Improving Interactions Between Coastal Science and Policy Proceedings of the California Symposium (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 123-216
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From page 125... ...
Strategies for maintaining coastal habitat integrity should include, first avoidance of impacts, then minimization of those impacts, and finally, remediation of impacts. Coastal Ocean Habitat Mitigation Strategies James W
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From page 126... ...
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) , California has lost over 90°/0 of its original 5 million acres of wetland areas, and 87°/0 of its original 3.5 million acres of coastal wetlands.
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From page 127... ...
The focus of this paper is degraded wetlands, artificial reefs, and kelp forests—all coastal ocean habitats. In discussing mitigation strategies for these three types of habitat, I will attempt to integrate our charge to understand the existing interactions between science and decisionmaking better.
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From page 128... ...
~ quickly found out, however, that there were NMFS Regional Directors and Research Center Directors who had other agendas. They were into fisheries "management" and fisheries research in "blue" water, and they told me that NMFS had no business in coastal waters.
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From page 129... ...
This is most unfortunate, because each coastal state's coastal zone management plan must include provisions for the "protection of nature/ resources, inc/uc/ing wet/ends, f/ooc/p/ains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, maritime forests, barrier is/en ds, core/ reefs, anc/ fish anc/ wi/a//ife en c/ their habitat, within the coastal zone. " With the recent budget cuts, the California Coastal Commission is going to have a difficult time fulfilling this mandate.
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From page 130... ...
This particular program seems to be alive and well, with the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in September of this year. The Monterey Bay management plan's prohibitions and regulations, covering over 4,000 square nautical miles and 200 -miles of the central coast, will go a long way to protect coastal ocean habitat.
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From page 131... ...
Are we dealing with a scientific problem (i.e., is restoration technology available and accepted for West Coast marine wetlands, or is it largely experimental? ; or a philosophical confusion over the use of wetland restoration as regulatory mitigation (i.e., can we justify the filling of existing coastal wetlands or subtidal habitat through the creation of new constructed wetlands?
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From page 132... ...
3. Is "functional equivalency" necessary for wetland restoration to justify it as a fishery management tool?
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From page 133... ...
All that can be done at this point is to compensate, to some extent, for the ongoing adverse impact to the marine environment.' This statement pretty much summarizes the situation we're in: the economic necessity to make development decisions without the benefit of environmental studies or a baseline. This San Dieguito restoration project may be the "big test" of our ability to mitigate unavoidable damages.
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From page 134... ...
Artificial Reefs/Kelp Beds As mentioned earlier, one of the SONGS conditions requires construction of a 300-acre artificial kelp reef. The Marine Review Committee measured adverse effects on the kelp community in the San Onofre kelp bed, including giant kelp, fish, and large benthic invertebrates.
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From page 135... ...
As such, hatcheries should be included in any mitigation strategy developed for coastal ocean habitat. Until proven as a -- viable mitigation tool, the Coastal Commission is reluctant to give mitigation "credit" for hatcheries to developers, for fear of setting a precedent.
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From page 136... ...
It seems that we should be testing restoration techniques, monitoring ongoing restoration projects, developing evaluation methodologies, and conducting more basic wetland and habitat research before committing to credits for new developments that affect existing viable habitat. The NRC team reported that, "Mitigation efforts cannot yet claim to have displaced /osf wet/ends, functions/ values.
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From page 137... ...
Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. EPA, Department of Fish and Game, Coastal Commission, Coastal Conservancy, University researchers, and representatives of appropriate industry to develop research/monitoring protocols, a program of pilot demonstration projects which would test restoration techniques, and a workable habitat evaluation methodology.
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From page 138... ...
Conclusion In developing habitat mitigation strategies, it will be extremely important to communicate information needs from policymakers to scientists, and to translate research results into a form that can be used as a basis for creating informed coastal ocean policy. In the absence of scientifically-based habitat valuation techniques, the California Coastal Commission has been forced to utilize politically-driven acreage trade-offs when considering appropriate mitigation conditions.
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From page 139... ...
Prepared for California State Coastal Conservancy. Oakland, California.
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From page 140... ...
~ 985. Critique of present wetlands mitigation policies in the United States based on an analysis of past restoration projects in San Francisco Bay.
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From page 141... ...
, Susan Hanna (Oregon State University) , Susan Hansch (California Coastal CommissionI, Mike Josselyn (San Francisco State University}, Robert Kanter {Port of Long Beach)
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From page 142... ...
The chairperson was appointed by the California Coastal 86The Marine Review Committee {MRC} was established by the California Coastal Commission {CCC} in 1974 in response to a proposal by Southern California Edison to construct Units 2 and 3 of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. When the CCC considered the proposal to~construct Units 2 and 3, it heard much conflicting testimony, some claiming that the operation of the power plant would have a massive impact and cause a "nearshore desert" and some claiming that there would be little impact.
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From page 143... ...
2. A second example of the successful use of scientific information in the habitat mitigation process, also in response to the San OnoTre project, was the process by which San Dieguito wetland was chosen as an appropriate restoration site to offset the adverse environmental effects of the San Onofre nuclear generating station.
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From page 144... ...
The mitigation monitoring program promises to advance our understanding of the functioning of coastal wetlands and kelp beds in California. In addition, the program will increase our knowledge of how best to design mitigation requirements.
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From page 145... ...
A mitigation research agenda would include such issues as Identification of methods for establishing habitat values Development of procedures for evaluating effectiveness Evaluation of existing projects Development of experimental approaches—e.g., funding of pilot projects to study restoration techniques Definition of socioeconomic information that should be collected as part of mitigation projects Definitions are needed not only for the natural science issues that are involved here, but also for the socioeconomic information that ought to be collected and analyzed during mitigation projects. And there is also the important issue of mechanisms for the translation of science into policy.
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From page 147... ...
The issue group's summary presents a number of case studies of successes and failures in interactions between scientists and policymakers related to water quality issues, as well as suggestions for improving interactions.
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From page 148... ...
Environmental managers in California often lament the lack of scientific information when it comes time to make decisions. This paper examines the major marine environmental issues in the SCB and the interaction between science and environmental decisionmaking in the region.
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From page 149... ...
. /even tory of Inputs For the past two decades, the focus of marine environmental monitoring programs in the SCB has been on point source discharges—specifically on estimating their inputs, and identifying and describing their effects.
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From page 150... ...
The decreases in municipal wastewater mass emissions have been due to increased source control (the most important factor) , improved solids removal, and increased treatment (Shafer, ~ 9891.
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From page 151... ...
Existing monitoring programs in the SOB do not address all of the sources of contamination. This is especially pressing now since the mass emission from permitted point sources has declined significantly over the past two decades (Shafer, ~989)
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From page 152... ...
Data for 1970-1972 from SCCWRP (19731; data for 1988-1990 from SCCWRP (199Oa,b; 1992a,bl. Used with permission from the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.
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From page 153... ...
Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the livers of scorpionfish IScorpaena guttata) collected in the Southern California Bight from Anacapa Island in the north to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico in the south, and offshore to Cortes Bank {approximately ~ 50 km offshore}.
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· in a)
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From page 155... ...
The California State Water Resources Control Board has been required by law to submit to the State Legislature, a plan to develop and adopt sediment quality objectives. The State Board is currently evaluating the following approaches for determining sediment criteria (California Water Resources Control Board, 19911.
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From page 156... ...
Monitoring programs determine exposure to environmental chemicals by measuring tissue body burdens. However, exposure is difficult to assess because: (1 ~ contaminant uptake can occur via water, sediments, and food; (2)
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From page 157... ...
Monitoring programs in the SCB should incorporate established measures of effects at lower levels of biological organization so predictions could be made about effects at higher ieveis.90 Table 4. Body burdens of chlorinated hydrocarbon (wet weight)
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From page 158... ...
Existing compliance monitoring programs do not evaluate the cumulative effects of all the discharges in a particular area. Regulating discharges on the basis of mass loadings is an alternative, but current data are inadequate to estimate loadings from all sources.
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From page 159... ...
; (b) Water circulation in the upper 100m of the Southern California Bight Mickey, 1 994~; reproduced with permission from the University of California Press.
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From page 160... ...
A more recent technique, the congener specific method, measures the individual PCB congeners, produces more accurate estimates of total PCB, and provides more meaningful data for biogeochemical and toxicological studies {SCCWRP, ~ 9906~. To make monitoring data more useful to decisionmakers, and to gain a better understanding of the state of the marine environment in the SOB, monitoring programs should employ a standardized sampling design; intercalibrated and standardized sampling gear, species identification, and statistical analyses; intercalibrated and standardized chemical analytical methods; and appropriate quality control and quality assurance programs.
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From page 161... ...
the amplitude of the 50 m salinity; and (hi) the amplitude of the southward transport of the California Current from ~ 950 to ~ 980.
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. Reproduced with permission from the Southern California Coastal Water Research Program.
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From page 163... ...
9' Craig Wilson, California State Water Resources Control Board, Sacramento. September 1992, personal communication.
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And scientists must remember that regulatory decisions are a balancing act95 and science is only one aspect of decisionmaking.96 92Dr. Robert Ghirelli, Executive Officer, Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region.
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From page 165... ...
. Better technical information is needed on the status and trends of the marine environment to guide management and regulatory decisions, to verify the effectiveness of existing programs, and to shape policy on marine environmental protection (National Research Council, 1990b)
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From page 166... ...
Compliance Monflo ring Most of the nearshore monitoring in the SOB is compliance monitoring required for NPDES permits to discharge wastes. The area covered by the NPDES monitoring programs is less than ~ °/0 of the total area of the SCB {approximately 7S,600 km2 of sea surface)
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From page 167... ...
Existing programs do not provide sufficient information to describe the trends and changes in large-scale, long-term processes. Monitoring programs have the potential to address these processes, but not until they are coordinated and integrated.
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From page 168... ...
Science can be integrated into the decisionmaking process by bringing together scientists and managers from all of the relevant regulator, discharge, monitoring, and research agencies to tackle the comprehensive approach outlined above. The process should look like this:
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From page 169... ...
. We need to develop a comprehensive regional monitoring program in the Southern California Bight based on recommendations of the National Research Council.
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From page 170... ...
Municipal wastewater dischargers operate most of the current monitoring programs, have established field sampling and laboratory analytical staffs, and have an established research group (Southern California Coastal Water Research Project)
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From page 171... ...
We can facilitate the incorporation of scientific information into marine environmental decisionmaking for Southern California by devising systems that force policymakers and scientists to interact early in the process. We need to develop a comprehensive regional monitoring and research program, establish oversight boards composed of representatives of all concerned agencies, and select an agency to coordinate the program.
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From page 172... ...
Final Report to National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Long Beach.
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From page 173... ...
1987. Life history and fishery of the California scorpionfish, Scorpaena guttata, within the Southern California Bight.
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From page 174... ...
1 04. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, E' Segundo.
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From page 175... ...
, Southern California Coasta/ Water Research Project, Annua/ Report 7990-97 and 1997-92. Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Long Beach, CA, pp.
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From page 177... ...
, John Goll {Minerals Management Service) , Tami Grove {California Coastal Commission}, Irwin Haddock (Orange County Sanitation District)
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From page 178... ...
for involvement of scientists in management · ~ decision processes. Southern Ca/ffornia Coasta/ Water Research Project Another good case study is the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)
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From page 179... ...
The staff scientists at the regulatory agency did not know how to approach this task, so the State Water Board staff identified scientists outside the agency who could be consulted on a variety of approaches that could be used. The external scientists did an excellent job of identifying the uncertainties in sediment assessment procedures and in proposing a variety of ways to develop sediment quality objectives.
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From page 180... ...
1 80 IMPROVING INTERS CTIONS BETWEEN CON STAL SCIENCE AND POLICY The kind of scientific advice or scientific interaction needed by policymakers, i.e., how interactions can be improved, was also discussed. Genera' meetings such as this or meetings scheduled on a case-by-case basis may be appropriate.
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From page 181... ...
It is important to share monitoring data among agencies and to allow external scientists to interpret the data. These data should be made available to users in some kind of "friendly" format, perhaps one database or several distributed databases.
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From page 182... ...
~ nere are new needs that are being recognized and new programs to anoress tnose needs, such as the nonpoint source control program of the California Coastal Commission and the state and regional water boards. It may be one or two orders of magnitude more difficult to implement nonpoint source control then other water quality programs developed in the past, because so many different scientific disciplines need to be involved.
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From page 183... ...
The issue group's summary discusses impediments to developing interactions between science and policy on the issue of cumulative impacts, describes the critical elements of a rational scheme to manage cumulative impacts, and discusses possible means to overcome barriers to interactions.
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From page 184... ...
Douglas, Elizabeth Fuchs, and Charles Lester California Coastal Commission Therein is the tragedy. Each man is /ockec' into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit in a world that is limited.
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From page 185... ...
They are drawn from our experience implementing the California Coastal Management Program and from a review of the literature concerning cumulative impacts assessment and management. Overall, we have identified three general issue areas: 1.
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From page 186... ...
Frances Irwin and Barbara Rodes, Making Decisions on Cumulative Environmental Impacts: A Conceptual Framework {World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C., 19921.
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From page 187... ...
', cumulative impacts assessment, and cumulative impacts management. Cumulative Impacts If we are to be literal, a cumulative impact is nothing more than an impact due to accumulation.' Granted, many types of accumulation are possible in the natural and social environment including simple addition, biomagnification (concentration)
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From page 188... ...
Typology of Cumulative Environmental Effects',3. Used with permission from the Minister of Supply and Services, Canada, ~ 993.
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From page 189... ...
._ . l ynergistic | Effects that accrue from | Formation of smog from | elationships I multiple sources in | NOx and hydro-carbons in | I synergistic manner | presence of UV radiation | Maintaining our focus on the question of accumulation when speaking about cumulative impacts may also help to better integrate scientific and policy discussion because of the emphasis that is placed by policymakers, lawyers, and environmental managers on the aggrenative effects of incremental actions and Decisions when they are speaking about cumulative impacts.
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From page 190... ...
For example, Table 3 reproduces the World Wildlife Fund's listing of the commonly identified methods of cumulative impacts assessment methods. In addition to listing such methods as matrix analyses, cartography, and mathematical modeling, the Table also lists "evaluation techniques." To someone trained in environmental management, the term "evaluation technique" and its description connotes one of the oldest governmental traditions for making collective decisions namely, planning, which is often described as a method for making valuative decisions about how we should make use of the earth's resources in light of possible future scenarios.
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From page 191... ...
While we believe that the distinction between cumulative impacts assessment and cumulative impacts management needs to be maintained, the recognition that the field of cumulative impacts assessment can be equivalent to a process of planning or collective decisionmaking leads to a recognition of the potentially immense breadth and complexity (and therefore of the great potential for cross-disciplinary integration) inherent in the topic of cumulative impacts.
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From page 192... ...
Methods for Assessing Cumulative Effects.320 Reproduced with permission from the World Wildlife Fund. Act Hoc techniques, used in preliminary assembling of information in early scoping stages of assessment.
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From page 193... ...
" as part of the larger question of maximizing public access to the shoreline and coastal waters.'2' Although this provision was later repealed by the legislature, recent demographic trends and the growing importance of multiculturalism for California make clear that environmental justice and equity should again become of increasing concern to environmental policymakers and social scientists. In short, it will be increasingly difficult, if not unethical, to address cumulative impacts concerning the natural habitat in isolation from those concerning the "urban habitat." To conclude, the many types, definitions, and techniques of cumulative impacts and cumulative impacts assessment and management illustrate the necessity of building a common understanding of this field.
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From page 194... ...
Our struggle with the global climate change question is a classic example. The following discussion briefly raises some of the important issues concerning the better integration of facts and values in the process of identifying and documenting cumulative impacts what we have termed cumulative impacts assessment above.
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From page 195... ...
If there is any one problem that has been highlighted by researchers as distinctive to cumulative environmental impacts assessment, it may be the problem of setting "boundaries" for the scientific analysis of cumulative impacts.~25 In particu/ar, cumu/ative impacts assessment raises a multitude of ' 24See U . S.~ Environmental Protection Agency, Reducing Risk: Setting Priorities and Strategies for Environmental Protection, SAB-EC-90-012 {Washington, D.C.: EPA, Science Advisory Board, September 1 9901.
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From page 196... ...
to draw both analytic and management boundaries around a discrete wetland.' There are many examples of governmental resource management efforts over the past several decades that have taken this approach, including the California Coastal Act's special designation of ~ 9 coastal wetlands. As opposed to individual wetlands, though, one might also focus on the larger watershed in which a wetland is located and indeed, on a system of wetlands within a watershed, in order to assess more fully the cumulative impacts of pollution events, development and other natural processes on the functioning of this ecosystem.
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From page 197... ...
The problem of setting boundaries for assessment is made more complicated by the fact that policymakers and scientists must address many issues simultaneously, particularly when assessing cumulative impacts. If sophisticated cumulative impacts assessment and management is to occur, there will be a need for "cross-media research and evaluation.'29 In particular, policymakers and managers need pragmatic boundaries for multi-issue cumulative impacts management (for example, a regional unit)
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From page 198... ...
For example, the California Coastal Act implicitly acknowledges a relationship between coastal clevelopment and public access to the beach. The precise causal connection between the anticipated impacts of a particular development proposal and the level of public access, however, may not always be that clear.'32 Environmental managers need models of causation and perhaps even case-specific causation maps if their development and implementation of various public policies is to maintain and gain public support in addition to withstanding increased scrutiny from the judiciary.
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From page 199... ...
It is much more difficult to document such cumulative effects than it is to measure those from single isolated sources or events. In addition, natural variation of resources and contaminants in the bight frequently occurs on spatial and temporal scales that confound the results of monitoring programs.
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From page 200... ...
Current Capacities: Fragmented Incrementalism As observed in the quote above, any evaluation of our institutional capacitie~to manage cumulative impacts must confront the problem of fragmented, incremental decisionmaking. Indeed, in the general field of environmental policy it is becoming common place among political, social, and '36lrwin and Rodes, p.
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From page 201... ...
,381rwin and Rodes, Making Decisions on Cumulative Environmental Impacts; Management of Cumulative Impacts in Virginia: Identifying the Issues and Assessing the Opportunities (Institute for Environmental Negotiation, University of Virginia, 1 991 }, p. 1 S; also, Environmental Management 22( 1 ]
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From page 202... ...
The institutional barrier to effective cumulative impacts management created by uncoordinated and fragmented government may be made worse, however, by incremental decisionmaking. For example, there is a bias in the dominant mode of thinking about cumulative impacts, not to mention in our governmental decisionmaking generally, that can be tied directly to the implementation of cumulative impacts assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act and, in the case of California, the California Environmental Quality Act.
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From page 203... ...
While some states have chosen to pursue cumulative impacts assessments of specific geographic areas or issues under the 309 program, responding to the shortcomings of incremental decisionmaking lies at the core of California's "309 program." The goal of the program is to develop a new methodology for reviewing the implementation of local coastal programs described above based on a new regional review process for overseeing the implementation of local coastal plans. Operating under the theory that the review of individual projects by local coastal jurisdictions cannot completely control adverse cumulative impacts, the Commission will be conducting a regional cumulative impacts evaluation that includes an extensive review of focal government and Coastal Commission permitting decisions, local California Coastal Commission, Final Assessment of the California Coastal Management Program, January ~ 7, 1992.
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From page 204... ...
The need for such integration is also becoming more clear through the Commission's and the California State Water Resources Control Board's efforts to develop the Section 6217 nonpoint source water pollution program.'46 For example, the program may entail establishing a management area for the program inland of the coastal zone boundary to encompass relevant coastal watersheds. The cumulative impacts review for the 309 program, though, will involve a more comprehensive effort to integrate the policies, perspectives, and natural resource concerns of other issue areas in addition to water quality.
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From page 205... ...
Finally, the pursuit of more effective cumulative impacts management may serve as an effective bridge for integration between public values and scientific research generally, precisely because of the many opportunities, links, and issues inherent in the topic.
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From page 207... ...
, Charles Lester (California Coastal Commission) , Douglas Lipka (Environmental Protection Agency)
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From page 208... ...
For social systems, we can think of impacts on individuals, families, social groups, communities, states, and nations. An example of the first kind of cumulative impacts on natural systems is water pollution in the Southern California Bight from multiple sources.
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From page 209... ...
. Despite the availability of some methods for cumulative impact analysis, other priorities of permitting and regulatory agencies limit their use.
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From page 210... ...
Clams, cadmium, and cumulative impacts management. We might call this a "cumulative-impact-motivated, adaptive management scheme." Let's assume that there is an oil platform in a semienclosed water body.
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From page 211... ...
Finally, what does this indicate about the science-policy interface? It suggests that there are three aspects in need of attention in connection with the cumulative impact problem.
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From page 212... ...
Cumulative impacts can best be assessed on a broad, regional scale with relatively general patterns likely to be revealed. A region should be biogeographic—for example, for coastal wetlands and coastal fisheries the Southern California Bight is the appropriate scale, although some questions would
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From page 213... ...
A precautionary philosophy should be used when developing schemes to address cumulative impacts, to minimize the risk faced by the most fragile components of an ecosystem. In most cases, risks are not well defined, but if explicit questions are asked, good probabilistic descriptions of key or fragile components of the system can be obtained.
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From page 214... ...
Creating a forum with legislative leaders with a focus on cumulative impacts; · Encouraging coastal agencies to employ scientists; and
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From page 215... ...
The information developed is less than optimal for managing cumulative impacts because (1 ) documents are episodic and triggered by ma jor projects, which may or may not relate in time or space to the occurrence of important cumulative impacts; (2)
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From page 216... ...
The group discussed the possible use of the coastal zone management consistency concept in state and local general plans that had been formulated to take account of cumulative impacts. Means of integration and harmonization of actions of multiple agencies should be mandated.
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