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EPA Administrator
Signs Mobile Bay National Estuary Program Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan |
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Friday, April 26, 2002 EPA
Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has approved the Mobile Bay National
Estuary Program’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP).
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman submitted the CCMP for approval to EPA in
October 2001. The final approval was announced during a press conference
at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. EPA Region 4
Administrator, J.W. Palmer Jr, conveyed the Administrator’s approval
documents to Governor Siegelman.
It was developed by representatives from the private and public
sectors, including government, industry, business, and environmental
interest groups, and municipal officials.
It is an outstanding example of watershed and community-based
environmental management.
“We are very pleased with the Administrator’s announcement. The Mobile Bay has a direct economic impact of over $3 billion annually on Alabama’s economy. In order to continue to realize this benefit, we must protect the important ecological values of this estuary. The Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan is a road map to guide us on this journey. My administration is committed taking the steps necessary to turn the plan into reality,” said Governor Siegelman. The CCMP summarizes the major environmental challenges facing the estuary, and provides 29 actions to address these challenges. The actions address water quality, habitat management, living resources and human uses of estuary. The Mobile Bay and Delta are subject to an unusually large number of major uses with national implications, including the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, the Port of Alabama, commercial fisheries, industry, tourism and recreation and coastal development. As one of the first steps toward implementation of the environmental plan, Governor Siegelman announced a $5.9 million project with the Alabama Department of Transportation and the U.S. Corps of Engineers to open up two portions of the Causeway. This action will promote freer interchange of waters from the bay to those areas above the causeway by building bridges at Shell Bank and Sardine Pass. This is one of the specific actions spelled out in the CCMP under the heading of “ restoring more natural hydrologic conditions” and is a tangible demonstration of resolve to implement the CCMP “This plan is based on credible data. It will succeed because it was developed by representatives of all sectors of our local community and provides the means for this community to take responsibility for the environmental stewardship of Mobile Bay and the Delta” said David Yeager, Director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. (To view the CCMP go to Publications and choose the PDF download.)
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