# Presentation: 042700

## Office of Water NIS Activities and Concerns

**Diane Regas**
**Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water**
**U.S. Environmental Protection Agency**
- Nonindigenous Species Workshop
- July 12 & 13, 2000
- Washington, DC

## NIS Activities and Concerns

**Nonindigenous species are serious business**
**Tools the Office of Water uses**
- Regulatory
- Grants
- Inter-agency Coordination
- Partnerships with Private Sector
**Our activities include prevention, restoration**
**We need good science to do our job**

## BALLAST WATER

**Uniform National Discharge Standards **
**(UNDS)**
- We are currently writing regulations on standards for Armed Forces vessels discharges, including ballast water, hull cleaning and antifouling paint.
- Although UNDS applies only to Armed Forces vessels, it may pave the way for technology that can be used on all vessels.

## BALLAST WATER

**Petition to Regulate Ballast Water**
- In response, we have been studying
- implications,
- chances of success, and
- “side-effects”
- technological limitations
- gaps in knowledge
- gaps in current regulation.

## BALLAST WATER

**Petition to Regulate Ballast Water**
**Some early areas of consensus:**
-  The threat is real, and is appropriate for EPA to address
- The Clean Water Act does provide EPA with some authority, at least in some circumstances.
- The biggest impediment: the lack of effective treatment technologies.
- EPA should encourage the rapid development of these technologies, and help to implement them.

## BALLAST WATER

**Other regulation**
- Coast Guard regulations came out recently.
- EPA is working with Coast Guard and ANS Task Force to develop effective standards
- International Maritime Organization is working on an international ballast water treaty. EPA is on the U.S. Delegation.
- Several States recently passed ballast water laws. Other state legislatures are considering it.

## OTHER FEDERAL ACTIVITIES

**Invasive Species Council**
- “National Invasive Species Management Plan”
**Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force**
- Coordinates many Federal governmental NIS efforts.
- Focus shifting from mostly research to action
- Task Force committees, eg
- Mediterranean *Caulerpa taxifolia*
- Ballast Water and Shipping Committee
- Regional Panels

## NEPS AND NIS

- 28 NEPs are national watershed management models
- 1997: 9 NEPS identified NIS as high or medium priority;
- NEPs  designated NIS as 1 of 7 key management issues

## NEPS AND NIS (cont.)

**NEPS have:**
- Funded research on impacts of a major NIS, Atlantic Cordgrass, on native grasses and two endangered bird species in San Francisco Estuary
- Funded research that evaluated shoreside treatment of ballast water

## NEPS AND NIS (cont.)

**NEP headquarters staff:**
- served on workgroup that planned regional and this national workshop
- serve on inter-agency NIS Council workgroups
- are currently exploring potential for a mini-grant program to support NEP NIS initiatives

## NEPS AND NIS (cont.)

**San Francisco Estuary**
- 95%-99% of Bay Organisms are Non-native
- NIS is 1 of 10 top priorities
- Estimated $2.4M/Year Cost of Responding to NIS
- NEP Sits on Western Regional Panel of Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force

## NEPS AND NIS (cont.)

**Indian River Lagoon**
- 3 Exotic Plant Species:
- Brazilian Pepper,
- Australian pine,
- maleleuca tree
- Control is Very Costly
- Activities of NEP Include:
- volunteer “Pepper Busts”,
- beach & lagoon clean-up days

## WETLANDS RESTORATION

**EPA Work on CWAP Goal**
- Participate in Five Star Grant Program
- Supports community-led NIS restoration projects
- Examples:  Grants to Caddo Native American Tribe, Communities in Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Oregon
- Wetlands Division approach:  support restoration to level at or near naturally-functioning, healthy ecosystem

## BIOCRITERIA

- We strongly support state biocriteria development
- Biocriteria provide states with WQ standards benchmarks
- Work with states to develop biocriteria

## AQUACULTURE

- We have begun preparation of Aquaculture Effluent Guidelines
- How, if at all, should we address NIS in  these Guidelines?
- Stakeholders comments:
- all facilities potentially have escapees
- problem in fresh water as well as the marine environment.

## TMDLs

- 26 water bodies in 5 states are impaired from “Exotic Species”
- More than 800 waters listed as impaired from “Noxious Aquatic Plants” (alien or native)
- CA recently listed some waters of SF Bay as impaired by invasive species

## WATER DIVERSIONS

- Water transfers/diversions are potential pathways for invasives
- EPA is evaluating how to address water diversions that transfer chemical pollutants
- Some proposed water diversions may provide new NIS pathways

## RESEARCH NEEDS

**Major Research Needs**
- Efficacy and costs of prevention options, monitoring activities, control programs
- NIS vector sources
- Habitat vulnerability to NIS
- Treatment technologies

## CONCLUSION

- NIS are a major environmental problem
- We are devoting resources and attention to NIS prevention and restoration
- Research will play a vital role
- We welcome the opportunity to work closely with ORD in developing an NIS research agenda