State Success Story
The Maine Coastal Program supports municipalities every step of the way, advancing a range of local policy changes that reduce risks to coastal hazards.
The Maine Coastal Program, armed with good data and techniques for mapping coastal hazards, began searching for the best way to help communities understand their risks from storm surge and sea-level rise. "Being a Home Rule state where communities are responsible for land use planning and zoning, we knew that we had to approach this issue from the ground up in each municipality," said Pete Slovinsky, a marine geologist whose position at the Maine Geological Survey is funded by the Maine Coastal Program. With funding from Section 309 of the CZMA, the Maine Coastal Program and Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission launched the first regional working group on sea-level rise in Saco Bay. To learn more, please click here.
Reconstructed homes along the beach in Saco, Maine.
|
At the Agencies
The U.S. EPA has issued a final rule to designate the Eastern Long Island Sound Dredged Material Disposal Site to receive dredged sediment from ports and harbors in Connecticut and New York that has passed stringent testing requirements and for which practicable alternatives are not available. The Eastern Long Island Sound Disposal Site (ELDS) is located immediately to the west of the current New London Disposal Site, entirely in Connecticut state waters. The existing New London Disposal Site will be closing on Dec. 23, 2016.
Read more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today (Nov. 9) issued a request for applications soliciting proposals for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants to fund new projects to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Up to $26 million will be available for grants to state, tribal, interstate and local governmental agencies, institutions of higher learning and other nonprofit organizations. Applications are due Jan. 13, 2017. "The GLRI is getting results in reviving the Midwest's environment and economy," said Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the Administrator. "Investments made under this RFA will support the Great Lakes so the Great Lakes can continue to support us."
A webinar explaining the grant application process will be held at 1 p.m. CST on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. The request for applications and information about applying for GLRI grants is available at
www.epa.gov/great-lakes-funding/great-lakes-restoration-initiative-2016-rfa.
|
In the News
Justin Trudeau announces $1.5B ocean protection plan
.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government's $1.5-billion ocean protection plan in Vancouver today (Nov 7) for responses to tanker and fuel spills in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Trudeau said the funding over five years will include creating a marine safety system, restoring marine ecosystems and research into oil spill cleanup methods. He called it "the most significant investment ever made to protect our oceans and coastlines."
Read more
The first predictions of coastal sea level with warming of two degrees by 2040 show an average rate of increase three times higher than the 20th century rate of sea level rise. These predictions have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America (PNAS) by National Oceanography Centre (NOC) scientists.
Read more
|
In the States and Regions
East Coast
The Shore Protection Board - in Palm Beach - unanimously decided Thursday to recommend that the Town Council pay $100,000 to Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Group for an island-wide "coastal vulnerability evaluation." Woods Hole completed a peer review of the town's long-term coastal protection plan in 2013. The recommendation from the shore board and town staff comes weeks after a close brush with Hurricane Matthew highlighted concerns about flooding, especially from a potential storm surge along the town's Lake Worth Lagoon shoreline, where officials say the town is most vulnerable.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a 30-day public notice to announce its intention to perform maintenance dredging of the Saco River Federal Navigation Project. The public notice is intended to provide information and seek comments about the Army Corp's proposal and project plan.
Read more
Gulf Coast
Terrebonne Parish is closer to getting a permit to begin seeking bids for the Falgout Canal Floodgate in Dularge. Parish President Gordy Dove said the draft permits from the state have been received and the project is now waiting on approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Read more
West Coast and Pacific Islands
Ocean Shores residents and property owners last week were given their first full public review of a comprehensive update to the state's Shoreline Master Plan that establishes new designations and guidelines for development and future uses for anything on the city's large inventory of waterfront property.
Read more
Great Lakes
Grants from the Milwaukee-based Fund for Lake Michigan have helped create over 800 news jobs in Wisconsin and boosted property values by $131 million, according to a new report. The study from the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater also showed $65 million in added economic activity from grants delivered by the fund in its first five years.
"Money invested through the Fund for Lake Michigan is an investment in the community, and our analysis shows the return on that investment is extremely high," said Russ Kashian, UW-Whitewater professor of economics and lead author of the study.
Read more
|
Announcements & More
Restore America's Estuaries 2016 Summit
SAVE THE DATE
for the
8th National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration in New Orleans - December 10 -15 , 2016. For more information about the summit, please click here. To register, please visit: https://rae-tcs-summit.org/registration/add
Seven of our National Marine Sanctuaries are looking to fill seats on their advisory councils.
These are community - based groups whose insight guides management decisions and community relations for each sanctuary site. Candidates are selected based on expertise and experience in relation to the particular role for which they are applying, as well as relevant community or professional affiliations. More information is available here as well as complete list of available positions. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016.
EPA Releases Best Practices Guide for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
EPA published a best practices guide and factsheet for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit writers, pretreatment coordinators, and industry professionals with recommendations for how to better address toxic and hazardous chemical discharges from industry to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The best practices document describes sources of information that NPDES permit writers and pretreatment coordinators can use to identify discharges of toxic and hazardous chemicals that may affect the integrity of the POTW infrastructure as well as the quality of the POTW's effluent and biosolids. The factsheet helps to inform industry of hazardous waste reporting requirements under the pretreatment regulations.
Read more
OneNOAA Science Seminars, 2016
Date & Time: November 17, 2016 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET
Date & Time: November 30, 2016 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET
Seminars are open to the public. For remote access, location, abstracts and more, visit the OneNOAA Science Seminar Calendar at:
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/seminars/
Seminars are posted in Eastern Time and subject to changes without notice; please check the web page for the latest seminar updates.
Events & Webinars
November 16 -19, 2016
December 7, 2016
December 10 -15, 2016
January 25 - 26, 2017
February 6 -9, 2017 - Early registration ends on November 23
March 14 - 16, 2017
May 9 - 11, 2017
May 31- June 2, 2017
|
|
|
|
|
|
