The goals of New York's RAP program are to correct the water use impairments in their AOCs caused by contamination and assure that adequate protection practices are in place to prevent recurrence. The six AOCs in New York State include two international connecting channels, the Niagara River and the St. Lawrence River at Massena. The U.S. Great Lakes Critical Program's Act of 1990 requires each Great Lakes state to include RAPs in their state water quality program activities. Remedial Advisory Committees continue to meet on a regular basis to focus efforts on the implementation of priority remedial measures. The amount of direct government funding affecting Great Lakes program activities is a special interest for many local environmental organizations.
Funding is therefore a key element of all implementation activities.
Limited funding and some reductions have challenged stakeholders to assume increased responsibility and develop creative funding methods to implement RAP activities. Because of limited resources, commitments to implement RAPs continue to be of great concern. The dedication among all stakeholders to persevere with RAP development and implementation in New York State has involved considerable time and effort. Through implementation, these commitments will eventually be rewarded by improvements in the water uses and protection. This is accomplished by direct Great Lakes program funding as well as the core environmental program areas of water, air, hazardous waste and pollution prevention program activities conducted through partnerships involving government, industry and other stakeholder organizations.