WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF

Testimony of

Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D.

Assistant Administrator

National Ocean Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

U.S. Department of Commerce

before the

House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

February 26, 2004

Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to appear today to discuss Fiscal Year 2004 actions and Fiscal Year 2005 plans and priorities for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) programs that fall under the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction. My name is Richard W. Spinrad and I am the Assistant Administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service. My testimony today will focus on programs that help fulfill NOAA’s responsibilities for protecting and restoring coastal and marine resources. These programs, operating under several authorities, help maintain environmental and economic prosperity along the Nations’s coast, improving the quality of life for Americans both living and visiting there.

Office of Response & Restoration

First, I will speak to NOAA’s responsibilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). Under these specific directives, NOAA protects and restores coastal resources when they are threatened or injured by releases of oil or hazardous substances.

NOAA responds to approximately 100 significant oil or chemical spills as scientific advisors to the U.S. Coast Guard, and provides solutions to cleanup agencies that protect and restore coastal resources at more that 200 hazardous waste sites each year, including sites in the Great Lakes region. When oil or hazardous substances threaten or injure coastal and marine resources, NOAA and other natural resource trustees are responsible for: ensuring that cleanup actions protect those resources from further injury; and, assessing and recovering natural resource damages to restore the injured resources, and to compensate for the loss of services that the natural resources provided.

Three NOAA programs fulfill the mandate to protect and restore coastal and marine resources threatened or injured by oil or hazardous materials: the Hazardous Materials Response Program (Hazmat), the Coastal Protection and Restoration (CPR) Program and the Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP). Hazmat, the CPR program and part of the DARP are located in the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) within NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS). The DARP is a collaborative effort involving NOS, NOAA Fisheries, and the NOAA Office of General Counsel.

Hazardous Materials Response Program

One of NOAA's responsibilities under OPA and CERCLA is to provide scientific support to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator during the response to oil or hazardous materials spills in the Nation’s coastal areas. This is done with just under 30 FTEs, 5 NOAA Corps officers and 3 contractors, all of whom are located in NOAA offices in Seattle or in the field. NOAA also undertakes partnerships with academia and other federal agencies to develop tools and engage in research relating to oil and hazardous material spills. NOAA’s Hazmat program fulfills this responsibility by providing experts, information and tools to support response efforts. This includes:

• maintaining a highly prepared response team that coordinates on-scene scientific activities and provides scientific support for operational decisions during oil or hazardous material spills or other threats

• supporting local communities in developing and evaluating oil and hazardous materials response plans

• fulfilling trustee responsibilities as the Department of Commerce Regional Response Team representative

• serving as the Department of Commerce's representative on the National Response Team (NRT)

• chairing the NRT's Science and Technology Committee.

The transfer of technology and knowledge to first responders on how best to address spills and other threats is an essential aspect of our trustee role. To that end, NOAA’s Hazmat program develops products, including Environmental Sensitivity Index Atlases for coastal areas, and oil spill modeling programs like GNOME (General NOAA Oil Modeling Environment) and provides training to assist in response planning, drills, and actual responses to oil or hazardous material spills or other threats, and disseminates information to improve public understanding. We also conduct research on methods to improve the protection and recovery of coastal resources and communities from spills and other hazards.

In Fiscal Year 2004, the Hazmat program is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to plan and conduct a Spill of National Significance exercise in California. This includes improving cross-border capabilities with the Mexican government. Priority areas in FY04 include maintaining our state of readiness, supporting homeland security emergency preparedness and response efforts, expanding our research and development efforts, and releasing an updated version of the Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations program (CAMEO) to support local emergency response efforts. CAMEO contains a library of chemicals and provides information to responders on fire fighting, physical properties, health hazards, first aid and spill response recommendations, along with information about air and water hazards. It also contains software to model chemical plume dispersion and provides a way to virtually “mix” chemicals to find out what dangers could arise from accidental combinations.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Program

NOAA’s Coastal Protection and Restoration (CPR) program provides efficient, effective solutions to address contaminated sites, restore coastal habitats, and revitalize coastal communities. CPR staff improve habitat at 250 coastal waste sites each year, including those in the Great Lakes basin. CPR has 25 FTEs and 13 contractors in NOAA offices in Seattle and field offices. The program collaborates with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Defense, states, potentially responsible parties, and communities at hazardous waste and contaminated sediment sites to:

• protect fish, wildlife, and coastal habitats by recommending cost-effective assessment, cleanup, and monitoring strategies

• restore natural resources through cooperative settlements and agreements

• provide database and mapping tools, and training to states and coastal communities to improve the efficiency of environmental assessment, cleanup, and restoration actions.

Since 1985, the NOAA CPR program has worked with cleanup agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental protection agencies to resolve natural resource concerns during remediation efforts for hazardous waste sites. While cleanup efforts are usually designed to eliminate or reduce the risks to human health, welfare, and the environment associated with hazardous substances, they may not fully address injuries to natural resources. NOAA’s CPR program works to reduce the threat to natural resources and ensure that cleanup actions at hundreds of coastal hazardous waste sites protect and restore coastal and marine resources.

In addition to improving cleanup of hazardous waste sites, NOAA’s CPR program works with responsible parties to cooperatively resolve their liability for injury to natural resources by implementing restoration projects. NOAA’s CPR program is involved in restoration activities that improve hundreds of acres of valuable wetland and stream habitat at more than 50 coastal waste sites. In FY04, for example, 71 acres of estuarine wetland are being created or restored at the Bailey Waste site and construction of an additional 94 wetland acres is underway in Galveston Bay at the Tex-Tin site in Texas; in Delaware more than 240 acres of estuarine habitat will be preserved and rehabilitated; and in New England, several miles of the Concord River (MA) and the Saugautucket River (RI) will be re-opened to migratory fish.

NOAA has successfully delivered integrated watershed database and mapping tools using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for ten coastal watersheds. These tools improve decision-making for contamination and restoration issues at local and national levels. Coastal communities and coastal management agencies use these various tools to map contamination, to evaluate and communicate ecological risk issues for contaminated aquatic areas, and to pursue restoration planning. This year, NOAA completed an updated CD-ROM for San Francisco Bay that features information to improve decision-making for the management and restoration of sub-tidal habitats. Due to the breadth of data available on the CD-ROM, the project was used as the foundation of a hands-on GIS training workshop for coastal resource managers held in partnership with San Francisco University at the San Francisco National Estuarine Research Reserve.

NOAA’s CPR program is supporting regional restoration planning efforts by building consensus on restoration priorities, leveraging ongoing restoration projects, and expediting restoration projects in order to more effectively restore habitat on a regional scale. Working with industry, local communities, and state and Federal agencies, the CPR program is linking mitigation and habitat improvement projects with larger regional and watershed restoration plans.

During FY04, CPR is expanding restoration partnerships with industry, states, coastal communities, and others at both the local and regional levels. For example, NOAA is leading an interagency Portfields project to help coastal communities like New Bedford, Massachusetts, Tampa, Florida, and Bellingham, Washington address contamination, restoration, and economic redevelopment issues related to port development, dredging, and "Brownfields" redevelopment. NOAA is also providing technical assistance, training, and support to states and communities (with increased efforts in Great Lakes) to strengthen local and regional capabilities to restore or redevelop contaminated sites. These partnerships will restore valuable coastal resources and revitalize coastal communities in key areas.

The Damage Assessment and Restoration Program

NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP) conducts natural resource damage assessments and restoration when oil spills and discharges of hazardous substances occur. During the past decade, DARP injury scientists, economists, restoration specialists, and attorneys have provided expertise and leadership to quickly restore wetlands, estuaries, fisheries, and wildlife. DARP has worked on natural resource damage assessments and restoration across the country. Restoration programs are underway all along the Nation's coast as a result of NOAA's successes with state, tribal, and federal partners. Examples include:

• removal of abandoned fishing nets off Kauai, Hawaii as partial compensation for a spill of 4,900 gallons of oil into the ocean near Honolulu, Hawaii;

• restoration of coastal wetlands, riverine habitats and oyster reefs injured by the release of approximately 50 million gallons of acidic waste water into the Alafia River in Florida; and

• mitigation of the impacts to birds, shoreline vegetation, fish and shellfishing, intertidal species and recreational lakes and beaches impaired by the release of around 39,000 gallons of oil into Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

DARP's accomplishments depend upon strong partnerships among the Damage Assessment Center (DAC) in NOS, the Restoration Center within NOAA Fisheries, and the Office of General Counsel for Natural Resources. The expertise provided by these offices makes DARP an essential part of NOAA's stewardship mission by supporting the restoration of coastal and marine resources. The Damage Assessment Center is composed of just 28 FTEs and 14 contractors in NOAA headquarters and field offices.

It should be noted that DARP's considerable successes have been realized through a relatively modest investment of resources that leverages monies provided by responsible parties. Since its inception in 1990, the DARP program and its partners have secured almost $300 million for restoring natural resource injuries from those responsible for the harm. In general, DARP generates $5.00 to $10.00 of restoration potential for each $1.00 of appropriations expended on the damage assessment program.

In FY 2004, DARP continues to develop its natural resource damage assessment capabilities and support ongoing damage assessments. These include: assisting state trustees for sites such as Commencement Bay in Washington and the Hudson River in New York; restoring natural resources injured by historical DDT and PCB contamination in the southern California marine environment; promoting cooperation between industry and government to restore natural resources; studying the value of coral reef protection and management in Hawaii; addressing small vessel groundings in seagrass habitats within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; and completing the regulations for conducting natural resource damage assessments under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

NOAA has not previously pursued damage assessments for oil spills in the Great Lakes. Starting in FY 2004, however, DARP will begin to respond, on a limited basis, to oil spills and initiate damage assessments when NOAA trust resources are significantly affected in the Great Lakes. Vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf waters have taken steps to reduce the number of oil and hazardous material spills, so NOAA is now able to redirect some resources to the Great Lakes.

FY 2005 Budget Request for NOAA's Response and Restoration Programs

In FY 2005, the President is requesting $16.858 million for Response and Restoration activities that will fund, in part, the Hazmat, CPR and DAC programs. In partnership with industry, states, tribes, and coastal communities, these funds will allow NOAA to continue to protect the integrity of coastal ecosystems through its natural resource protection and restoration efforts.

This FY 2005 funding request will ensure that the agency continues to meet its responsibilities under CERCLA and OPA to protect and restore injured coastal and marine resources. In FY 2005, the Hazmat program will continue to: develop modeling capabilities, particularly in the area of dispersed oil and chemical plumes; conduct training exercises; and publish environmental sensitivity index atlases. All efforts will be directed to increasing the U.S.'s capability to respond to oil and hazardous materials spills through the most scientifically sound and effective methods.

The FY 2005 funding request will allow the CPR program to improve and expand its partnerships and restoration activities. Support and technical assistance will continue to be provided directly to states and local communities to accelerate restoration and redevelopment of waste sites, port areas, and coastal communities. The funding will strengthen existing partnerships and coordination with states, industry, coastal communities, and non-governmental groups to expand regional restoration planning. NOAA will continue to provide technical assistance, training, and support to states and communities to strengthen local and regional capabilities to restore or redevelop contaminated sites and port areas. For example, we will continue to build and improve products in several watersheds, including the Hudson River in New York, Kalamazoo River in Lake Michigan, the Elizabeth River in Virginia, New Bedford Harbor in Massachusetts, Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, and Puget Sound in Washington.

NOAA's FY 2005 funding request for the components of DARP are contained in both the Response and Restoration line item and the Fisheries Habitat Restoration line item. The budget request under Response and Restoration will support DARP efforts to work cooperatively with responsible parties and expedite restoration of coastal resources injured by hazardous substances. This FY05 funding will continue to support damage assessment and restoration efforts for sites such as the Hudson River in New York, Commencement Bay in Washington, and LCP hazardous waste site in Georgia.

Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program

The second area I would like to focus on today is section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Management Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program.

Polluted runoff remains a threat to coastal waters. Recent reports from the National Research Council (Clean Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution) and leading academic institutions identify the widespread introduction of pollutants, especially excess nutrients, from land-based sources as the leading cause of coastal water quality degradation. Early indications are that the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy will also place a priority on improving programs and methods designed to prevent and manage the adverse impacts of coastal nonpoint source pollution.

Working with our coastal state partners, we have strengthened the ability of coastal jurisdictions to implement programs that will address major categories of nonpoint pollution in the coastal zone. The Coastal Nonpoint Program establishes enforceable policy frameworks coupled with educational and incentive-based programs to address the leading sources of coastal Non-Point Source (NPS) pollution including: agriculture, forestry, urban stormwater, septic systems, modifications of streams and riparian areas, and pollution from marinas. It is the primary federal-state partnership program aimed at improving the management of septic systems in the coastal zone, making marinas more environmentally friendly, and ensuring that land use decisions are made in the context of water quality impacts.

NOAA has worked closely with EPA to ensure that coastal states have the tools necessary to effectively manage nonpoint sources of pollution. The effort to develop comprehensive coastal nonpoint pollution control programs is largely complete. Thirty-three of the thirty-four states and territories that participate in the Coastal Zone Management Program now have either conditionally or fully approved coastal nonpoint programs. The thirty-fourth state, Indiana, is the most recent CZMA entrant, and is actively developing its coastal nonpoint program. Sixteen of the 34 have received full approval, five since NOAA testified before the Committee last year. Our goal is to facilitate the full approval of six more states in FY04. NOAA and EPA are working with these states as expeditiously as possible to examine how their progress addresses program conditions, which will move more states across the finish line. NOAA and EPA have also conditionally approved four coastal nonpoint programs developed by other recent CZMA entrants - Texas, Georgia, Minnesota and Ohio. Achieving full program approval often involves difficult changes to longstanding state and local policies and practices, which can involve political and economic sensitivities. For example, changes to state methods to design, operate, and inspect on-site septic systems are a national Coastal Nonpoint Program priority. These changes not only require the coordination of state water quality and coastal agencies with local health departments, but can also directly impact residential property owners whose systems may be causing NPS pollution. NOAA and EPA are working with our state partners to design and implement pragmatic approaches to reducing pollution from septic systems by targeting known problem areas, increasing education and outreach, and garnering commitments from coastal states to inspect the majority of systems located in their coastal watersheds over time.

The development of state coastal nonpoint programs has provided coastal states with a comprehensive plan for using a wide range of capabilities to manage polluted runoff. The Program has facilitated improvements in intra-state agency coordination, increased state understanding of water quality laws, developed innovative practices to combat complex NPS pollution problems, and filled niches left by other federal programs.

States are now at the stage of implementing these programs. Congress has supported the efforts of coastal states to implement their coastal nonpoint programs through appropriations of approximately $10 million per year in fiscal years 2001 through 2004 in NOAA. The Administration recognizes the important role that state coastal management programs can play in addressing coastal nonpoint pollution problems. We are confident that existing and incrementally improved state coastal nonpoint programs will yield coastal water quality benefits and NOAA looks forward to recommendations for new directions from the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Additionally, other agencies in the federal government, especially EPA and USDA, invest heavily in this area. NOAA’s request does not include additional funding for state implementation of nonpoint coastal programs; however, NOAA can and will continue to leverage its resources by working closely with EPA and other federal partners to apply its expertise in coastal management to nonpoint pollution issues and programs.

States have built the foundation for coastal nonpoint program implementation, and possess the expertise and authorities necessary to successfully implement their programs. States can continue to rely on coastal program funding (i.e., section 306 CZMA) and other federal sources (e.g., EPA’s 319 program and USDA’s EQIP), however, new sources of state and local funding commensurate with state-defined needs are paramount to the long-term success of state programs.

NOAA will maintain a leading role in nonpoint pollution research, science and education and we will continue our work to ensure that the public is served effectively by other federal investments in this area. NOAA’s assistance to states to assist in developing nonpoint pollution programs has provided a foundation to build the capabilities that are necessary to address nonpoint pollution at the state and local level. NOAA also anticipates being active participants in responding to recommendations made by the U.S. Ocean Commission related to nonpoint pollution in coastal watersheds.

In the future, one aspect of improving nonpoint implementation will be to look at the integration of NOAA's science capabilities with the management of coastal polluted runoff. This could be achieved by facilitating the development of watershed-specific integrated assessments that would provide stakeholders with a roadmap for addressing impairments caused by nonpoint source pollution through implementing the most cost-effective management actions.

Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia

The next two areas I would like to focus on today are the NOAA programs and activities related to harmful algal blooms and hypoxia both of which are now among the most pressing national problems to threaten coastal communities and ecosystems.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia are often interrelated issues affecting an increasing number of Great Lakes and coastal ecosystems. Virtually every coastal state has reported recurring major blooms and a recent national assessment revealed that over half of our Nation’s estuaries experience hypoxic conditions at some time each year. Hypoxia can stress and kill marine organisms, affecting commercial harvests and the health of impacted ecosystems while HABs can produce toxins that bioaccumulate in marine organisms or become airborne, leading to the closure of commercially important fisheries, the death of coastal marine wildlife and illness or death in humans. Just one HAB event can cost tens of millions of dollars to local coastal economies and the total costs associated with HABs over the past few decades have been conservatively estimated at over $1 billion.

NOAA’s mandate to address national issues related to HABs and hypoxia in the Nation’s coastal waters is mainly provided by the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (HABHRCA) ( P.L. 105-383). The Act called for the development of scientific assessments and an action plan, and authorized funding for a suite of scientific programs to help support efforts to prevent, control, and mitigate the impacts of HABs and hypoxia. In addition to HABHRCA, NOAA conducts HAB and hypoxia related research through the NOAA Authorization Act of 1992 (Section 201(c) of P.L. 102-567), which established the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program, and the Sea Grant Act of 2002 (National Sea Grant College Program Act Amendments of 2002) (P.L. 107-299), which contains authorization for competitive grants for university research on the biology, prevention, and forecasting of HABs, including Pfiesteria piscicida. In response, NOAA, working closely with our Federal, state, and academic partners, has made considerable progress in the ability to detect, monitor, assess, and predict HABs and hypoxia in coastal ecosystems. These advances are helping coastal managers undertake short and long term efforts to reduce, and ultimately, prevent the detrimental effects of these phenomena on human health and on valuable coastal resources.

NOAA research on HABs and hypoxia is organized around 6 complementary and interconnected programs and activities that involve a mix of extramural and intramural research, long-term regional ecosystem-scale studies supported by short-term targeted studies, collaborations between academic and federal scientists, and multiple partnerships with Federal, state and tribal managers.

The President's FY 05 budget request includes a restoration of $8.9 million of funding for Harmful Algal Bloom and Pfiesteria/HAB Rapid Research items of the budget which will enable continued support of many of the activities discussed in this testimony.

Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB)

This program, led by NOAA's Ocean Service, is run cooperatively with the National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Office of Naval Research. ECOHAB seeks to understand the causes and dynamics of HABs; develop forecasts of HAB growth, movement, landfall, and toxicity; and the development of new detection methodologies for HABs and their toxins.

Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB)

The NOAA Ocean Service MERHAB program assists States and Tribes in their response to current threats from HABs by forging working partnerships between leading government, public, and private entities in an impacted region. Through MERHAB, researchers and managers are transferring technology for pro-active detection of algal cells and toxins to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of coastal monitoring programs.

Research on HAB Prevention, Control, and Mitigation (PCM)

Advancements in this area of HAB research have been made through other NOAA HAB programs (e.g. ECOHAB, MERHAB) and using existing mechanisms (e.g. NOAA Sea Grant research and extension network), efforts are also underway in outreach and public education aimed at helping coastal communities and managers prevent and control the impacts of HABs. NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program recently provided Congress with a report, "Prevention, Control and Mitigation of Harmful Algal Blooms: A Research Plan", that outlined a research program that would expand on ongoing programs in NOAA and other agencies, and would provide the means for academic, government, and industry scientists and engineers to combine their efforts with those of coastal communities and managers in order to lessen the impacts of HABs on our Nation’s coasts.

HAB Research and Assessment Activities in NOAA Laboratories

NOAA’s laboratories have worked to overcome two key impediments to effective HAB management: 1) the lack of sensitive, toxin-specific assays and toxin standards for research and field application and 2) an understanding of how the physiology of organisms affect toxin movement through the food web. Results from investments in these laboratories have led to developments that are now aiding coastal scientists and managers with critical, timely information on the occurrence of HAB and other toxins.

Event Response

NOAA’s Ocean Service has two mechanisms that provide immediate assistance to state and federal coastal managers to reduce the impact of HAB events - the HAB Event Response Program and the Analytical Response Team. Through these programs coastal managers and public health officials can request immediate, coordinated assistance during toxic algal blooms, related health incidents, and marine animal mortality events.

Hypoxia Research and Monitoring

In the 1990s, through support from NOAA’s Ocean Service, the scientific community documented the distribution and dynamics of the hypoxic “dead zone” over the Louisiana continental shelf. These efforts provided the primary data and information for the six technical reports and the Integrated Assessment of the causes and consequences of Gulf hypoxia and the Action Plan for reducing, mitigating, and controlling hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico as mandated through HABHRCA. The uncertainties highlighted in the Integrated Assessment were used to identify research needs and form the basis of a competitive, peer-reviewed research program in the northern Gulf of Mexico to monitor and model the distribution and dynamics of the causes and consequences of Gulf hypoxia, including impacts to commercially important species, and to provide more accurate forecasts of the “dead zone” that can be used by coastal managers.

Ongoing activities and accomplishments

NOAA, through research conducted within these programs and in collaboration with our academic, government, state, and tribal partners, is making great strides in understanding and reducing the impacts of HABs and hypoxia on coastal ecosystems and communities. The following summarizes some of the major accomplishments:

• increased understanding of the complex interrelationships between HAB species and their environment in order to produce accurate models and forecasts of HABs, to understand how HAB toxins move through coastal food webs, and to evaluate the role of human activities in stimulating HABs;

• the identification of the chemical structures of some key HAB toxins, which is necessary for developing detection methods, determining their mode of toxicity and aiding in the development of antidotes and treatments;

• new remote sensing technologies such as optical detectors, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV’s) and satellite sensors, to detect and track HAB movements in time for coastal managers to take proactive measures to protect public health.

• provided assistance and analyses to federal, state, local, and international partners for 40 investigations related to cases involving toxins from algal blooms in humans and marine wildlife including sea lions, otters, dolphins, manatees, and whales;

• provided assistance to state agencies in monitoring and testing efforts and in the development of plans for rapid response to new outbreaks of harmful algae.

• the long-term documentation of the hypoxic zone off the Louisiana continental shelf-a key metric for setting and determining upstream nutrient management strategies in the Mississippi River watershed;

• development of predictive models capable of hindcasting and forecasting the size the hypoxic zone off the Louisiana continental shelf leading to the first ever “dead zone” forecast this year.

Future research areas and activities

NOAA intends to build upon these recent successes by focusing effort on ongoing and future priorities developed with Congressional guidance and formalized input from the external scientific and management community will produce a revised National Plan for Algal Toxins and HABs. NOAA intends to focus effort on the following research and activities:

• to continue research into the ecology and oceanography of HAB organisms with a focus on defining the genomes of critical species, identifying environmental factors that regulate HAB toxicity, and characterizing understudied as well as newly emerging HAB species;

• to continue developing “state of the art” technologies, including high resolution analytical methods to detect and purify known as well as novel algal toxins, remote in-water detection of HAB species and toxins in real time, and establishing micro-array technologies to monitor toxin exposure during natural events;

• to continue both transferring successful tools, techniques and research results to resource managers for integration into existing monitoring networks or regional observing systems and providing them scientific and analytical support during HAB events to promote effective management of marine resources, protected species, and public health;

• to expand upon research efforts focused on the areas of prevention, control, and mitigation of HABs and their socioeconomic impacts on ecosystems and coastal communities, and human health, along with, efforts in outreach and public education to help disseminate this information to the public;

• to continue research, monitoring and modeling efforts in the Gulf of Mexico aimed at predicting and documenting the size of the hypoxic zone and understanding its impact on commercially important species of the region;

• to develop a new hypoxia research program that utilizes the Gulf of Mexico research framework, to address research needs in other regions with persistent hypoxia problems such as the Chesapeake Bay, New York Blight, and Lake Erie.

NOAA’s Ocean Service is making great strides towards an operational forecast system for HABs. We have successfully implemented a prototype system along the west coast of Florida, where satellite imagery and field sampling data are integrated into a HAB bulletin routinely used by resource managers. In FY02 and FY03 the Ocean Service issued 12 and 39 bulletins, respectively. HAB bulletins for this region are providing advanced warning of potentially toxic red tide blooms. Managers use the bulletin to modify coastal monitoring, improve their ability to detect HABs and mitigate impacts of red tide on tourism and fisheries. The Ocean Service is developing similar programs that integrate satellite remote sensing with our partner monitoring and modeling in other U.S. coastal regions. These regions include the Texas coast and the Pacific Northwest and move us toward the goal of a national system of HAB forecasting.

Aquatic Nuisance Species

The last area I will speak to today is NOAA’s request for aquatic nuisance species activities. The President's budget includes $500,000 for implementation of section 1202 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, which directs NOAA and the Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent, control, and manage aquatic nuisance species.

In addition, the base funding request for the National Sea Grant College Program assumes that the national research competition will be continued. Similarly, approximately $1.7 million of base funding for the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory will continue to support invasive species activities.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for inviting NOAA to participate in today’s hearing. At this time, I would be pleased to respond to any questions.