CCMP UPDATES &
PDE GOALS
STAC/EIC Meeting– Sept. 5th, 2013
Ground Rules
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Agenda Time: 1.5 Hour
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No comments until after the presentation!
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Schedule a Call with Priscilla
Origins: Delaware Estuary Program
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1988 - Delaware Estuary was nominated by the three state governors for
inclusion into the National Estuary Program
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1990 - Delaware Estuary joined the National
Estuary Program
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Original Partners: EPA, DRBC, NJ, PA, DE, NOAA, USACE
1996 - Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan (CCMP)
PA, DE, NJ
Management Division
Reorganization in 2005
DELEP
Partnership for the
Delaware Estuary
(PDE)
Science
Policy
Restoration
Education
Fundraising
Coordinate
dozens of
partners
(Agency, NGO,
Academic,
Corporate)
DRBC
Oversee
Management
Plan (CCMP)
Water Quantity
& Quality
Monitoring
State of the
Estuary
Advisory
Committees
States
Various:
Restore habitat,
Monitoring, Land
management, etc.
Where is the Management Plan Now?
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PDE annually reports CCMP
implementation to EPA
State of the Estuary Reports: 1996,
2002, 2008, 2012
CCMP Updates
(est. 2013-2014)
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EPA Requirement – Measurable Goals
for the Delaware Estuary
Updating the CCMP
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Category
STAC/EIC feedback from 2012 workshop
Website to contain updates
Roll out – Winter 2013
Action
Ref.
Status
CCMP Original
Update
H7
Needs
updating
Protect Littoral Habitats
from Sea Level Rise
Threats
Refresh language to reflect
current climate program &
partner efforts
Badge &
Mascot
E21, E22
Not
relevant
Create Estuary
Environmental Badge
& Mascot
Delete CCMP Actions
Wetlands
H4
Needs
updating
Coordinate/Enhance
Wetlands Management
New wetland monitoring
programs & restoration
Climate
PDE Measurable Goals
Healthy Waters
Toxics, Nutrients, Dissolved
Oxygen, Flow, Salinity
Healthy Communities
Brownfields, Public Access,
Ecotourism, Urban Forests,
Public Participation,
Estuary Engagement
1.
Healthy Habitats
1.
Wetlands, Forests,
Riparian Buffers, Fish &
Shellfish
Progress Update
Year
Date
Activity
2013
Oct. 3
Steering Committee
2013
Aug 22Sept 26
STAC/EIC – Final Review Period
2013
Sept. 5
STAC/EIC Meeting
2013
June 6
Toxics Advisory Committee Meeting
2013
Feb-July
STAC Committees/Webinars/Interviews
2013
Jan. 28
Delaware Estuary Science & Environmental Summit - Polling
2012
Oct. 11
Steering Committee (13 Goals Accepted)
2012
Oct. 1-2
STAC/EIC Workshop
2012
JuneSept
STAC Committees
Goals: Healthy Habitats
Wetlands, Forests, Riparian Buffers, Fish & Shellfish
Goals: Healthy Habitats
Healthy
Habitats =
Measure – short term
Measure – long term
Responsible
Agencies:
Assumptions/
Needs
Functioning
wetlands
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
PDE, EPA, States,
USFWS, NOAA
- Sustain MACWA to track
wetland acreage and
health
- Establish wetland
regional body
- Develop estuary-wide
baseline for health by 2020
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
Contiguous/
connected
forests
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
Healthy fish and 
shellfish habitat
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Get a robust tidal wetland monitoring program
with a regional body for coordination and
consistency of tracking wetland health in place by
2020
Develop estuary-wide baseline for tidal wetland
health by 2020 and goals to sustain tidal wetland
health by 2022.
Identify and implement tactics to maintain high
value tidal wetlands and limit acreage loss to 5%
of 2006 acreage by 2025
Stem forest loss to less than 1% per year by 2025
Develop metrics and tracking system for loss of
buffers and connectedness by 2017
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Secure dedicated funding of $1million or more
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per year for oyster shell planting by 2015
By 2017 define, map and inventory and by 2030
protect the following critical species habitat:

o
Mussel habitat (fresh and marsh)
o
Vegetated nursery habitat for fish & crabs,
particularly in shallow intertidal areas
o
Beach habitat for horseshoe crabs

o
Critical bottom habitat for sturgeon (and
other fish)
Facilitate 1-2 fish passage projects per year
Take aggressive action to limit net
acreage loss of tidal wetlands to
15% of 2006 acres by 2040
Tidal wetland health TBD in 2022
based on short term actions
No net loss of non-tidal wetlands
TBD in/after 2025 based on short
term actions
States, USFW,
USFWS, DRBC,
EPA, TNC, NFS,
USFS Field station,
DVRPC
Maintain or increase oyster beds at PDE, States, EPA,
2012 acreage with 25% increase in USFWS, NOAA,
productivity by 2030
USCG, USACE,
Increase freshwater mussel
DRBC, ASMFC
abundance and habitat by year and
amount TBD based short term
results
Achieve goals established in
recovery plans for Atlantic and
short-nosed sturgeon to improve
habitat
Work with partners and
existing tools to track
forests
- EPA cannot participate in
solicitation of funding
- Subject to completion of
MOU with NJ Heritage
Program to id/map mussel
habitat
- Collaborate with partners
in the areas of sturgeon
recovery, fish passage, and
oyster recovery
Goals: Healthy Communities
Brownfields, Public Access, Ecotourism, Urban Forests,
Public Participation, Estuary Engagement
Goals: Healthy Communities
Healthy
Communities =
Measure – short term
Growth That Helps 
People and Living
Resources
Measure – long term
Responsible
Agencies:
Assumptions/Needs:
Assess and inventory urban 
waterfront brownfields
(UWB) and public access
opportunities by 2015
Prioritize and increase urban
waterfront brownfield
projects by 2017
Reclaim 50% of waterfront States, EPA, NOAA,
brownfields to include
DRBC, PWD, counties
public access and living
& municipalities, PDE
shorelines/wetlands by
2050
- UWB = brownfields with frontage on tidal
waters
- Standardize use of term “brownfield” to
align with EPA’s definition
- Connect with existing brownfield partners
to inventory, prioritize, and increase
brownfield projects
Restored/Protecte 
d Living
Resources*
Establish goals and measures 
to reconnect the public to
natural resources through
ecotourism, urban forests,
and protected lands with
public access by 2015
Sustain or enhance existing
public access points in bayfront communities, and
increase access points
(relative to 2012) in
underserved urban areas
to reconnect communities
to the water
States, USFS, EPA,
PWD, DRBC, USFW,
counties &
municipalities, PDE,
UWFP
Connect with other organizations and
partnerships working on similar goals
Public Understand- 
ing and
Participation

PDE marketing &
communications plan
completed by 2015
Begin implementing
marketing/branding
campaign by 2018 with
means to measure results
TBD between 2015 and
2018 based on PDE
marketing and
communications plan
PDE, States, EPA,
USFWS,NPS
- Coordinate with partners to connect with
other regional marketing and
communication plans
- Contract with marketing professions
- Include assessing feasibility of using public
polling to determine increase in affinity for
Delaware River and Bay and its major
tributaries in planning
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
Goals: Healthy Waters
Toxics, Nutrients, Dissolved Oxygen, Flow & Salinity
Goals: Healthy Waters
Healthy Waters = Measure – short-term
Few or no toxic
impacts
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Few or no nutrient
impacts
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Flow to support
drinking water and
ecology
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Measure – long-term
Assess the need for and establish
biological endpoint criteria for
contaminants of concern by 2020
Continue support for established
monitoring programs, and achieve
expansion of toxics monitoring with
biological endpoints by 2025
Prioritize urban waterfront brownfield
projects by 2015

Assess nutrient impacts on estuarine
resources (e.g. wetlands and shellfish);
establish criteria by 2015 and targets
based on that assessment by 2020
Implement appropriate DO standards in
Zone 2-6 for fish and other key aquatic
species, with interim standards for
existing use by 2015 and standards for
highest attainable use by 2020..
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Utilize model-derived benchmarks for

flow management as they become
available
Establish and incorporate low
flow/salinity benchmarks for natural
balance and ecological highest attainable
use in flow management by 2017
Responsible
Agencies:
Reduce PCB concentrations in
DRBC, States,
fish tissue by 25% by 2050
EPA, NOAA,
(relative to 2013 levels)
PDE
Notes – Establishing new biological
endpoints by 2020 will help to
guide long-term reduction goals.
Assumptions/
Needs:
-Inventory existing toxics monitoring
programs by 2015
-Conduct gap analysis of monitoring
programs, funding needs
-Identify relevant biological endpoints
(eggs, blood, tissue, drinking water,
etc.) by 2017
-Total load reduction of PCBs by
~25% by 2025
By 2030, estuarine resource
endpoints show improvement
from targeted nutrient
reductions.
Achieve highest attainable use
for DO by 2030
DRBC, States,
EPA, counties
&
municipalities,
PDE
Following EPA’s release of ammonia
criteria, further assessment into other
nutrient impacts
Research nutrient impacts on
shellfish (e.g. sediment ammonia and
freshwater mussel erosion)
Research nutrient impacts on
wetlands by 2020
By 2025 achieve and maintain
flow at benchmarks for drinking
water and ecological highest
attainable use in the face of
changing watershed conditions,
including climate change.
DRBC, States,
PWD, ACOE,
NYC, water
purveyors
(WRADRB).
PDE
Biological inputs needed for flow
model
Goals: Comments Received
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Request to add The Nature Conservancy as a partner for two goals:
Restored/Protected Living Resources and Public Understanding and
Participation
Request to remove climate change language from the Healthy
Waters goals.
Concerns raised about the “criteria setting” language in the Healthy
Waters goals, especially with “establishing biological endpoint
criteria by 2020” (Healthy Waters Row # 1) and “nutrient criteria
by 2015” (Healthy Waters Row # 2); Request to consider replacing
with language establishing metrics upon which eventual criteria
would be based in the future.