Page 1 of 3 SNEP Southeast New England Program Southeast New England Program Steering Committee Meeting 2/6/2023 10:00-12:30 Summary Notes Attendance: • Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program: Joe Costa • Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1: Mel Cote, Maryjo Feuerbach, Haley Miller, Matt Stamas, Margherita Piyor, Ian Dombroski • Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Laura Erban, Tim Gleason • Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management: Adrienne Pappal • Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection: Gerard Martin, Drew Osei, Padmini Das • Narragansett Bay Estuarine Research Reserve: Caitlin Chaffee • Narragansett Bay National Estuary Program: Mike Gerel • NEIWPCC: Sue Sullivan • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Jim Turek • New England Environmental Finance Center: Phaeng Southisombath • Restore America's Estuaries: Tom Ardito • Rhode Island Coastal Resource Management Council: Leah Feldman • Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management: Sue Kiernan • Rhode Island School of Design: Bryce Dubois (Chair, Ecosystem Services Subcommittee) • Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District: Bill Napolitano • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Larry Oliver • U.S. Geological Survey: Jeff Barbaro Introductions and Welcome • Ian Dombroski (EPA) welcomed the group and reviewed the agenda. • Roll call was taken. SNEP Network Updates • Phaeng Southisombath (New England Environmental Finance Center) presented on the SNEP Network. See associated slides for more detail. • Questions and Discussion: o A member was curious as to how each New England state has been involved in the development of the Storm water Retrofit Manual considering many states are in the process of updating their storm water regulations. ¦ The NE-EFC was sure to gather input from representatives from each state. In the near future, NE-EFC will conduct one-on-ones and ------- Page 2 of 3 SNEP Southeast New England Program develop custom trainings for each state to aid in the rollout of the Manual. SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants (SWIG) Update • Tom Ardito (Restore America's Estuaries) presented on the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants program. See associated slides for more detail. • Questions and Discussion: o A member inquired about opportunities for the Network and SWIG to collaborate. ¦ SWIG and the Network have regular coordination meetings, but are looking for additional opportunities to collaborate. ¦ It was suggested that the SWIG could provide links to Network resources (e.g. the Stormwater Retrofit Manual, etc.) in their Requests for Responses to encourage resource use and increase proposal strength. o A member inquired about how the Ghost Fishing Gear project funded by SWIG fits into SNEP's mission. ¦ At a basic level, marine debris is an important issue for water quality and habitat integrity. The project works with fisher-people, environmental NGOs, and others to raise awareness about the problem. It has also been used to foster collaboration between groups with similar interests and has been leveraged into a larger project funded by another source. o Members were asked if they had any thoughts or comments about the SWIG or it's presented approach to an FY23 RFR? ¦ Members expressed that they were generally pleased with SWIG and its performance. Close Out and Next Steps • Member Updates: o Buzzards Bay NEP: While many are concerned that communities will not have the capacity to apply for the recent influx of funding (in part, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), a recently released Buzzards Bay NEP funding opportunity received more applications than they could fund, o USGS: Currently working on a few projects of interest to the group. ¦ SNEP Funded projects in Wickford, RI, Mara Vista in Falmouth, MA and on Cape Cod. Click Here for More Information. ¦ ORD Funded project in the Three Bays area of Cape Cod looking at the effect of installing Innovative/Alternative septic systems on groundwater Click Here for More Information. ¦ Have begun work on groundwater modeling for Martha's Vineyard. ¦ Are in preliminary talks with Nantucket to develop a groundwater model. ------- Page 3 of 3 SNEP Southeast New England Program • Next Steps: o The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for 2/27/23 and will cover: ¦ Updates from the Monitoring and Ecosystem Services Subcommittees. ¦ Overview of the State of the Region Report contract. ¦ Discussion of SNEP's FY23 budget. ------- |