United States
                    Environmental Protection
                    Agency	
                                            Office of Research and
                                            Development
                                            Washington, DC 20460
EPA/620/R-OO/OOSx
April, 2001
&EPA     Coastal    Communications
                    NATIONAL COASTAL ASSESSMENT
                        COASTAL 2000  - NEW YORK
                        ORD/REGION 2/OW/NY  DEC
                                                New York   /
                                              Coastal 2000 Design J
Background
The U.S. EPA's National Coastal Assessment (also
known as Coastal 2000) consists of a multi-year
partnership among EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD), EPA's Office of Water (OW),
EPA's Regional Offices, all the coastal states, and
selected territories.  As part of this effort, EPA
has developed a coastal monitoring program with
EPA Region II and the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation (NY DEC). This joint
effort will determine the condition of estuarine
waters in New York, and it will compare this
condition with other U.S. coastal areas. This
effort is being coordinated by the National Health
and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory's Atlantic Ecology Division in Narragansett, Rhode
Island.
Coastal  2000 Strategy
Coastal 2000 is a strategic partnership between EPA and the coastal states and other federal
agencies. Each state independently surveys its coastal resources and assesses their condition using
a probabilistic design and a common set of environmental indicators (see Table below) which are
compatible with those of the other states.  These estimates can then be aggregated to assess
conditions at the EPA Regional, biogeographical, and National levels. All data will be made available
for public access on the Internet.  The map shows the coastal areas included in the survey and the
number of sampling sites intended for estuarine waters of New York. Elements of the existing New
York City Department of Environmental Protection's New York Harbor Water Quality Survey, Long
Island Sound  Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Program, Suffolk County Department of Health
Services, and the Town of Hempstead water quality monitoring programs have been integrated with
the Coastal 2000 activities.  The Waste Management Institute of SUNY at Stony Brook is
conducting this effort for NY DEC.
Water Quality
Dissolved oxygen
Salinity, temperature, depth
pH
Nutrients
Chlorophyll
Sediment Quality
Grain size
Total organic carbon
Sediment chemistry
Benthic community structure
Sediment toxicity
Biota
Benthic community structure
Fish community structure
Fish external pathology
Fish tissue chemical analyses

Further Information
For further information, please contact Karen Chytalo, at New York Department of Environmental
Conservation (631) 444-0430 or kchytal@gw.dec.state.ny.us: or Darvene Adams at Environmental
Sciences Division in Region II at (732)-321-6700 or adams.darvene@epa.gov: or John Paul at the
National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory's Atlantic Ecology Division at (401) 782-3037
or paul.john@epa.gov. Visit the Coastal Communications web site: http://www.epa.gov/nheerl/whatsnew.

-------