Strategic Assessment of Near Coastal Waters: Northeast Case Study

The Northeast Case Study has been undertaken to illustrate how data being developed in NOAA\u27s program of strategic assessments can be used for resource assessments of estuaries and near coastal waters throughout the contiguous USA. It was designed as a pilot project to assist the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in developing its Strategic Initiative for the Management of Near Coastal Waters. As part of this initiative, the coastal states and EPA are to identify estuarine and coastal waters that require management action. The project began in June 1987 as a cooperative effort by NOAA\u27s Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment and EPA\u27s Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation and Office of Marine and Estuarine Protection. The Northeast was selected because NOAA\u27s data bases were more complete for the estuaries of this region at the time. Offshore areas are not included since information to characterize them has not been organized for a consistently defined set of spatial units. Preliminary and interim case study reports were completed in September and November 1987. In these reports, information was compiled by estuary for seven themes: (1) physical and hydrologic characteristics; (2) land use and population; (3) nutrient discharges; (4) classified shellfish waters; (5) toxic discharges and hazardous waste disposal sites; (6) coastal wetlands; and (7) public outdoor recreation facilities. Most of the information was compiled from NOAA\u27s National Coastal Pollutant Discharge Inventory, National Estuarine Inventory (Volumes 1 and 2), National Coastal Wetlands Inventory, and Public Outdoor Recreational Facilities Inventory. However, with the exception of the toxic discharges chapter in the interim report, only cursory explanations of the data and no data analyses were provided in the previous reports. Two chapters, nutrient and toxic discharges to estuaries, will be completed to illustrate fully the extent of available data, the methods used to develop the data, and the types of analyses that are possible. The data bases used to compile the information in the report are constantly being updated and improved. For example, during the course of the project, NOAA analyzed the susceptibility and status of all estuaries identified in its National Estuarine Inventory to nutrient and toxic discharges. This information, not in the preliminary and interim drafts of the case study, is emphasized in the chapters on nutrient and toxic discharges with special attention given to the estuaries in the Northeast. Case studies for other regions may be completed in the future depending on interest and available resources

Minimizing Wash Water Usage After Acid Hydrolysis Pretreatment of Biomass

Abstract Dilute acid pretreatment, needed to prepare biomass for saccharification, results in the production of a number of byproducts, which inhibit subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation steps. In order to improve saccharification yields in the enzyme hydrolysis step, the pretreated biomass is often rinsed with room temperature water to remove these byproducts. High-density poplar was pretreated with 1% dilute sulfuric acid at 140 ºC for 40 minutes. After pretreatment the biomass was washed with water volumes equal to 0, 1 ½, or 3 times the biomass volume. The rinsed biomass was then enzymatically hydrolyzed and the concentrations of byproducts and resulting carbohydrates were quantified by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Quantification was performed in pretreatment hydrolyzates, rinsing waters and enzyme hydrolyzates. Results show that inhibitory byproducts are highly soluble even in low amounts of wash water, and glucose yields are similar despite halving the amount of water used (3 and 1 ½ water volumes) in the wash step, signifying that the removal of a sufficient number of inhibitory compounds can be accomplished with even at small wash values. Specifically, enzymatic hydrolysis yielded between 3 and 4 grams glucose per gram dry biomass in the 1 ½ and 3 water volumes rinses, respectively, with totals at both conditions equaling between 7 and 8 grams glucose per gram dry biomass, respectively. The rinse step removed similar concentrations of inhibitors in either the 1 ½ and 3 water volume rinsing procedures

NOAA Hurricane Preparedness Summit 2023 Report

The theme for the 4th annual summit was to advance NOAA’s ability to adapt and respond to the effects of a changing climate and extreme weather events. NOAA’s Disaster Preparedness Program partnered with CRRC to facilitate webinars on two consecutive days focusing on NOAA’s hurricane preparedness and readiness for personnel (people), mission, and infrastructure (PMI). The virtual event entitled “NOAA Hurricane Preparedness Summit 2023,” helped put NOAA in a better posture for the 2023 hurricane season by identifying best practices and lessons learned from the 2022 season, recognizing and discussing challenges related to climate change and extreme weather events, and socializing tools and resources available to support different stages of response. The summit included plenary presentations from federal and state agency representatives outlining topics such as: storm specific lessons learned, communication of severity of risk, working smarter and safer, maintaining wellness during response, contingency planning, and available tools and resources

NOAA Great Lakes Harmful Algal Bloom Communication Preparedness Workshop Report

On January 17-18, 2023, the CRRC and NOAA’s DPP co-sponsored a virtual workshop titled “Great Lakes Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Communication Preparedness Workshop”. This workshop was a focused discussion on HAB preparedness and response capabilities across the federal government and state agencies. The specific objectives for this workshop were: 1) Ensure effective coordination and communication across local, state, and federal governments, and other relevant entities; 2) Compile and review existing plans, policies and procedures about effectively communicating HAB threats, including benthic and nuisance blooms, across relevant agencies; 3) Determine the points of contact (POC’s) responsible for HAB event preparedness and response; 4) Create a process(es) for sharing information among relevant entities that ultimately reaches stakeholders and the public in a unified message; and 5) Understand lessons learned from case studies (e.g., Lake Erie) and their relevance to emerging HAB locations (e.g., Lake Superior); and apply them to current and emerging threats. The two-day workshop included presentations from Federal, state, and non-governmental organization representatives discussing the following: participant demographics; lessons learned for past HABs events; risk and crisis communication strategies; social science communication research; surveys on preferred communication methods; existing HABs plans, policies, and procedures

Shoreline Oil Spill Response Knowledge Gaps and Technological Development Opportunities: A Workshop Report

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) partnered with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and UNH’s Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) to plan and facilitate an in-person workshop on the NOAA WRC in Seattle, WA. This event entitled “Shoreline Oil Spill Response Knowledge Gaps and Technological Development Opportunities” identified knowledge gaps and opportunities regarding technologies and scientific research associated with oil spill shoreline response. This effort included the exploration of the current state of the science of oil spill research associated with impacts of crude oil to shoreline environments and identified countermeasures and response alternatives that may become part of the oil spill response toolbox. The specific objectives of the workshop were: Develop a literature review of the state of the science regarding impacts, preparedness and responses strategies and technologies associated with oil spills on shorelines (i.e., oils from offshore facilities including crude oil and dielectric fluids). Identify gaps in the current state of science regarding impacts of crude oil and dielectric fluids from offshore facilities. Identify operational constraints of shoreline techniques

ANALYSES OF JUVENILE CHINOOK SALMON AND STEELHEAD TRANSPORT FROM LOWER GRANITE AND LITTLE GOOSE DAMS,

The report provides analyses of patterns of smolt-to-adult return rates (SARs) relative to in-season migration timing of smolts. SARs of juvenile fish that were transported from either Lower Granite Dam (LGR) or Little Goose Dam (LGO) were compared to SARs of non-transport fish that migrated through the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers in the years 1998 – 2008. The measure used to assess the benefit of transport relative to downstream migration was the transport to migrant ratio (T:M), defined as the ratio of SAR for transported fish to that of non-transport migrants for corresponding groups. Statistical models produced estimated values for the SARs of the two groups and the T:M for each day was estimated from those estimates. To study seasonal SAR patterns required known dates of juvenile passage. Therefore, migrant groups were formed from PIT-tagged fish that were bypassed (i.e., detected) at the collector dams. The value of information from bypassed migrants has been discounted by some scientists in the region because bypassed fish generally have lower SARs than fish that pass the collector projects undetected via non-bypass routes (mostl

Switchgrass storage effects on the recovery of carbohydrates after liquid hot water pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis

Perennial grasses that would be used for bioenergy and bioproducts production will need to be stored for various periods of time to ensure a continual feedstock supply to a bioprocessing facility. The effects of storage practices on grass composition and the response of grasses to subsequent bioprocesses such as pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis needs to be understood to develop the most efficient storage protocols. This study examined the effect of outdoor storage of round switchgrass bales on composition before and after liquid hot water pretreatment (LHW) and enzymatic hydrolysis. This study also examined the effect of washing LHW pretreated biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. It was determined that switchgrass composition after baling was stable. As expected, glucan and lignin contents increased after LHW due to decreases in xylan and galactan. Washing biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis reduced saccharification, especially in samples from the interior of the bale, by at least 5%

Comparing Recent Advances in Estimating and Measuring Oil Slick Thickness: An MPRI Technical Report

Characterization of the degree and extent of surface oil during and after an oil spill is a critical part of emergency response and Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) activities. More specifically, understanding floating oil thickness in real-time can guide response efforts by directing limited assets to priority cleanup areas; aid in ‘volume released’ estimates; enhance fate, transport and effects modeling capabilities; and support natural resource injury determinations. An international workshop brought researchers from agencies, academia and industry who were advancing in situ and remote oil characterization tools and methods together with stake holders and end users who rely on information about floating oil thickness for mission critical assignments (e.g., regulatory, assessment, cleanup, research). In total, over a dozen researchers presented and discussed their findings from tests using various different sensors and sensor platforms. The workshop resulted in discussions and recommendations for better ways to leverage limited resources and opportunities for advancing research and developing tools and methods for oil spill thickness measurements and estimates that could be applied during spill responses. One of the primary research gaps identified by the workshop participants was the need for side-by-side testing and validation of these different methods, to better understand their respective strengths, weaknesses and technical readiness levels, so that responders would be better able to make decisions about what methods are appropriate to use under what conditions, and to answer the various questions associated with response actions. Approach: 1) Convene a more in-depth multi day researcher workshop to discuss and develop specific workplan to conduct side-by-side validation and verification experiments for testing oil thickness measurements. 2) Conduct the validation and verification experiments in controlled environments: the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) highbay at the University of New Hampshire (UNH); and the Ohmsett National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility

Photo: Observer recording safety information

Photo: Observer measuring a sea robi