Agenda March 14, 2014 Portsmouth, NH Meeting location is the Portsmouth Public Library: http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/library/about-dir.htm A A g 9:15 e AM n AM 9:30 d a AM 9:45 M a y 3 0 , 10:30 AM 2 0 1 AM 11:15 3 AM 11:30 1:00 PM To participate remotely, call in at 877-680-1673, passcode 1993954 Arrive & Networking Welcome & Introductions Jeff Willis, RI and Mel Cote, EPA NROC Updates Jeff Willis, RI – State Chair The Chair will facilitate the review of updates submitted by NROC Committees, partners and others. Please review items before the meeting. Content: § Committee Update: Executive Committee § Committee Updates: Coastal Hazards Resilience, Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health, and Ocean Planning Partner and Audience Updates § Partner Update: NERACOOS § Partner Update: Sea Grant Consortium § Partner Update: Gulf of Maine Council § Update: New England Federal Partners § Update: North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative Audience updates and comments: Meeting attendees provide updates Regional Science Gaps Andrew Milliken or Rick Bennett, FWS • An update will be given on the effort by NALCC and others to identify regional science gaps. Lunch – local Portsmouth eateries P o r t 2:00 s PM m o u t 2:45PM h , Sandy Comprehensive Study Update and Modeling Effort Lynn Bocamazo, USACE • A general update will be provided on the status of the Sandy Comprehensive Study. • Lynn will present on the Study’s modeling efforts, including what is being done, preliminary results, and how the work can be utilized. 3:30 N PM Closing Business § Discuss Spring meeting dates and topics. H M PM 3:45 e e t i n g Sand Management Working Group Renee Orr, BOEM • Renee will discuss BOEM’s efforts in the area of characterizing federal offshore sand resources, as well as the formation of individual sand management working groups with states. To be followed by a discussion of opportunities for a sub-regional working group. ROP Benefits Andy Lipsky, SeaPlan and Arleen ODonnell, ERG • An overview of the ROP Benefits project and NROC case study results. To be followed by a discussion of recommendations and additional assessment opportunities. Adjourn NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 NROC Updates Committee Update – Executive Committee: NROC Leadership and Delegates Welcome to Jeff Willis (RI) and Mel Coté (EPA) as the new NROC Co-chairs. With this change in leadership came a new EC delegation. Current members of the EC are: Jeff Willis (RI), Bruce Carlisle (MA), Brian Thompson (CT), Mel Coté (EPA), Betsy Nicholson (NOAA), Bob LaBelle (BOEM), and Daniel Hubbard (USCG) (ex officio). The EC meets by teleconference every 2-3 weeks to address routine business and provide guidance to staff. Please see the complete list of state and federal NROC delegates at the end of the briefing packet. NROC MOUs NROC currently has Memoranda of Understanding with three of our partners: NERACOOS, Gulf of Maine Council, and NE Sea Grant Consortium. These MOUs were signed in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. The EC will be working with our partners to review and update the MOUs, with a particular focus on updating the methods of collaboration where necessary. Committee Update – Coastal Hazards Resilience: The Committee has made progress with its latest StormReporter activities. NROC has contracted Blue Urchin consulting to refine the StormReporter web application and update and expand the use of the mobile applications. The Committee is working to develop a Community Rating System Users Group, with participants from Dover, NH, Westerly, RI and Milford, CT - the 3 communities awarded coastal community resilience grants in 2013. The Committee continues its webinar series, focused on sharing the results of the Coastal Community Resilience Grants. The December webinar featured results from Portsmouth, NH and Guilford, CT, with approximately 40 participants. The next webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st and will feature results from Greenwich, CT and Marshfield, MA. The Committee met on February 5 to discuss current workplan activities, hot topics from around the region, and to have a discussion with EPA's Office of Sustainable Communities. Committee Update – Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health: OCEH - 1.1 Initiate the development of a regional climate change sentinel monitoring strategy NROC and NERACOOS are working to together on a joint Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health Committee project to promote the development of an integrated sentinel monitoring for climate change strategy for the northeast region, building on related, ongoing efforts from Long Island Sound to the Gulf of Maine. The goal is to select key parameters and sentinel sites around the region that will be used to measure changes in marine and estuarine ecosystems over time, with a focus on climate change. The initial step will be development of a “science and implementation plan” that includes identification of key variables, processes, and locations for observation. It will also contain a strategy/vision for how data will be managed, synthesized and interpreted, how data will be disseminated to the stakeholders and how the broader public can be engaged. This plan can then be used by NROC and NERACOOS agencies and organizations to develop funding proposals to further develop the strategy, fill in important gaps, and establish a sentinel monitoring network. A steering committee was formed in February 2013 to oversee the development of the Sentinel Monitoring for Climate Change and a strategy to seek funding for its implementation, including establishing pilot projects. The steering committee, which comprises about 12 individuals representing federal and state government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions, held its first meeting on February 4, 2013, in Portsmouth, NH, and has met by conference call on roughly a monthly basis since then. The steering committee helped plan and carry out a kickoff workshop on June 27, 2013, a smaller meeting on October 7, 2013 (in conjunction with the RARGOM meeting on October 8), and another well-attended workshop on January 16, 2014. Accomplishments to date include: • • • • consensus on overarching goals and objectives for the project; participation by approximately 50 individuals on three work groups organized around different habitat types (e.g., pelagic, benthic, and estuarine/near shore); establishment of a Google Docs site to store all project documents in an easily accessible, searchable format; development of criteria for selecting both sentinel sites and indicators (variables); 2 NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 • • development of a meta-database to inventory all current monitoring, observing, and indicator programs in the northeast region that will be hosted by UConn but accessible through the NERACOOS web site, and linked to the NROC site; and submittal of three regional proposals to the NOAA Federal Funding Opportunity to establish a pilot Marine Biological Observing Network (MBON). As discussed at the January 16 workshop, the next steps include each of the working groups entering (and getting others to enter) metadata on current monitoring, observing, and indicators programs into the database, and beginning to compile a list of potential sentinel sites and parameters (or variables) for their respective ecosystem type. The steering committee will recruit some additional working group members to form a writing team that will draft the science and implementation plan for extensive discussion at the next workshop, tentatively scheduled for June 2014. NERACOOS received $28,000 through NOAA’s FY13 FFO for Regional Ocean Partnerships to support the planning effort. OCEH-2.1 Support the marsh migration pilot project In December 2012, in response to a request by its member states, the NROC Ocean and Ecosystem Health Committee sponsored a Marsh Migration Workshop with regional practitioners who are currently engaged in marsh migration assessment projects. After a day of exchanging information, the 40 workshop participants were very vocal about their needs moving forward, which include bridging communication and knowledge transfer between those in attendance (practitioners who use model outputs for policy decisions) and the technical marsh migration modeling community. The next steps based on the workshop participants’ needs have been broken down into three products: (1) a Model Comparison Analysis to assess data gaps and various model’s utility, sensitivity and functionality; (2) a follow-up larger workshop for both model developers and model users to establish collaborations on regional initiatives; and (3) development of guidance material for decisions makers in agencies, organizations, and municipalities who are continually faced with tough choices regarding assessing the future of their coastal marshes. The Gulf of Maine Association received $31,434 through NOAA’s FY13 FFO for Regional Ocean Partnerships and, with technical support from EPA and NOAA staff, just issued a Request for Proposals to carry out the next steps identified above. In the meantime, participants in the December 2012 meeting continue to communicate within their own unofficial “community of practice” to share information, lessons learned and funding opportunities OCEH-2.2: Promote communication and coordination between ecosystem indicator programs EPA’s ORISE Fellow left in November 2013 so no further work has taken place on this particular task regarding the indicators Community of Practice (COP). However, through the sentinel monitoring project described above, all the key agencies and organizations involved in the COP (e.g.,. ESIP, NEERs, NERACOOS) are coordinating to populate the meta-database with information on their respective programs. . OCEH-2.3: Develop an environmental events database The occurrence of environmental and public health events such as eelgrass declines, fish kills, HAB outbreaks, sudden vegetation dieback, shellfish diseases, algae blooms and beach closures are not uncommon in the region, but without a common tracking database to help resource managers and scientists to connect the dots, management, prevention, and research opportunities are missed. This task will develop a work plan and strategy to establish an online regional database to track relevant events and inform coastal managers. This project was budgeted to receive funding in Year 2 of the grant awarded to NROC through NOAA’s FY13 FFO for Regional Ocean Partnerships. Unfortunately, as a result of FY14 budget reductions for ROP grants, there is no funding currently available to complete this project. Committee Update – Ocean Planning: Project Updates: Communications – The RPB and NROC announce the release of www.neoceanplanning.org as the website for all products, documents, events, and other information related to ocean planning. – Ocean planning is now on Twitter @NEOceanPlanning – NROC’s consultant, ERG, is drafting fact sheets for the ocean planning effort, including a simple overview of ocean planning in the northeast and a fact sheet for the commercial fishing mapping project. 3 NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 Public Engagement – NROC recently contracted with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) to support public engagement over the next two years of ocean planning, including supporting public meetings, workshops, and smaller meetings with ocean user groups and environmental organizations about specific topics. CBI will also inform the overall public engagement process design and planning. Government Coordination – An RFP entitled “To Support the Identification of Options to Enhance Inter-Agency Coordination, Public Input, and the Use of Data in Decision Making” closed on January 27, 2014. A decision will be made shortly on the preferred contractor. – Work stemming from this RFP will be a priority leading up to the next RPB meetings. This includes meetings with federal and state agencies and tribal representatives, the environmental non-governmental community, and industry to develop options to enhance decision making under existing authorities. Additional public meetings and/or workshops are also being considered. Cultural Resources and Tribal Engagement – NROC contracted with Rick Getchell of All Nations Consulting (also RPB tribal co-lead) to engage tribes in developing options and best practices for tribal consultation and to identify and map cultural resources. Commercial Fishing Mapping – An RFP for the second phase of commercial fishing mapping work has closed and contractor selections will be announced shortly. The work will focus on engaging the fishing community to develop and review new maps derived from updated Vessel Monitoring System data and to develop methods for characterizing fisheries that are not well documented by existing sources, such as lobster and tuna. Lastly, a component of the project will look at how fishing activity could be affected by environmental variability and climate change. Recreation – – SeaPlan is currently scoping a project to collaborate with NROC and the RPB to map charter and party boat fishing activity for ocean planning purposes. Other forms of recreational fishing will also be considered. NROC will be issuing a RFP in the next couple months for contractor support to map diving, kayaking, surfing, wildlife viewing, and other forms of non-consumptive recreational activities. Natural Resources – NROC and the RPB will be issuing a RFP to develop regional data products and other information characterizing marine mammal, sea turtle, bird, and fish distribution and abundance. – Work stemming from this RFP will be a priority leading up to the next RPB meetings and will include opportunities for the public to be engaged in reviewing and informing methods and draft products. – NROC contracted with Emily Shumchenia of E&C Enviroscape to help manage natural resource characterization work and integrate products into the Northeast Ocean Data Portal. Emily will also review existing ecological and other ocean planning related assessments to support future RPB decisions. Baseline Assessment – NROC will be issuing a RFP for contractor support to develop a written baseline assessment for ocean planning. The contractor will be asked to integrate existing and ongoing natural resource and ocean use characterization work as well conduct new economic analyses of the maritime and coastal community economies. Northeast Ocean Data Portal – www.NortheastOceanData.org was updated in December 2013 with a new user interface for its interactive maps focused on providing key types of data for specific natural resource and human use themes. In response to public comment, the interface includes an “About this Map” feature that provides information, including key considerations and planned upgrades for each map. – The data portal was also updated in January 2014 with new thematic maps for commercial fishing and energy. The commercial fishing theme includes products from the first phase of the commercial fishing mapping project. In response to public comment, the energy theme includes 4 NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 a map showing the status of offshore wind and hydrokinetic energy projects, planning areas, and research areas in the Northeast. Regional Planning Body Update: RPB Meeting Held January 22-23 in Cambridge, MA – The RPB reviewed and discussed “A Framework for Ocean Planning in the Northeast US”, which includes goals and objectives for regional ocean planning and specific actions and tasks for achieving those goals. – The RPB adopted the goals and objectives and agreed to proceed with specific tasks between now and June to inform future RPB meetings and decisions. – The RPB also decided to develop options for the use of technical committee(s) to inform ocean planning. Next Steps – The RPB will meet in June 2014 to review progress towards achieving goals and to decide on the use of technical committee(s) to inform draft products and decisions. A meeting date will be announced shortly. Partner Updates Partner Update – NERACOOS: Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NE-CAN) NE-CAN is working towards the development of a regional ocean acidification implementation plan to help coordinate and guide regional observing, research, and modeling endeavors. The first phase of the plan development is a state of the science webinars series. On behalf of NE-CAN, NERACOOS has hosted several state of the science webinars, which have featured a different scientist and different topic related to ocean acidification. These weekly webinars will continue into March. The webinar schedule, sign up for the NE-CAN listserv and videos of past webinars are all available on the NE-CAN section of the NERACOOS website at www.neracoos.org/necan. The webinar series is leading up to a State of the Science meeting to be held in April in Rye, NH. NERACOOS Strategic Planning NERACOOS has initiated a strategic planning effort, which was kicked off with a workshop at our Board of Directors meeting on December 4th. The board and staff discussed and explored various themes including the value of NERACOOS, collaboration with partners, potential opportunities and priorities for the organization. An underlying theme of the workshop was the need to diversify funding to ensure continuation of the current observing system and to add new observations, forecasts and information products. A strategic planning committee was formed and will be meeting monthly to help develop the NERACOOS strategy in 2014. NERACOOS Annual Meeting On December 5th NERACOOS hosted its 4th annual meeting in Portsmouth NH. The theme of the meeting was Ocean Observing in a Changing World and was attended by over 60 stakeholders who represented many of the organizations that collaborate with and are served by NERACOOS. The keynote presentation was delivered by Dr. Rick Spinrad, Vice President of Research for Oregon State University, Chair of the IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System) Advisory Committee, and President Elect, Marine Technology Society. Rick provided a vision for the developing IOOS, which highlighted the need for developing public-private partnerships and an entrepreneurial approach. Dr. Ru Morrison, NERACOOS Executive Director, provided an overview of NERACOOS accomplishments in 2013 and plans for 2014. Zdenka Willis, US IOOS Program Director provided a “state of the US IOOS” presentation that focused on exciting accomplishments across the enterprise. In the afternoon we heard from a panel of technology innovators about new technologies and approaches for collecting ocean information to help address critical marine issues in the northeast. You can access the annual meeting presentations at www.neracoos.org/presentations. NERACOOS Membership Program In 2013 NERACOOS launched a membership program to help sustain the delivery of critical ocean and weather information to the people who use, manage, study, and enjoy the waters from Long Island Sound to Nova Scotia. The membership program will help NERACOOS maintain and repair critical observing infrastructure, develop new 5 NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 information tools, and help us advocate for continued development of the U.S. IOOS. Members of NERACOOS gain visibility on our website, have the opportunity to participate in NERACOOS governance, receive complimentary admission to our annual meeting, and receive other meeting notices and important announcements including news and funding opportunities. Most importantly membership helps ensure that we continue to deliver ocean and weather information to those who rely on it. For more information about NERACOOS and any of these projects please contact Ru Morrison ([email protected]) Partner Update – Northeast Sea Grant Consortium: • As part of the NESGC call for proposals within the theme “Human Dimensions of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems”, two proposals were funded, each for a 2-year period: Coastal Hazards and Northeast Housing Values: Comparative Implications for Climate Change Adaptation and Community Resilience R. Johnston, K. Moeltner, C. Blinn, C. Feurt Buy Out or Build Back? A Comparative Assessment of Approaches to Employing Public Funding to Vulnerable Coastal Properties in the Northeastern United States P. Hoagland, J. Duff, D. Jin, H. Kite-Powell • The Northeast Sea Grant Regional Meeting was held 18-20 November 2013 in New Bedford, MA, at the Ocean Explorium. A major focus of the meeting was regional collaborations in communications, outreach, education, extension and research, in addition to interactions with regional and state partners. Principal investigators funded for previously funded socio-economic regional projects provided updates of their research and outcomes to date. Partner Update – Gulf of Maine Council: Council and Working Group meetings In December 2013, the Council and Working Group meetings took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was the first Council meeting of the Nova Scotia Secretariat and focused on fund development as well as progress on implementation of the Action Plan. In an effort to keep meeting expenses to a minimum, the March working group meeting will be held through teleconferencing with members getting together in Boston, Halifax, and possibly Washington DC. Fund Development In December 2013, the Council contracted with James Boyle, Ph.D. as a Fund Developer. Working closely with GOMA and the Council’s ad hoc Fund Development Group, the Fund Developer is focus on raising funds for Council priority programs relevant to the implementation of the Action Plan. Over the last few months the Council has submitted proposals for funding to Environment Canada, NOAA Climate Program Office, and the Royal Bank of Canada, and is exploring funding opportunities for habitat restoration and other Council work. Climate Network On September 10-11, 2013 the Climate Network hosted a successful meeting drawing 60 professionals from around the Gulf to discuss cross-sectoral, cross-border climate issues and help identify priorities that the Network can address. Marina Shauffler has come on board as the new Climate Network coordinator to help coordinate work on key emerging themes for the Network including, among others, the information clearinghouse NExUS and the development of a Quarterly Gulf of Maine Outlook for data sharing across the region. State of the Gulf of Maine series Work continues on the development, publication and rollout of State of the Gulf theme papers. The Council released the paper on Commercial Fisheries in the Gulf of Maine on December 3, 2013 (http://www.gulfofmaine.org/2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/commercial-fisheries-theme-paper-webversion.pdf). 6 NROC Meeting Briefing Packet 3/14/14 The theme paper on watershed status in the Gulf of Maine region is under development. Ecosystem Indicators Partnership Committee ESIP has recently released their new and revamped webpage. In addition, their monthly journal entries have increased readership, featuring articles on the status of Right Whales in the Bay of Fundy (http://www.gulfofmaine.org/2/esip-monthly-journals/november-2013-esip-journal/) and on the enhanced elevation data to support flood-risk management in New England. th Gulf of Maine Council 25 Anniversary th This year marks the 25 anniversary since the inception of the Gulf of Maine Council. To mark this occasion, the Council is planning to highlight Council activities at the Coastal Zone Canada 2014 Conference in Halifax in June (http://www.czca-azcc.org/czc-zcc2014/home.htm) and has identified several activities including a special publication, a special GOMC session at the CZC 2014 conference, a multimedia presentation, and a geocaching event. The Council and Working Group meetings as well as the awards ceremony will also be held during the same week so that participants can attend both events. Partner Update – New England Federal Partners: The full New England Federal Partners (NEFP) Committee and its two work groups on climate resilience and ocean planning met on November 26, 2013. The groups focused on implications of the recent Executive Order – Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change (November 1, 2013) on collaborative efforts of the member agencies of NEFP; better understanding of each agency’s projects funded through supplemental funding related to Hurricane Sandy; progress made on establishing a Regional Planning Body in New England; scope of US Army Corps of Engineers’ regional sediment planning effort, and opportunities to develop joint and/or regional plans associated with grant opportunities that allow Federal agencies to participate. NEFP will hold its next face-to-face meetings in Boston at the John Foster Williams Coast Guard Building on March 13, 2014. The full group will be discussing how to move from coordination to collaboration on common priority agency issues. For more information or questions, please contact current NEFP chair, Susan Russell-Robinson, at [email protected] or (703) 648-6682. 7 NROC State Delegates Kathleen Leyden Matt Nixon (Alternate) Meredith Mendelson Steve Couture Chris Williams (Alternate) Bruce Carlisle Janet Coit Ames Colt (Alternate) Maine Coastal Program Maine Department of Marine Resources New Hampshire Coastal Program Grover Fugate Jeff Willis* (Alternate)(current Co-Chair) Brian Thompson David Blatt (Alternate) Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Rhode Island Bays, Rivers, and Watersheds Coordination Team Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council Long Island Sound Program NROC Federal Delegates Bob LaBelle LeAnn Bullin (Alternate) Rick Bennett Andrew Milliken & Ken Elowe (Alternates) Maryanne Gerauckas Mary Krueger (Alternate) Walter Barnhardt Peter Murdoch (Alternate) Betsy Nicholson Ellen Mecray (Alternate) Mel Coté *(current Co-Chair) Regina Lyons (Alternate) William Hubbard Cathy Rogers (Alternate) Christine Clarke Daniel Hubbard Michele DesAutels (Alternate) DOI - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management DOI - US Fish and Wildlife Service DOI - National Park Service DOI - US Geological Survey NOAA US Environmental Protection Agency – Region1 US Army Corps of Engineers US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Massachusetts Department of Defense/Homeland Security, US Coast Guard – Region 1 NROC Committee Co-Chairs Julia Knisel, MA Adrianne Harrison, NOAA Susan Russell-Robinson, DOI-USGS Brian Thompson, CT Mel Cote, EPA Grover Fugate, RI Betsy Nicholson, NOAA Coastal Hazards Resilience Committee Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health Committee Ocean Planning Committee NROC Staff Dani Carter John Weber Nick Napoli Coordinator Ocean Planning Director Ocean Planning Project Manager
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