastal America activities, Delaware River Basin and an anthracite initiative. The selection of these projects has been on a consensus basis. He wondered whether the Executive Committee may want to focus on additional activities in the Western portion of the region?

There was also a discussion about how effective the existing business model has been to achieve results and what, if any, new goals the new senior leadership might hope to accomplish through MAFPE? There was some discussion of the difficulty in developing a concrete agenda of issues to be discussed on a regular basis. Senior leadership support and participation is critical to achieve results. Some suggested that senior leadership needs to be brought together more frequently, while others suggested that it was only important whether the MAFPE was getting work done. Some suggested that MAFPE efforts to date have put more stress on existing financial and staff resources. Because of this it is importance to get clear guidance on which projects the Executive Committee wants to support. The Executive Committee has not systematically surveyed the states to identify where coordination problems exist between federal partners. Agencies should be allowed to flexibly work together on projects that inspire their interests yet it was mentioned that all of the agencies do not have to work together all of the time. As a result of the Farm Bill, private land conservation funding will go up a huge amount. This will lead to an enormous implementation challenge. Agencies should participate on State Technical Committees.

(5) Coastal America Program

Virginia Tippie, Coastal America Director, talked about the importance of partnerships. She highlighted that it is important to have a mechanism to facilitate partnerships. Coastal America is a partnership of multiple federal agencies. She described the organizational structure of Coastal America. She discussed the Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers and Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnerships. A question was raised whether the Camden Aquarium could become a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center?

(6) Habitat Restoration

Roselle Henn, Team Leader, Army Corps of Engineers, provided an overview of a number of restoration activities of interest to COE.

(7) Update on the Watershed Roundtables and National Forum

Joe Piotrowski, EPA Region 3, discussed the Watershed Forum that was held in Arlington, Virginia. A report is available from the event, which provides eight recommendations. Within the Watershed Roundtables, stakeholders have identified the importance of a clearinghouse and one-stop Internet site for local watershed groups. Business supposedly wants an opportunity to collaborate in a non-regulatory environment. Joe asked whether MAFPE could assist in identifying good candidate projects for a $21 million initiative targeted at watersheds?

When pursuing a watershed based approach it was stated that frequently agencies do measure outcomes. It would be useful to select a watershed, where there is USGS baseline monitoring data so that it is possible to tell whether any short-term or long-term results are being achieved.

(8) Smart Growth Committee Report

Dave Reynolds, National Park Service, talked about the activities of this Committee. They have 4-6 meetings per year. There are 19 members from six Federal agencies. They see themselves as providing advice that assists others in creating livable, sustainable communities and protecting natural resources. The Committee, particularly EPA and USGS, invested a lot of time in a Science Workshop and Urban Growth in the Mid-Atlantic Region Workshop. These events tried to: prioritize urban growth information needs of local, state and federal agencies for the public; educate federal partners on land use planning processes and resource management done by local jurisdictions; and develop an information science plan.

Dave Reynolds indicated that MAFPE needed additional staff time. He thought the best way that MAFPE could help local jurisdictions was through the provisioning of information. There was a discussion on whether MAFPE should have local and state representation. Some suggested contacting the Governors to see if there was any interest in having state participation. Some suggested that MAFPE events be linked to other meetings, such as the League of Municipalities. A participant asked whether there were any reports that show the impact of federal policies on land use? Some studies were mentioned related to federal housing policy and mortgage policies. A handout was provided on the new goals for which the agencies should get back to either David Reynolds or Ernie Brunson by June 15.

(9) Delaware River Basin Activities

Richard Birdsey, Program Manager, Global Change Research, USDA Forest Service, talked about the importance of monitoring at different scales as related to resource use. He talked about the importance of interagency collaboration when it comes to GIS or data management.

(10) Wetland Loss in Jamaica Bay

John Hnedak, National Park Service, spoke about dealing with wetland losses in Jamaica Bay. They need GIS information on Jamaica Bay. He asked how could MAFPE work with the Jamaica Bay? Where can the NPS get clean sediment? Can the COE provide clean sediment for NPS projects? This would save money since apparently the NPS is purchasing clean sediment at the moment.

(11) Federal Aviation Administration Presentation

Many Weiss for Ms. Arlene Feldman, FAA Regional Administrator, spoke of Air 21. This legislation mandates that FAA streamline the environmental review process so more runways can be added to air transportation systems. Airports seem to be operated by local airport transportation officials. FAA is a granting organization. The airport has the actual responsibility to install energy saving devices. FAA agreed to host a future MAFPE event and airport tour. FAA also suggested that members take information on MAFPE to all conferences and expos that they attend and support the partnership to their audiences.

(12) Participation of Non-federal Stakeholders

This section revolved around a discussion on whether non-federal partners should be present at MAFPE meetings. It was agreed that it was critical to involve local stakeholders. It was not clear on how to accomplish this level of involvement. Some stated that speakers should be invited to MAFPE events. Some stated that by inviting additional participants that MAFPE could become unwieldy. However, without states the program is probably going nowhere. If MAFPE invites non-federal participants, then this could lead to FACA issues. It was agreed to find out how the New England partners invited local and non-federal stakeholders to participate. Perhaps MAFPE could have a large event 1x per year for non-federal stakeholders, while the rest of the year could be the normal separate MAFPE meetings. How do people even know about MAFPE at this moment? It was agreed to send a letter to the State Governors that explains the existence of the group.

Wrap-up & Next Steps

USDA Forest Service, Northeast Area, agreed to coordinate the next session of MAFPE. It will take place in the Philadelphia or Wilmington area. If someone has an idea for a tour this should be arranged. FAA will host another event after the USDA event.

Agreed to charge the business group to look at the way MAFPE is organized. Look at how other similar groups are organized.

Agreed that the Business Group will be charged with drafting a memo to the Governors to explain the group and get MAFPE engaged with elected officials (determine what we can do for them, ie: interview the new political leadership? Provide incentives to participate?).

Agreed to survey the states to determine their issues

Agreed to develop recommendations for future direction of MAFPE (chairs, rotations, etc.)

Agreed that a specific set of rotating officers should lead MAFPE

Agreed to review new MAFPE goals by June 15, 2002 (Where do we want to go from here?).

Agreed that FAA will host a future MAFPE event and provide an airport tour.

Agreed that Andrew Raddant (DOI) will review and report back on how the New England Federal Partners involved local and non-federal stakeholders.

Agreed to consider a special session with Camden officials. Agreed that a menu of potential actions that can be offered to Camden needs to be put together. MAFPE will follow up with Richard Harris, Rutgers University to identify needs and subsequently explore potential commitments.

Agreed that MAFPE business group would determine how to encourage and include RA level involvement and determine IF they need to be at the meetings to get the work done.

Agreed/Recommended that members take information on MAFPE to all conferences and expos that they attend and support the partnership to their audiences.

Agreed/Recommended that those staff engaged in Smart Growth activities could explore better coordination with key staff of the Ag Team to help to understand sprawl and loss of farm land. Noted: The Farm Bill has severeal provisions that relate to smart growth. Implemention is a challenge. It is important to make the connection between urban decay and loss of farmland and also, to develop cooperative and regional solutions.