DRAFT 8/17/07 Meeting Minutes for the Chesapeake Bay Program Principals' Staff Committee US Fish & Wildlife Chesapeake Bay Field Office Annapolis, MD May 23, 2007 ACTION ITEMS: Frank Dawson (Maryland Department of Natural Resources) will convene a PSC adhoc group to look at reorganization. This group will consider outside assistance to help with this project. Dan Nees (World Resources Institute) will complete a report on Regional Financing by the end of summer 2007. The PSC tasked the Water Quality Steering Committee to ensure the TMDL and reevaluation are on the same track. The PSC tasked the Water Quality Steering Committee to develop a policy analysis of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirement for the Bay addressing: (1) what will a TMDL look like and how will it be different from what is currently in place; (2) what are the policy implications to the federal, state and local partners of having a TMDL; and (3) what are the PSC's options for handling the TMDL. The WQSC was directed to involve policy makers in the development of the policy analysis prior to presentation to the PSC. The PSC will reconvene with a discussion focused TMDLs and draft a plan. Dates for an Executive Council "working" meeting for September 2007 will be sent out. PSC members will get back to Frank Dawson on what specific dates and venues work best for their EC representatives. The Federal partners will develop a draft of the Strategic Implementation Plan by July 2007, with final draft ready by September 2007. All documents for this meeting can be found at: http://www.chesapeakebav.net/calendar.cfm?EventDetails=8570&DefaultView=2 Announcements On April 18, The CBP released the 2006 Chesapeake Bay Health & Restoration Assessment and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science released the report card. Sally Claggett (USDA Forest Service) gave an update on Directive 06-1, the Forestry Conservation Directive, which focuses on retaining and expanding forests. Ann Swanson (Chesapeake Bay Commission) announced the CBC's Biofuels report will go out for technical review on Thursday May 24th. They expect a final draft to be ready by Mid-August 2007. 05-23-07 Principals' Staff Council Minutes 1 ------- DRAFT 8/17/07 Don Welsh (Environmental Protection Agency Region III) introduced Jeff Lape, the new director of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program. I. Chesapeake Bay Program Reflections Jeff Lape (Chesapeake Bay Program-Environmental Protection Agency) provided insight into his first month as the new director of the Chesapeake Bay Program. II. Improving Accountability John Wolflin (US Fish & Wildlife Service) and Diana Esher (CBP-EPA) gave a presentation on the progress being made thus far by the federal partners on the development of the strategic implementation plan (SIP). Diana Esher (CBP-EPA) summarized the progress being made with the 2008 Re- evaluation. The new Phase V watershed model will be completed and ready to use in Spring 2008. Steve Pattison (Maryland Department of the Environment) provided a summary description on Gov. O'Malley's (MD) Bay Stat program, as well as the progress being made thus far. John Griffin (PSC Chair/MD DNR) led a discussion on Chesapeake Bay Program re-organization. III. Financing Dan Nees (WRI) provided a summary of the development a Chesapeake Bay Regional Financing Strategy. The project is looking specifically at sources of revenue to support implementation, as well as regulatory programs. Ann Swanson (Chesapeake Bay Commission) gave a summary of the CBC's efforts focused on the 2007 Farm Bill. Her talk focused on where we've been, where we are, and where we're going. IV. Accelerating Implementation & Managing Growth John Griffin led a group discussion on what needs to be done to accelerate implementation in the face of growth. Much of the discussion focused on if and how a Baywide TMDL changes what is already in place with existing tributary strategies. The WQSC, with additional policy level representation, should explore this issue. This group should consider three questions: 1. How is it different from what we are doing now? 2. How does growth and development play in that? What are the implications? 3. Who needs to be involved beyond the WQSC? 4. What is the timing of development and release of a Baywide TMDL. V. Executive Council Meeting Planning The PSC decided September would be a reasonable target date for the next EC meeting. Frank Dawson will send out potential dates to PSC representatives, who will let him know what specific dates and venues will work best. 05-23-07 Principals' Staff Council Minutes 2 ------- DRAFT 8/17/07 Potential topics could include reorganization, Farm Bill, regional policies that would help state financing, and technology exchange among states. Attendance First Name Last Name Title/Affiliation L. Preston Bryant Jr. Secretary of Natural Resources/State of Virginia George Hawkins Director/DC Dept of the Environment Steve Saari DC Dept of the Environment Jeff Corbin Asst Secretary of Natural Resources/State of Virginia Frank Dawson Asst Secretary of Aquatic Resources/MD DNR Jason Dubow MD Dept of Planning Matt Fleming MD DNR John Grffin Secretary/MD DNR Brenton McCloskey MD DNR Cathy Myers Deputy Secretary Water Resources Mgmt/PA DEP Steve Pattison Asst Secretary/MDE Roger Richardson Secretary/ MD Dept of Ag. John Roderick MD Dept of Ag. Catherine Shanks MD DNR Ann Swanson Exec. Director/CBC Don Welsh Administrator/EPA Region III Pam Winship MD DNR Neil Wilkie Chair/Citizens Advisory Committee Russell Redding Secretary/PA Dept of Agriculture Kevin Donnelly Director Div of Water Resources/DNREC Kathy Bunting Howarth DNREC Carin Bisland CBP-EPA Rich Batiuk CBP-EPA Mike Fritz CBP-EPA Pat Buckley PA DEP Roy Hoagland CBF Beth McGee CBF Justin Zuber CBF Don Halligan MD Dept of Planning Sally Claggett USDA Forest Service Bill Brannon WV DEP Matt Robinson CBP-CRC 05-23-07 Principals' Staff Council Minutes 3 ------- DRAFT 8/17/07 05-23-07 Principals' Staff Council Minutes ------- |