4-9-15 EBC Ocean & Coastal Resources Program: Federal Agency Updates on FY15 Appropriations and...

EBC Ocean and Coastal Committee Program

Federal Agency Updates on FY15 Appropriations and Planned Spending

Thursday, April 9, 2015

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

New England Headquarters

Leighton Memorial Hall

Boston

AGENDA

10:00 a.m. Welcome Daniel K. Moon, President, EBC

Payson R. Whitney, III, P.E., Program Co-Chair and Moderator

Chair, EBC Ocean & Coastal Resources Committee

Vice President, Water & Coastal Engineering, ESS Group, Inc.

10:10 a.m. Opening Remarks Curt Spalding, Regional Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Agency Presentations and Panel Discussions

10:15 a.m. Panel Moderator: Payson Whitney, ESS Group, Inc.

Speakers

Matt McCann, DHS/FEMA Region 1

Martha Curran, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Dan Hubbard, First Coast Guard District

Steven Wolf, New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

11:15 a.m. Panel Moderator: Margherita Pryor, U.S. EPA

Speakers

Betsy Nicholson, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Mel Cote, U.S. EPA Region 1

Bob LaBelle, U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

12:00 p.m. Open Discussion

12:30 p.m. Adjourn

Program Co-Chairs

Margherita Pryor

U.S. EPA Region 1, New England

5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109

(617) 918-1597 // [email protected]

Margherita Pryor is the Region 1 liaison for all six New England National Estuary Programs (NEPs) and until

recently was project officer and coordinator for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program. She currently is

helping lead the newly launched Southeast New England Coastal Watershed Restoration Program

(SNECWRP). Other responsibilities include serving as:

Regional coordinator for the Rhode Island Nonpoint Source Program;

Staff lead for reviewing water elements of the Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA) with

Rhode Island that lays out annual commitments for how the state will carry out its responsibilities

for environmental protection, including development of a comprehensive monitoring strategy, a

watershed-based framework for protection and restoration, and better integration among water

programs;

EPA representative to the Rhode Island NRCS state technical team, as well as a number of inter-

and intra-agency workgroups and a variety of organizations in the state and the watershed.

In addition, she works with EPAs HQ water offices (OWOW and OST) in the development of the Healthy

Watersheds Initiative and the development of a biological condition gradient (BCG) framework for complex

estuarine systems. Pilot projects for the latter are underway in Narragansett Bay, Mobile Bay (AL), and

Tampa Bay (FL).

Before coming to in November of 1998, she worked at EPA HQ in a variety of offices including effluent

guidelines and permits, regulatory management, public affairs and the EPA Journal magazine, ORDs Office

of Science Policy, development of biological criteria, and the launching and operation of the National

Estuary Program. She is particularly interested in development of meaningful performance and

improvement measures, as well as ways to better integrate programs and policies to achieve better, more

sustainable results.

Payson R. Whitney, III, P.E., Vice President, Water & Coastal Engineering

ESS Group, Inc.

100 Fifth Avenue, 5th Floor, Waltham, MA 02451

(781) 419-7750 // Cell: (781) 710-2744 // [email protected]

Payson is a registered Professional Engineer (MA, RI, NH, VA) with more than 20 years of experience as a

Civil/Coastal Engineer in a wide range of public and private sector projects, including project design and

management activities in civil/site engineering and coastal permitting/shoreline assessment. His

engineering design and management experience includes dredging design; marina planning and design;

wetlands restoration design, roadway design; site layout and design; stormwater management permitting,

design, and compliance; preparing and reviewing construction bid documents and shop drawings;

construction phase services, and environmental monitoring. He specializes in the planning, permitting,

and construction of submarine electric cables and other offshore energy facilities.

Speakers

Melville P. Cot Jr., Chief, Ocean and Coastal Protection Section

Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region I

Five Post Office Square, Suite 100 (OEP06-1), Boston, MA 02109


Mel Cot is chief of the Ocean and Coastal Protection Section in the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agencys New England Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ocean and Coastal Protection

Section administers the National Estuary Program for the six member estuaries in New England, the

Regional dredged material management and ocean disposal programs, and several other marine water

quality programs. Mel also serves on the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, the Gulf of Maine Council, and

the board of the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, as well as other

assorted regional committees and workgroups.

Mel began his EPA career in August 1990 as manager of the Near Coastal Waters Program in the former

Water Management Divisions Marine and Estuarine Protection Section. From February 1993 to February

2002, he served as the Senior Regional Program Manager for the Long Island Sound Study National

Estuary Program and the Connecticut Nonpoint Source Program. In that position he worked with the

Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and other federal, state, regional, and local

government agencies and non-governmental organizations to plan, implement, and monitor watershed

management, nonpoint source, and habitat restoration projects. Mel holds a BA in Journalism and

Communications from Washington and Lee University and an MA in Environmental Policy from Tufts

University.

Martha Curran, Field Environmental Officer

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

10 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02222


Martha Curran is a Field Environmental Officer with HUDs Region 1 (Boston) Office, where she has

responsibility for advising HUD staff and its grantees on environmental compliance -- in particular on

policy and procedural requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act and related

environmental laws and regulations. Prior to joining HUD, Ms. Curran worked in a variety of environmental

management positions in both the private and public sectors, including several consulting firms and the

Environmental Protection Agency. She has a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Economics from George

Washington University, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Daniel L. Hubbard, GS, Chief, Maritime Energy & Marine Spatial Planning

First Coast Guard District

408 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110


Daniel Hubbard is the Chief of the Maritime Energy and Marine Planning for the First Coast Guard District

in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the mission manager for all energy development with a maritime nexus

from the Canadian border to New Jersey, including renewable energy, petroleum and LNG. Dan

represents the Coast Guard and DHS on the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and Northeast Regional

Planning Body. Prior to joining the Coast Guard as a civilian, he was a maritime energy and security analyst

with Booz Allen Hamilton servicing clients in Massachusetts and Virginia. He has focused his work on the

regulatory and inter-jurisdictional challenges of development on the outer continental shelf and worked

with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Dan is also a reserve Judge

Advocate in the Coast Guard and was a first responder to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and was most

recently deployed during the Hurricane Sandy response.

Robert P. LaBelle, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director

U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

45600 Woodland Rd, Sterling, VA 20166


Robert LaBelle is Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director, BOEM. He has also served as the Chief

Environmental Officer for the Bureau and previously as the Associate Director for Offshore Energy at the

Department of the Interior. Mr. LaBelle contributes to management of key facets of the US offshore

renewable energy program, including development and regulation of offshore wind, wave, and marine

current energy in all U.S. Federal waters. He has received the Citation for Distinguished Service (2008) from

the Department in recognition of his career scientific and management accomplishments.

Mr. LaBelle is presently the Department of the Interior member on the Northeast Regional Planning Body,

which is developing ocean planning initiatives in New England. He has also served as the Federal Co-Chair

of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, a state/federal partnership to advance ocean planning and

related science in New England. Since 2004 he has participated in policy development and

implementation and in numerous forums on offshore renewable energy issues, including environmental

assessments, ocean planning and permitting. Previously with DOI as Environmental Division Chief, Mr.

LaBelle managed large environmental and technology research programs and oversaw the preparation of

Environmental Impact Statements and other decision documents used for US offshore energy permitting.

Mr. LaBelle is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (BS Biology), the University of

Maryland (MS Biology), and Loyola College, MD (MBA).

Matt McCann, CEM, Deputy Federal Preparedness Coordinator

DHS/FEMA Region 1

99 High Street, Boston MA 02210


Matt McCann is DHS/FEMAs Deputy Federal Preparedness Coordinator for New England focused on

enhancing whole community resiliency. He concurrently has 23 years of multi-disciplined full and part-

time service with the U.S. Coast Guard. Matt previously worked in management for the Department of

State Bureau of Consular Affairs and in the chemical and air freight industries. He has extensive crisis

response experience and is both a Certified Emergency Manager and Type I Incident Commander. Matt is

a graduate of Norwich University, earned a Masters in Public Administration from the University of New

Hampshire, and is an alumnus of the GS Graduate Schools Executive Potential Program. He resides in

York County Maine.

Betsy Nicholson, Northeast Lead, Office for Coastal Management

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930


As Northeast lead for NOAAs Office for Coastal Management, Nicholson and her team provide technology,

information, and management strategies used by local, state, and regional organizations to address

complex coastal issues, with a focus on regional ocean planning and climate change adaptation. Nicholson

serves as NOAAs lead and Federal Co-Lead of the newly established Northeast Regional Planning Body,

charged with developing a regional ocean plan and products for NE waters along with tribal, state and

Fishery Management Council colleagues. She has also served as the NOAA representative to the Northeast

Regional Ocean Council (NROC) since its inception in 2005.

Nicholson started with NOAA in 2000 and during her tenure in Washington, served as the National Ocean

Service liaison to the NOAA Administrator, and as the NOAA Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce.

Nicholson received a Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelor

of Arts degree from Williams College.

H. Curtis Spalding, Regional Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1

5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109-3912


H. Curtis "Curt" Spalding has extensive experience in the environmental protection field as an advocate,

policy analyst and administrator. For almost 20 years, he served as Executive Director of Save the Bay in

Rhode Island, a nationally recognized, 20,000-member environmental advocacy and education

organization. He established the Narragansett BayKeeper and Habitat Restoration programs, which

reconnected Save the Bay to ecologically important bay issues, and he oversaw the successful completion

of the $9 million Explore the Bay Campaign and construction of the Save the Bay Center at Fields Point in

Providence, Rhode Island.

Since joining the EPA leadership team in February 2010, Spalding has been leading a holistic approach to

finding environmental solutions in New England. Hes emphasized efforts in environmental justice and

green economy. Spalding has focused our efforts in the region on three cross-cutting initiatives: Climate

Change, Stormwater and Communities.

Spalding has been heavily engaged in preparedness efforts for flooding in New England. He has also been

involved in a number of pilot projects working on sustainability in communities around the region. Urban

revitalization is a priority for Spalding, and you can see it coming to fruition in places like Holyoke, MA and

Bridgeport, CT.

Spalding received his bachelors degree from Hobart College and an M.P.A. from SUNY at Albany in Albany,

NY.

Steven Wolf, Program Manager

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District

696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742


Mr. Wolf joined the Corps of Engineers in 2010 to manage the New England District's Disposal Area

Monitoring System (DAMOS) Program. The DAMOS Program, which dates back to 1977, monitors in-water

dredged material disposal sites from western Long Island Sound to Downeast Maine to ensure that

environmental impacts associated with the placement of dredged material are minimized and to aid in the

long-term management of placement sites. Prior to joining the Corps, Mr. Wolf spent 20+ years providing

environmental consulting to both government and private sector clients with projects ranging from coastal

water quality monitoring to remediation of sediment Superfund sites.

Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc.

375 Harvard Street, Suite 2 // Brookline, MA 02446

(617) 505-1818 // [email protected] // @ebcne // www.ebcne.org

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