An Evaluation of Candidate Measures of Biological Effects for the National Status and Trends Program (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from An Evaluation of Candidate Measures of Biological Effects for the National Status and Trends Program The Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment National Ocean Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce The Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment (OMA) provides decisionmakers comprehensive, scientific information on characteristics of the oceans, coastal areas, and estuaries of the USA. The information ranges from strategic, national assessments of coastal and estuarine environmental quality to real-time information for navigation or hazardous materials spill response. For example, OMA monitors the rise and fall of water levels at about 200 coastal locations of the USA (including the Great Lakes), predicts the times and heights of high and low tides, and provides information critical to national defense, safe navigation, marine boundary determination, environmental management, and coastal engineering. Currently, OMA is installing the Next Generation Water Level Measurement System that will replace by 1992 exisiting water level measurement and data processing technologies. Through its National Status and Trends Program, OMA uses uniform techniques to monitor toxic chemical contamination of bottom-feeding fish, mussels and oysters, and sediments at about 150 locations throughout the USA. A related OMA program of directed research examines the relationships between contaminant exposure and indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish. OMA uses computer-based circulation models and innovative measurement technologies to develop new information products, including real-time circulation data, circulation forecasts under various meteorological conditions, and circulation data atlases. OMA provides critical scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard during spills of oil or hazardous materials into marine or estuarine environments. This support includes spill trajectory predictions, chemical hazard analyses, and assessments of the sensitivity of marine and estuarine environments to spills. The program provides similar support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund Program during emergency responses at, and for the cleanup of, abandoned hazardous waste sites in coastal areas. To fulfill the responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce as a trustee for living marine resources, OMA conducts comprehensive assessments of damages to coastal and marine resources from discharges of oil and hazardous materials. OMA collects, synthesizes, and distributes information on the use of the coastal and oceanic resources of the USA to identify compatibilities and conflicts and to determine research needs and priorities. It conducts comprehensive, strategic assessments of multiple resource uses in coastal, estuarine, and oceanic areas for decisionmaking by NOAA, other Federal agencies, state agencies, Congress, industry, and public interest groups. It publishes a series of thematic data atlases on major regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and on selected characteristics of major U.S. estuaries. It also manages, for the U.S. Department of the Interior, a program of environmental assessments of the effects of oil and gas development on the Alaskan outer continental shelf. OMA implements NOAA responsibilities under Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, Section 6 of the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978, and other Federal laws. It has three major line organizations: The Physical Oceanography Division, the Ocean Assessments Division, and then Ocean Systems Division. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com