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this, as many of you know, was circulated via coral list:
Task force calls for improved water quality
Allison A. Freeman, Greenwire staff writer
Federal officials and local governments should increase
collaborative efforts to address continuing threats to coral reefs, particularly in reducing wastewater, runoff pollution and overfishing in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, concurred top federal and state environmental officials last week at a meeting of U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.
The CRTF, established by an executive order in 1998 to
"preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems," comprises the heads of 11
federal agencies and the leaders of 10 states, territories and commonwealths. At its biennial meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, the group passed resolutions calling for upgrading wastewater treatment systems in areas supporting coral reef habitat, improving water quality through the federal Everglades Restoration Plan and promoting sustainable trade in coral reef products.
"The Task Force resolutions and statements reflect the
intent [to] highlight these issues as really important to address the coral reef crisis," said Roger Griffis, co-chair of the CRTF steering committee and policy advisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coral reef conservation program.
"It's clear from the level of representation we have from around the nation and around the world that coral reefs and their continued protection are high priorities," said Tim Keeney, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.
In 2000, the CRTF adopted the U.S. National Action Plan to
Conserve Coral Reefs, laying out 13 major goals to help sustain coral reef ecosystems. The CRTF has brought together government and nongovernmental entities to address key issues, such as the nationwide effort to map and characterize all shallow U.S. reefs. In October 2002 the CRTF identified land-based pollution, overfishing, lack of public awareness, recreational overuse, coral reef disease and climate change as the major threats to reefs and called for additional efforts to reduce these threats.
According to a recent Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
report, coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to environmental change and key indicators of broader problems in the ocean, have declined by 27 percent worldwide. The report found that 60 percent of the world's coral reefs could be lost by 2030.
At its meeting, the CRTF encouraged states to work with
local stakeholders and federal partners to develop local action plans to
address the key threats. "This is an effort to identify and implement actions from the ground up ... to help achieve goals of the U.S. National Action Plan," said Griffis.
The CRTF lacks authority to regulate or appropriate funds.
As such, the resolutions can not be incorporated into law. However, they can serve as blueprints for continued state and federal restoration efforts. Florida officials, for example, are hoping the resolutions will help leverage increased federal funding for local cleanup efforts.
"A resolution passed at the level of the U.S. Coral Reef
Task Force, the secretary and assistant secretary level, can be put in front
of decision-makers, conservation groups, stakeholders, fishermen and other appropriate people to show that it is recognized at high levels that we need to take action," said Billy Causey, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "To take action, we need resources. This is a powerful tool to move to the next step."
Protection of the reefs is important to Florida not only
because they "provide a very diverse and biologically important community," Causey said, but also for economic reasons. The park logs 13.3 million visitor days a year, resulting in $1.2 billion in tourism revenues. "We cannot afford to lose this reef," Causey said.
An official with the U.S. EPA said the agency would not
respond to the resolutions, which it supported, until the CRTF releases the
final versions in coming weeks. But the official said the resolutions would likely not lead to new rulemaking, but rather encourage the agency to assist and coordinate with other groups and local officials.
But Dan Meyer, general counsel for Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, said the CRTF is not taking enough action to address declining coral reefs. He said the CRTF should "bash heads" and address reef harming practices executed by agencies within the group, citing the Army Corps of Engineers in particular. Meyer said the Corps' oversight of beach renourishment -- placing sand on the shore of eroding beaches -- often allows low-cost, uncareful methods that stir up sand in the water and choke the reef.
The Corps also harms the reef with dredging permits and by
allowing fiber optic cable to cross reef zones without environmental
review, Meyer said.
Meyer said the agencies on the CRTF should cooperate to
more staunchly protect the reefs, consulting with one another and using existing laws, like the Endangered Species Act, the CleanWater Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, to tighten their regulatory authority.
"Without solving the central oversight problem, the Coral
Reef Task Force is going to be like an undertaker for the reefs. It will document their burial and demise but won't have been a doctor to step in and see the patient before it died,"Meyer said. "Because the reefs are not out in the public's view, we risk not knowing that we missed the boat on this until the reefs aredead."
Kacky Andrews, Director of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the resolutions will not spur the state to write more coralreef regulations, but said she hopes they will encourage Congress to direct more funding to Florida, especially for the state's wastewater treatment plan.
"The federal government has done a lot for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, but there is a lot of need," she said.
Andrews noted that in the Florida Keys, nutrient-laden
wastewater from some 25,000 septic tanks, 6,500 cesspits and 900 shallow-injection wells compromises water quality in the nearshore coral reef system.
CRTF's Everglades restoration resolution asked state
regulators to consider how coral reefs will be affected by water flowing through the Everglades and into the Florida Bay. As the state develops and implements its 20-year plan to restore historic flows to the Everglades, the reefs will almost certainly benefit, Andrews said.
Other resolutions called for programs to address wastewater treatment systems in the Virgin Islands, where the current system inadequately accommodates a growing population, and in Puerto Rico, where more than 30 percent of homes are not connected to a wastewater treatment system.
The resolution dealing with trade urges the United States
to promote the sustainable trade of coral reef species under international negotiations. The U.S. consumes more than 80 percent of coral reef products traded worldwide, NOAA'sGriffis said.
The Marine Aquarium Council, a coral reef products stakeholder coalition, is working to develop a voluntary certification program for sustainable, environmentally sound standards for trade of reef products.
~~~~~~~
Task force calls for improved water quality
Allison A. Freeman, Greenwire staff writer
Federal officials and local governments should increase
collaborative efforts to address continuing threats to coral reefs, particularly in reducing wastewater, runoff pollution and overfishing in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, concurred top federal and state environmental officials last week at a meeting of U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.
The CRTF, established by an executive order in 1998 to
"preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems," comprises the heads of 11
federal agencies and the leaders of 10 states, territories and commonwealths. At its biennial meeting in Washington, D.C., last week, the group passed resolutions calling for upgrading wastewater treatment systems in areas supporting coral reef habitat, improving water quality through the federal Everglades Restoration Plan and promoting sustainable trade in coral reef products.
"The Task Force resolutions and statements reflect the
intent [to] highlight these issues as really important to address the coral reef crisis," said Roger Griffis, co-chair of the CRTF steering committee and policy advisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coral reef conservation program.
"It's clear from the level of representation we have from around the nation and around the world that coral reefs and their continued protection are high priorities," said Tim Keeney, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.
In 2000, the CRTF adopted the U.S. National Action Plan to
Conserve Coral Reefs, laying out 13 major goals to help sustain coral reef ecosystems. The CRTF has brought together government and nongovernmental entities to address key issues, such as the nationwide effort to map and characterize all shallow U.S. reefs. In October 2002 the CRTF identified land-based pollution, overfishing, lack of public awareness, recreational overuse, coral reef disease and climate change as the major threats to reefs and called for additional efforts to reduce these threats.
According to a recent Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
report, coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to environmental change and key indicators of broader problems in the ocean, have declined by 27 percent worldwide. The report found that 60 percent of the world's coral reefs could be lost by 2030.
At its meeting, the CRTF encouraged states to work with
local stakeholders and federal partners to develop local action plans to
address the key threats. "This is an effort to identify and implement actions from the ground up ... to help achieve goals of the U.S. National Action Plan," said Griffis.
The CRTF lacks authority to regulate or appropriate funds.
As such, the resolutions can not be incorporated into law. However, they can serve as blueprints for continued state and federal restoration efforts. Florida officials, for example, are hoping the resolutions will help leverage increased federal funding for local cleanup efforts.
"A resolution passed at the level of the U.S. Coral Reef
Task Force, the secretary and assistant secretary level, can be put in front
of decision-makers, conservation groups, stakeholders, fishermen and other appropriate people to show that it is recognized at high levels that we need to take action," said Billy Causey, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "To take action, we need resources. This is a powerful tool to move to the next step."
Protection of the reefs is important to Florida not only
because they "provide a very diverse and biologically important community," Causey said, but also for economic reasons. The park logs 13.3 million visitor days a year, resulting in $1.2 billion in tourism revenues. "We cannot afford to lose this reef," Causey said.
An official with the U.S. EPA said the agency would not
respond to the resolutions, which it supported, until the CRTF releases the
final versions in coming weeks. But the official said the resolutions would likely not lead to new rulemaking, but rather encourage the agency to assist and coordinate with other groups and local officials.
But Dan Meyer, general counsel for Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, said the CRTF is not taking enough action to address declining coral reefs. He said the CRTF should "bash heads" and address reef harming practices executed by agencies within the group, citing the Army Corps of Engineers in particular. Meyer said the Corps' oversight of beach renourishment -- placing sand on the shore of eroding beaches -- often allows low-cost, uncareful methods that stir up sand in the water and choke the reef.
The Corps also harms the reef with dredging permits and by
allowing fiber optic cable to cross reef zones without environmental
review, Meyer said.
Meyer said the agencies on the CRTF should cooperate to
more staunchly protect the reefs, consulting with one another and using existing laws, like the Endangered Species Act, the CleanWater Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, to tighten their regulatory authority.
"Without solving the central oversight problem, the Coral
Reef Task Force is going to be like an undertaker for the reefs. It will document their burial and demise but won't have been a doctor to step in and see the patient before it died,"Meyer said. "Because the reefs are not out in the public's view, we risk not knowing that we missed the boat on this until the reefs aredead."
Kacky Andrews, Director of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the resolutions will not spur the state to write more coralreef regulations, but said she hopes they will encourage Congress to direct more funding to Florida, especially for the state's wastewater treatment plan.
"The federal government has done a lot for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, but there is a lot of need," she said.
Andrews noted that in the Florida Keys, nutrient-laden
wastewater from some 25,000 septic tanks, 6,500 cesspits and 900 shallow-injection wells compromises water quality in the nearshore coral reef system.
CRTF's Everglades restoration resolution asked state
regulators to consider how coral reefs will be affected by water flowing through the Everglades and into the Florida Bay. As the state develops and implements its 20-year plan to restore historic flows to the Everglades, the reefs will almost certainly benefit, Andrews said.
Other resolutions called for programs to address wastewater treatment systems in the Virgin Islands, where the current system inadequately accommodates a growing population, and in Puerto Rico, where more than 30 percent of homes are not connected to a wastewater treatment system.
The resolution dealing with trade urges the United States
to promote the sustainable trade of coral reef species under international negotiations. The U.S. consumes more than 80 percent of coral reef products traded worldwide, NOAA'sGriffis said.
The Marine Aquarium Council, a coral reef products stakeholder coalition, is working to develop a voluntary certification program for sustainable, environmentally sound standards for trade of reef products.
~~~~~~~
