Great Lakes Initiative Action Plan

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , in collaboration with 15 other federal agencies, have made restoring the Great Lakes a national priority and is proposing a budget of $475 million for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (Initiative). The EPA Action Plan, recently released, describes how the Initiative will be executed from 2010 through 2014.

The Plan builds on the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy (GLRC Strategy). The GLRC Strategy provides a framework for the Action Plan. The Action Plan has five major focus areas:

1. Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern, including pollution prevention and cleanup of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes
2. Invasive Species, including efforts to institute a “zero tolerance policy” toward new invasions, including the establishment of self-sustaining populations of invasive species, such as Asian Carp
3. Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution, including a targeted geographic focus on high priority watersheds and reducing polluted runoff from urban, suburban and, agricultural sources
4. Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration, including bringing wetlands and other habitat back to life, and the first-ever comprehensive assessment of the entire 530,000 acres of Great Lakes coastal wetlands for the purpose of strategically targeting restoration and protection efforts in a science-based manner
5. Accountability, Education, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication and Partnerships, including the implementation of goal- and results-based accountability measures, learning initiatives, outreach and strategic partnerships

The Action Plan identifies goals, objectives, measurable ecological targets, and specific actions for each of the five focus areas identified above. The Action Plan will be used by federal agencies in the development of the federal budget for Great Lakes restoration in fiscal years 2011 and beyond. As such, it will serve as guidance for collaborative restoration work with participants to advance restoration. EPA believes that the Plan will also help advance the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with Canada.

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Greenhouse Gas Emission Guidance From CEQ

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), has issued three draft guidance documents related to the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),. The new guidance, issued in draft for public comment, directs how federal agencies are to:

• Consider the effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in agency decision-making;
• Use mitigation to reduce or avoid impacts, and monitoring their effectiveness; and
• Establish and apply categorical exclusions.

Public comments on the proposed GHG and mitigation guidance documents will be accepted for 90 days after they are printed in the Federal Register, and comments on the categorical exclusion guidance will be accepted for 45 days.

NEPA requires federal agencies to publicly disclose and consider the environmental consequences of their actions and of private actions requiring federal permits or approvals. It is a process-oriented statute and is not prescriptive in nature. NEPA does not mandate specific environmental results and grants federal agencies broad discretion to determine the extent of environmental protection required for proposed actions.

In the draft GHG guidance, CEQ proposes a framework on when and how to evaluate GHG emissions, and how to evaluate the effect of climate change on the project. The GHG guidance indicates that as part of the initial scoping process, agencies should determine whether a project requiring federal approval will result in “meaningful” GHG emissions, and suggests that emissions greater than 25,000 metric tons may meet this test. Emissions above this level would warrant at least some qualitative or quantitative discussion in NEPA documents.

The GHG guidance also recognizes that there are no existing federal protocols for estimating emissions associated with land use and land management decisions. It also recognizes that determining the reasonably foreseeable impacts of land management decisions on GHG emissions may be difficult.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Ohio to obtain environmental permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
or
Caltha LLP Website