Interesting Items

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March, 2007 Interesting Items Around the Gulf… Two conservation groups in Alabama, the Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Southern Environmental Law Center, have published the Alabama Water Agenda as part of their work “to ensure that Alabama’s waters are pure and plentiful for generations to come.” The Agenda identifies the six greatest threats to the state’s waters, and describes actions that can be taken to address those threats. The groups will be presenting the Agenda to legislators, agencies, the governor’s office, business and industry, and the public. The Agenda may be downloaded at <http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/al_water_agenda/casepage.htm>. A federal court in Jacksonville, Florida rejected a legal challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Regional General Permit for 48,150 acres in Walton and Bay counties, which are located on Florida’s northern Gulf coast. The permit was controversial because it will allow the St. Joe Company, which owns much of the land in the area, to fill thousands of acres of wetlands for development without having to apply for individual permits for each project. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Florida Sierra Club sought to have the general permit set aside for violating the Clean Water Act. The groups are appealing the court’s ruling. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the “Final Regional Restoration Plan for Region 2,” which is the first of nine regional plans addressing discharges and substantial threats of discharge of oil in Louisiana. The plans are a component of the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program, which is intended to help restore and protect state trust resources. The Region 2 plan may be downloaded at <http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/pdf/Final_Regional_Restoration_Plan_for_Region_2.pdf>. President Bush has lifted a presidential moratorium on energy leasing in part of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The Department of the Interior is now free to offer the area for oil and gas leases. The next five-year leasing cycle begins this year. Around the country… The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the availability of $10 million in grant money to states, territories, and tribes for water quality monitoring efforts at the nation’s beaches, including the Great Lakes. The funding is authorized by the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act). Applications for this money must be submitted by April 11, 2007. More information is available online at <http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/grants/>. Maine officials have approved over a million dollars to help the state’s working waterfronts survive and prosper. The money will be used to fund six projects that protect commercial fishing facilities and access to fishing areas. One proposed project will enable the members of a fishing co-op to purchase the land on which it sits, thus providing some insurance against development by other interests. The grant money, which was approved by Mainers in 2005, is part of the state’s ongoing work to protect its working waterfronts. The Pine Tree State’s innovative efforts in this area may serve as a model for working waterfront protection in other coastal states. NOAA has reported that 2006 was the warmest year on record based on preliminary data. The average temperature was 55 degrees F, which is more than two degrees over the twentieth-century average. In addition to a general global warming trend, El Niño may have contributed to the record temperatures. The temperature data were collected at a network of over twelve hundred U.S. Historical Climatology Network stations. For more information please visit <http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2772.htm>.
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Around the Gulf…

Two conservation groups in Alabama, the Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Southern Environmental Law Center, have published the Alabama Water Agenda as part of their work “to ensure that Alabama’s waters are pure and plentiful for generations to come.” The Agenda identifies the six greatest threats to the state’s waters, and describes actions that can be taken to address those threats. The groups will be presenting the Agenda to legislators, agencies, the governor’s office, business and industry, and the public. The Agenda may be downloaded at <http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/al_water_agenda/casepage.htm>.

A federal court in Jacksonville, Florida rejected a legal challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Regional General Permit for 48,150 acres in Walton and Bay counties, which are located on Florida’s northern Gulf coast. The permit was controversial because it will allow the St. Joe Company, which owns much of the land in the area, to fill thousands of acres of wetlands for development without having to apply for individual permits for each project. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Florida Sierra Club sought to have the general permit set aside for violating the Clean Water Act. The groups are appealing the court’s ruling.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the “Final Regional Restoration Plan for Region 2,” which is the first of nine regional plans addressing discharges and substantial threats of discharge of oil in Louisiana. The plans are a component of the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program, which is intended to help restore and protect state trust resources. The Region 2 plan may be downloaded at <http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/pdf/Final_Regional_Restoration_Plan_for_Region_2.pdf>.

President Bush has lifted a presidential moratorium on energy leasing in part of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The Department of the Interior is now free to offer the area for oil and gas leases. The next five-year leasing cycle begins this year.

Around the country…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the availability of $10 million in grant money to states, territories, and tribes for water quality monitoring efforts at the nation’s beaches, including the Great Lakes. The funding is authorized by the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act). Applications for this money must be submitted by April 11, 2007. More information is available online at <http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/grants/>.

Maine officials have approved over a million dollars to help the state’s working waterfronts survive and prosper. The money will be used to fund six projects that protect commercial fishing facilities and access to fishing areas. One proposed project will enable the members of a fishing co-op to purchase the land on which it sits, thus providing some insurance against development by other interests. The grant money, which was approved by Mainers in 2005, is part of the state’s ongoing work to protect its working waterfronts. The Pine Tree State’s innovative efforts in this area may serve as a model for working waterfront protection in other coastal states.

NOAA has reported that 2006 was the warmest year on record based on preliminary data. The average temperature was 55 degrees F, which is more than two degrees over the twentieth-century average. In addition to a general global warming trend, El Niño may have contributed to the record temperatures. The temperature data were collected at a network of over twelve hundred U.S. Historical Climatology Network stations. For more information please visit <http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2772.htm>.