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planned for corrective action, and (3) provide baseline information from which
success can be measured and refined. Each issue specific action agenda sets forth a
structured set of strategies, objectives, and action items to achieve these purposes.
Their current status is provided as follows:
1. Marine Debris; completed, one year status report now available
2. Public Health; finalized in 1993 and currently in print
3. Habitat degradation; final working draft
4. Coastal and Shoreline Erosion; final working draft
5. Nutrient Enrichment; under committee review
6. Toxic Substances and Pesticides; under committee review
7. Freshwater Inflow; first draft submitted to committee
8. Living Aquatic Resources; under committee review
International Activities
The Program participates in the cooperative effort between EPA and Mexican Federal
agencies in the development of the U.S./Mexico border operating plan and provides
technical assistance for several United Nations Caribbean Environmental Program
(CEPPOL) activities as they address the complex problems of land based sources of
pollution and water quality in the Caribbean region. Ongoing efforts to complete Gulf
of Mexico Special Area Designation will prevent the dumping of garbage from ships
under an international treaty for the “Prevention of Pollution From Ships” (MARPOL
Annex V). Collaboration and information exchange has been established with
EPOMEX (the Gulf of Mexico Ecology, Fisheries, and Oceanography Program), a
Mexican program that supports and coordinates regional research of the marine
environment. EPOMEX is geared towards the optimum exploitation and preservation
of the marine environment.
Program Inertia
Gulf Coast problems are often very complex and thus solutions are not
straightforward. With over 1600 miles of linear coastline and 17,000 miles of tidal
shoreline, the Gulf Coast is an immense geographical region. The variability of both
the natural and anthropogenic influences on the system presents a large number of
issues that need to be addressed. Given the size of the area, priorities must be set so
that resources can be used where they are most needed. Setting priorities can be
difficult when so many parties with very diverse and often unique interests are
involved. Public education and outreach activities for such a large and diverse
geographical region is an immense task. The five states that border the Gulf agree on
many issues, but disagree on others because of major differences in the driving forces
of the economies of each state. There are also numerous state organizations and
agencies to coordinate with in addition to the federal agencies that are involved, and
conflicting interests, such as development versus habitat preservation, recreational
versus commercial fishing interests, and freshwater consumption versus ecological use