Links

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Virginia CZM State Agency Partners

Virginia CZM Local Partners - PDCs, Counties, Cities and Towns

Virginia Environmental Organizations, Groups and Programs

Federal and National Programs

Coastal Zone Management Programs in Other States

Congress

Other Websites of Interest

Virginia CZM Program Partners

The Program is a not a single centralized agency or entity, but a network of state agencies, under 3 secretariats, and 87 localities, regionally represented by 8 planning district commissions.  This network of partners administers the enforceable laws, regulations and policies that protect our coastal resources.

State Partners (by Secretariat)

Secretariat - Natural Resources

Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources

• Department of Conservation and Recreation
  Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Control, Coastal Lands Management
  • DCR Public Calendar
  • Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department
    
• Department of Environmental Quality
  Point Source Air and Water Pollution Control
  • DEQ Public Calendar
  • Virginia Pollution Prevention Program - DEQ
    
• Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
  Fisheries Management
  • DGIF Public Calendar
• Department of Health
  Shoreline Sanitation
• Department of Historic Resources
  
• Virginia Marine Resources Commission
  Dunes Management, Tidal Wetlands Management, Fisheries Management, and Subaqueous Lands Management
  • MRC Public Calendar
  • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission - Virginia is a member of this regional commission 
  
  

Secretariat - Agriculture and Forestry

Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

• Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Department of Forestry

Secretariat - Commerce and Trade

Secretary of Commerce and Trade

• Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Secretariat - Education

Secretary of Education

• Virginia Institute of Marine Science
  • Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve System
  • Virginia Institute of Marine Science - Center for Coastal Resources Management wetlands information and reports
  • Virginia Sea Grant

Secretariat - Transportation

Secretary of Transportation

• Virginia Department of Transportation 

Virginia's PDCs, Counties, Cities and Towns

• Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission

• Crater Planning District Commission

• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (PDC 23)

• Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (PDC 18)

• Northern Neck Planning District Commission (PDC 17)

• Northern Virginia Regional Commission (PDC 8)

• George Washington Regional Commission (PDC 16)

• Richmond Regional Planning District Commission (PDC 15)

Virginia Environmental Organizations, Groups and Programs

• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

• Back Bay Restoration Foundation - Virginia Beach

• Chesapeake Bay Commission

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation

• Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network ("linking the special places of the Bay watershed")

• Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore - Virginia's Delmarva Peninsula

• Clean Virginia Waterways

• Elizabeth River Project

• Friends of the Dragon Run

• Friends of the Potomac River Refuges

• Friends of the Rappahannock

• Green Infrastructure Center

• Hoffler Creek Wildlife Foundation

• James River Association

• Mattaponi-Pamunkey Rivers Association

• Ocean Conservancy (formerly the Center for Marine Conservation)

• Southern Environmental Law Center

• The Nature Conservancy

• Virginia Conservation Network
  • Calendar of Events

• Virginia Environmental Endowment

• Virginia Sustainable Building Network

• Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Museum (Marine Mammal & Sea Turtle Stranding Network)

• Virginia Museum of Natural History at UVA

• Virginia Water Resources Research Center - Virginia Tech

• Virginia Wetlands Watch

Federal and National Programs

• Federal Web Locator

• Council on Environmental Quality

• U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission Report

• Coastal States Organization

• Coastal America
  --- federal interagency partnership for coastal resource management

• USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program

• US Army Corps of Engineers
  • Norfolk District

• National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA)
  --- NERRA web site includes NERRA's strategic plan, grants and projects, policy statements, Congressional testimony, and budget priorities. The web site has an easy to use map that links the viewer directly to the web sites of all of the National Estuarine Research Reserves, and has a number of other links to partners and coastal and ocean organizations. Learn more about NERRA's current projects and efforts to improve the protection, understanding, and science-based management of the nation's estuaries and coasts.

• NASA Oceanography Ocean Literacy website
  --- site to support development of an ocean literate public - designed for students and others to explore and better understand the ocean through links to educational resources; national, regional, and state oceanography programs; selected ocean literacy papers; and other information.

NOAA Sites

• National Ocean Service (NOAA's National Ocean Service is one of five major line offices in NOAA.)
  • NOS Office of Ocean and Coastal Resources Management (OCRM)
    • Dock and Pier website
      --- contains information about all the projects NOS has completed or continues to work on as part of the "Dock and Pier Initiative" including: national science synthesis workshop, national management tools workshop, searchable dock and pier bibliography, searchable dock and pier database, inventory of laws, regulations and policies for four southeastern states, visual impact assessment white paper, and training materials to assist with regional outreach efforts. Other dock and pier related information will be made available when complete.
    • Outreach and Education Materials available from OCRM
  • NOAA National Ocean Service Education Page
  • NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office

• NOAA Education Resources

• NOAA Photo Library

• NOAA Office of Education and Sustainable Development

• NOAA Ocean Explorer: NOAA Ocean Exploration Offices

• Coral Reef Information System

• National Marine Fisheries Service
  • NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center Office of
    Marine Ecosystems Studies website

  --- featuring the first advisory on conditions across the Northeast Continental Shelf
  Large Marine Ecosystem. The Office intends to update the advisory biannually, providing a handy reference on trends in primary productivity, zooplankton biomass and diversity, and sea surface temperatures on the shelf. The current advisory shows trends of relatively stable temperatures and chlorophyll, as well as an increase in zooplankton.

  • NOAA "Fishing Industry Homepage"
    --- (NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Region) - access for constituents to regulations by subregions. The website using groundfish as a pilot project and will include other species in the near future.

• Keep Oceans Clean Website ---
  --- NOAA is encouraging all Americans to protect the oceans from the harm caused by marine debris. Promoting individual responsibility, NOAA has partnered with the Advertising Council, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Environmental Defense, and the Disney Studios to deliver an ocean health message that underscores the cause and effect of human behavior. Featuring scenes and characters from "The Little Mermaid", the new public service announcements drive home the message that "life in the oceans depends on you." Routine activities alone bring 6.4 million tons of debris, mostly plastics, to our oceans each year. You can check out the campaign, and share it with family and friends, at http://keepoceansclean.org.
  

• NOAA Expanded World Ocean Database -
  --- NOAA has released a significantly expanded World Ocean Database 2005, the world's largest collection of scientific information about oceans, dating as far back as 1800. This update of the previous 2001 databases contains 900,000 new temperature profiles and captures 29 different categories of scientific information from the oceans, including temperature, salinity, oxygen level, and nutrient content. The new database, compiled by the NOAA’s Ocean Climate Laboratory, also includes information about tritium, freons, noble gases, and other isotopes found in the oceans. Check out the database at http://nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/indprod.html.

• Ecosystem Based Management Tools Website -
  --- The Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Tools Network has developed a website that provides a comprehensive source for information and tools for coastal and marine ecosystem-based management. These tools include a searchable online EBM tool database, training and funding opportunities, coastal and marine data sources, and meetings and conferences on EBM tools. See http://ebmtools.org/.

• Coastal Socioeconomic website
  --- NOAA's Management and Budget Special Projects Office website highlighting Spatial Trends in Coastal Socioeconomics (STICS). This website offers time series, geo-referenced data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It also offers web-based data analysis and display tools to facilitate data retrieval, mapping, analysis, and assessments. Contents on the new website include demographic and housing information as well as personal income and employment data. The data is available for coastal areas and watersheds as well as by state, county and other boundaries used by the Census Bureau. The primary objective of the site is to increase awareness and improve access to socioeconomic information.

• NowCOAST
  --- Web mapping portal designed to enhance maritime safety and commerce and monitor physical changes in weather, oceanographic, and river conditions. The portal provides users with real-time coastal observation and forecast data for nation's major estuaries and seaports, coastal regions, and Great Lakes. For more information...

• NOAA Restoration Center
  --- provides centralized access to information about NOAA restoration programs, projects, and activities through a single point-of-entry. It is organized according to four thematic areas:  Collaborating with Communities, Restoring Injured Habitats and Natural Resources, Advancing Restoration Science, and the Estuary Restoration Act.

• US Marine Protected Areas (NOAA/Dept. of the Interior)
  --- the U.S. site on marine protected areas (updates on Presidential Executive Order 13158 on marine protected areas) - contains improved and expanded information on topics such as MPA definitions; federal MPA legislation and programs; the marine managed areas inventory; the MPA Federal Advisory Committee; online regional information centers; frequently asked questions about MPAs; a glossary of terms related to U.S. MPAs; and, an online library with more than 1,000 resources on MPAs.

• Coastal Services Center - NOAA
  • Coastal Resource Management Funding Opportunities Page
  • Beach Nourishment: A Guide for Local Governments website
    --- offers information on all aspects of beach nourishment. Includes descriptions of coastal geological and ecological processes, discussions of legal and regulatory requirements, information on federal project cost sharing, and a professional dialogue about the pros and cons of nourishment.
  • Social Science For MPAs website
    --- gives marine protected areas (MPAs) and other programs an overview of research techniques for examining the “human dimensions” of coastal resource management. Topics include surveys, non-market valuation, social assessment and a collection of case studies. In collaboration with the National MPA Center.

• National Undersea Research Program
  --- NOAA's National Undersea Research Program (NURP) has launched a new website that features array of NURP's scientific and research discoveries in simple and easy to understand language. The site also contains a searchable database of underwater video and photos that are all public domain. NURP operates the nation's only manned underwater observatory and supports studies of coral reef health and research into past and present climate change.

EPA Sites

• EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office (Annual State of the Bay Report)

• Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership

• EPA Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)

• Chesapeake Bay Environmental Indicators

• EPA Beaches Web Page
  --- EPA is also planning topic-based sites for water quality standards, cruise ship water discharges, floating debris, private drinking wells, and septic systems.

• EPA Section 319 Success Stories website
  --- features successful projects receiving grant funds from the Clean Water Act §319 Nonpoint Source Program. All highlighted projects have documented water quality improvements, achieved water quality standards, and resulted in removal of the affected waterbody from the State's Section 303(d) lists of impaired waters.

• Interactive Map Tracks State Progress with BEACHES Act
  --- online fact sheet, titled Nationwide Bacteria Standards Protect Swimmers at Beaches, with an interactive map that tracks state progress in complying with the Beaches, Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000. The fact sheet and map provide information on the federal Clean Beaches Plan, bacterial standards, and Clean Beach Plan federal actions.

• Sample Local Water Quality Ordinances
  --- from the EPA Office of Water - Nonpoint Source Control Branch - a reference tool for government officials, this site provides tools, sample language, and real-life case studies of local ordinances on water quality.

• EPA Office of Water
  --- provides links to the EPA Strategic Plan, the draft National Water Program Guidance document, Water Sub-objective Implementation Plans, and regional plans from each EPA region.

• EPA Online Growth and Water Resources Training Module
  --- explains how changes in land use affect water resources, and presents national data on trends in development patterns and activities on land that have become increasingly significant challenges for achieving water quality standards. The module describes a combination of approaches to accommodate future growth in a way that benefits the economy and the environment and will help meet water resource goals. The module also includes a tools section with links to on-line resources. This training module was developed by EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds Smart Growth Team. For more information, please contact Jamal Kadri at kadri.jamal@epa.gov.

• EPA New England’s Green Building

--- check out EPA New England’s Green Building Website, where users can view case studies, including EPA’s own green building—the New England Regional Laboratory in Chelmsford, get links to green building resources, and download a copy of Residential Green Building Guide: A Web Source book for New England.

Congress

• Thomas

--- this website provides access to text of legislation, The Congressional Record, bill summaries and status information. 

• U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. Senate

• Library of Congress

• Congressional Budget Office

• Congressional Research Service Reports

• Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Coastal Zone Management Programs in Other States

• CZM States and Territories

• Coastal State Fact Sheets (Coastal States Organization website)
  --- CSO site offers a fact sheet for each coastal state - provides an overview of the state's coastal program. Funding fact sheets are also available for some states.

• Massachusetts Smart Growth Toolkit

  --- The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs developed a toolkit dedicated to Smart Growth, which is accessible via the Internet and on CD, and intended to be both an educational guide and a reference document. It can be used to introduce newcomers to smart growth and also be used by practitioners such as planners, developers and site designers as a reference source for case studies and model bylaws. The Toolkit provides access to information on twelve different planning, zoning and subdivision techniques that is intended to smart growth a reality in your communities. The materials are designed to increase understanding of smart growth tools and how to customize the techniques to local circumstances. It also presents new methods to guide and promote sustainable and environmentally sound development and growth. The site features smart growth techniques, slideshows, model bylaws, and case studies. For more, contact the CZM-EOEA Smart Growth Coordinator at andrea.cooper@state.ma.us.

• Mid-Atlantic Region Sea Grant Programs:
  --- The Mid-Atlantic region of the Sea Grant College Program geographically encompasses the coastal and near-coastal waters between New Jersey and North Carolina. Within this region, the five Sea Grant Colleges actively promote and foster regional research and cooperation.

Other Websites of Interest

• Low Impact Development Center

  --- the Low Impact Development Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of Low Impact Development technology. Low Impact Development (LID) is a new, comprehensive land planning and engineering design approach with a goal of maintaining and enhancing the pre-development hydrologic regime of urban and developing watersheds.

• Stormwater Manager's Resource Center

--- created and maintained by the Center for Watershed Protection, the Stormwater Manager's Resource Center is designed specifically for stormwater practitioners, local government officials and others that need technical assistance on stormwater management issues.

• Metropolitan Area (of Boston) Planning Council (MAPC) LID Toolkit

--- the Metropolitan Planning Council (MAPC) has developed an LID Toolkit—a set of materials designed to help citizens, public officials and developers. LID techniques use an integrated approach to site design, stormwater management, and water conservation to protect the natural terrain and hydrology.

• Blue Ocean Institute

--- works to inspire a closer relationship with the sea through science, art, and literature.

• Census of Marine Life
  --- a worldwide effort is underway to "assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans-past, present, and future." Known as the Census of Marine Life, this 10-year project involves researchers from 45 nations, focusing on seven regions, including the Gulf of Maine.

• Chesapeake Research Consortium

--- association of six institutions, including the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, each with a long-standing involvement in research on problems affecting the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

• Coastal Resource Center - University of Rhode Island
  --- promotes worldwide coastal sustainable development.

• Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Conservation Program
  --- identifies hundreds of organizations using GIS to protect nature and promote social justice.

• Environmental Law Institute

• Partners in Flight and North American Bird Conservation Initiative
  --- bird conservation

• River Network
  --- supporting grassroots river and watershed conservation groups.

• Surfrider Foundation

--- publishes an annual State of the Beach report.

• Sustainable Travel International

--- supporting eco-tourism efforts.

As a convenience to our browsers, the Virginia CZM Program and the Commonwealth of Virginia provide links to off-site web pages. The Virginia CZM Program bears no responsibility for the contents of these pages.

Questions? Would you like to share a link with the program? Contact Virginia Witmer at the Virginia CZM Program - (804) 698-4320 or e-mail: Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov.