The Galveston Bay Plan Review

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	PLAN REVIEW (1996-2000) January 15,2001
	OVERVIEW
	SCHEDULE
	CALENDAR
	TASK FORCES

Welcome to the Five-year Review of our Galveston Bay Plan (The Plan). The Plan was approved in 1995 for implementation over a twenty-year period, with the purpose of improving and enhancing living resources in Galveston Bay. The drafting and adoption of The Plan was accomplished through the efforts of numerous members of the Bay community -- representatives from government, education, industry, environmental organizations and the public. We call upon the community once again to join us in a successful review of The Plan.

During the course of this review, information concerning the review process and schedule, task forces, meeting dates, and meeting summaries will be made available on this site. This review presents an exciting opportunity to accumulate knowledge about the bay, to determine progress made as well as remaining challenges, and to recognize the efforts of all our Plan partners over the past five years.

Galveston Bay Plan Review - An Overview

Version 7/11/00

The Galveston Bay Plan was developed and approved to be implemented over a 20-year period with incremental reviews every 5 years. FY 2000 marks our first 5 years of implementation, so in accordance with the plan, we are conducting a plan review. The objective of this review is to recognize the efforts of all our Plan partners over the past five years and determine a course of action for the next five years based on progress made, conditions of the bay, new issues and priorities affecting Galveston Bay. The review is being conducted under the following guiding principles:

1)	Maintain the existing Plan as the foundation to augment, rather than initiate a process that would require an administratively burdensome wholesale redrafting of The Plan.
2)	Consider the existing Plan actions and priorities relative to what has already been accomplished and in consideration of changing needs and resources available.
3)	Focus also on progress of implementation and identified implementation needs (including monitoring, research and outreach).
4)	Update Plan information where appropriate creating an appendices or cross reference system to incorporate pertinent information.

Schedule

Jan-June 2000	Task Force will meet to gather information and identify needs and challenges to complete actions.
July 2000	End of 60 day review and comment period by task force members and other stakeholders.
August 2000	Task Forces will meet to assess The Plan goals and objectives and begin to sketch out tasks for a 5-year agenda (w/a 2-year focus) based on needs and challenges.
September 2000	Draft Plan Review Summary will be reviewed by Budget and Priorities Workgroup (discussions of implementation strategy).
October 2000	Draft agenda will be presented to Galveston Bay Council (GBC).
November 2000	30-Day Public Comment Period
January 2001	Final Agenda will be reviewed by GBC.
February 2001	Findings will be presented at State of the Bay Symposium along with Status and Trends.

See the Plan Review Calendar 2000 for more details on Action Plan Review meetings.

Task Forces
To accomplish this review, the GBEP is convening a series of meetings over the next six (6) months. Task Forces, made up of the GBEP standing subcommittees and additional participants who have been involved in Plan implementation, will perform the Plan Review. The Natural Resources Uses Task Force will review the following Action Plans: Habitat Protection, Shoreline Management, Freshwater Inflow and Circulation, Species Protection, and Spills/Dumping. The Water and Sediment Quality Task Force will review the Non-point Sources of Pollution, Point Sources of Pollution, Water and Sediment Quality, and Public Health Action Plans. Monitoring, Research and Public Participation Action Plans will be reviewed by their corresponding Task Forces; however, needs under these action plans will also be addressed through the main issue area Task Forces noted above.

Process

A.	A Preliminary Status Table will be mailed to all participants prior to the Task Force review. This table is a summary of implementation activities completed by Action Plan. One Action Plan will be scheduled per meeting.
B.	Prior to the meeting, staff will be contacting organizations/entities identified as lead implementors in the action items. The purpose of this contact is to review any additional activities that were not reported in the preliminary table and to provide assistance in preparing the lead entities for the coming review (e.g., making note of new legislation, programs, and funding).
C.	Task Force participants will review Preliminary Status Table prior to the meeting in order to be prepared to provide additional information at the meeting about ongoing and new activities.
D.	The GBEP will convene a series of meetings every month to compile additional information on implementation and identify challenges and needs. Each meeting will focus on a different Action Plan. The Preliminary Status Table will be reviewed and any new information not reported in the table will be added. The new information will come from any new information gathered since the Table was prepared, but primarily from Task Force Participants. GBIC will be assisting us with gathering and compiling the information.
E.	The information gathered from the meeting will be consolidated and provided to task force members and others for comment. The comment period will last 60 days from the date of the meeting.
F.	After information has been complied on the action items, meetings will be convened to evaluate the status of the problems, goals and objectives. Questions such as, where are we in meeting the goal/objective, are what we hope to answer. Based on the status of the goal/objectives and the status of implementation on the actions items, an assessment will be made to determine what course of action will be taken over the next five years. Proposed legislation, new programs and plans will be noted to determine the needs and/or feasibility of implementing the action items within a 2-year, 5-year or some future-year period. Any challenges to implement action items will also be noted.
G.	Recommendations for a 5-year agenda (with a 2-year focus) will be made based on the findings in F. A draft 5-year agenda will be submitted for review by task force members and the Galveston Bay Council. Once a final draft has been developed, it will be submitted for public comment.

Products

A	A Report outlining the progress on Plan Implementation, including the agencies/entities participating.
B.	A searchable project database of all the projects and activities outlined during the review, which will be available on the GBEP web site.
C.	Recommendations for 5 year agenda, with summary of all the comments from the plan review process.