WaterNews for October 22, 1998

WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water.

Inside this week's WaterNews:
1) Final Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments Announced
2) Biodiversity in Great Lakes Region Focus of Conference

1) Final Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments Announced

On October 21, 1998, EPA and NOAA jointly published a Federal Register (63FR56146) notice announcing final administrative changes to the coastal nonpoint pollution control program under Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA). While these changes maintain the core principles of the program, they provide substantial flexibility for coastal states and territories to complete development and successfully implement their coastal nonpoint programs. In addition, these administrative changes will assist federal and state governments achieve one of the Clean Water Action Plan's key action items: EPA and NOAA will work with coastal states and territories to ensure that they have developed programs to reduce polluted runoff in coastal areas and that all programs are approved by December 1999.

To view the administrative changes visit the Nonpoint Source Control Branch homepage at http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/czm/6217/admin_changes.html.

2) Biodiversity in Great Lakes Region Focus of Conference

The concept of Biodiversity Investment Areas for the Great Lakes was promoted at the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) held in Buffalo, New York from October 20-22. A Biodiversity Investment Area is a specific location or area within a larger ecosystem which is especially productive, supports exceptionally high biodiversity, or endemism, and contributes significantly to the integrity of the whole ecosystem. This year, delegates reviewed and discussed a proposed list of indicators for the Great Lakes ecosystem. Components included open and near shore waters, coastal wetlands, near shore terrestrial zones, land use, stewardship, and human health. Implications for monitoring programs in interagency cooperation and collaboration were also discussed. For more information contact Paul Horvatin at the USEPA Great Lakes National Programs Office in Chicago at (312) 353-3612.

Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA's Office of Water. To subscribe to the WaterNews listserve:

• Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to:
  waternews-join@lists.epa.gov
  
  
• In the body of the message write:
  Subscribe waternews firstname lastname
  (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe waternews Robert Jones)

A welcome message will appear in your email box once you are officially subscribed. WaterNews will be sent to you at the end of each week. If you encounter difficulties subscribing to this list server or if you would like to be taken off the WaterNews list server at any time, please send your E-mail address to Gloria Posey at Posey.Gloria@epa.gov.

Reference Information | Web Satisfaction Survey

EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us