Just in case you were asleep, as i was, this press release showed up on the DNR web site a while ago…
Atchafalaya Basin Board Prepares for Final Planning Push
The Atchafalaya Basin Program’s Research and Promotion Board met this week to hear an outline of the progress that has been made in the first year of its new annual plan process and the schedule for the rest of the work to be done before the upcoming regular legislative session.
The Board also welcomed DNR Coastal Restoration and Management Deputy Assistant Secretary Stephen Chustz as the acting director of the Basin Program.
Chustz has served in state government for more than 20 years, primarily with the Department of Environmental Quality, where he served as a scientist and supervisor in various DEQ programs and initiatives dealing with surface water and ground water, including helping develop a computerized compliance monitoring system for surface water, development of regulations and guidance for ground water issues, development of the Source Water Assessment Program, and serving as senior environmental scientist for DEQ’s Environmental Technology Division.
“Stephen’s training and experience make him uniquely suited to head the staff of our Atchafalaya Basin Program, and he has a long record of working in and managing programs based on using the best science to protect the environmental interests of our state,” said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle.
Angelle also commented on the work that lies before the Board as it continues through the new annual planning process, noting that the legislatively created Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is in the process of considering suggested water management and water quality projects for the upcoming Basin Annual Plan.
The TAG has already held a series of public meetings to solicit nominations for potential water management and quality projects and to give stakeholders the opportunity to participate in the process. Those meetings were held last October, with Basin staffers and TAG members hosting meetings in Morgan City, Plaquemine, and Henderson.
Angelle said the new rules approved by the state Legislature last year on approving and funding projects in the basin have been crafted to put management of water first and make good science the basis for decisions.
The TAG is made up of nine scientists, chaired by a representative of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and made up of representatives from the departments of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Fisheries, Environmental Quality, Agriculture and Forestry, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geologic Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and LSU School of Renewable Resources.
The state Legislature has invested in the TAG the responsibility for vetting proposed projects to ensure they are based on sound science before they go on to the Basin Board for inclusion in the proposed Annual Plan.
The schedule as laid out to the Board calls for the TAG to review and prioritize suggest projects by Jan. 31 and deliver a draft plan to the Board by Feb. 5. The Board then will hold public hearings on the plan on Feb. 9 and Feb. 11, and meet to consider the final plan on Feb. 19, before forwarding it to the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority for consideration at a March 19 meeting.
If all goes according to schedule, the Board will pass the final proposed plan on the state Legislature by April 27, for consideration in the regular legislative session.