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Stakeholder Profile: New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

Items of Interest:

The DEP aims to preserve and protect New York City's water environment. Improvements in sewage handling and treatment has resulted in a resurgence in water quality for the New York Harbor to its cleanest state in the last 50 years. DEP operates 14 sewage treatment plants that together treat around 1.3 billion gallons of sewage each day, and the agency also employs a fleet of boats that are used to monitor the waters and the shoreline for water quality and sources of pollution. The Harbor Water Quality Survey Program has been the responsibility of the DEP's Marine Sciences Section (MSS) for the past 20 years.

The DEP is creating a Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan as required with the passing of Local Law 71 by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The DEP is also required to form an Advisory Committee to advise the DEP on the Plan and to provide independent recommendations to the Speaker of the City Council and to the DEP Commissioner. This activity which has included several advisory committee and public outreach meetings, along with strategy workshops is being tracked in the Advisory Committee section of this website.

Activities/Projects:

Principal Investigator	Title	Start Date	Stop Date	Purpose
Christopher A. Nadareski	Long-term monitoring of Ospreys and Barn Owls	1/1/2003	12/31/2003	This is a banding project to monitor reproduction and survival of Ospreys and Barn Owls at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Gateway NRA, NY. Similar banding and monitoring may be done at Great Kills Park and/or Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island.
John H. Ryther, Jr.	Sediment Sampling for CSO-USAP Use and Standards Attainment Project, Capital Registration No.99H4747, City of New York DEP	1/1/2002	1/1/2002	Sediment collection and analysis for Total Organic Carbon and Sediment Grain Size and Percent Solids for the NYCDEP's Use and Standards Attainment Project.
John P. St. John	NYCDEP Use and Standards Attainment (USA) Project	8/1/2001	9/30/2002	To follow the Paerdegat Basin Field Sampling and Analysis Plan (FSAP), Aug 2000 to 31 July 2001, with studies initiated under the USA Project Ichthyoplankton and Epibenthic Recruitment FSAPs, commencing under the Jamaica Bay FSAP. To assess existing conditions of New York Harbor water bodies, focusing on water quality, habitat, and fisheries in marine waters and Riparian areas

On February 25, 2010, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis, Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway and Natural Resources Defense Council Executive Director Peter Lehner announced an agreement to improve the overall water quality and mitigate marshland loss in Jamaica Bay through a total of $115 million in new investments. View the DEP press release, DEP press conference (high bandwith, low bandwith), NRDC press release. Dan Mundy Jr., Vice President of Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers recaps the events that led to this agreement.

On October 1, 2008, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released the 1 year progress report on the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan. View the DEP's report.

On October 1, 2007, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan. View the plan (2 volumes) on the DEP JBWPP web page.

The DEP was tasked via Local Law 71 with producing a Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan, focusing on restoring and maintaining Jamaica Bay's water quality and ecological integrity. An Advisory Committee representing major stakeholders in the Jamaica Bay community is advising the DEP on the plan and providing independent recommendations to the Speaker of the City Council and to the DEP Commissioner. The first DRAFT of the plan was released March 1, 2007. This activity is being tracked in the Advisory Committee section of this website.

In October 2006, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) produced a Comprehensive Jamaica Bay Report (45 Mb) providing recommendations for improving water quality in Jamaica Bay to the New York State Department of Environmental Protection (DEC).

Citations:

New York City Department of Environmental Protection. 2003. 2002 New York Harbor Water Quality Report. New York, NY: New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 64pp.

HydroQual, Inc. 2001. Use and Standards Attainment Project Preliminary Waterbody/Watershed Characterization Report. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 8pp.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection. 2001. New York City 2000. Regional Harbor Survey. (JABERRT # 298).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1999. 1999 New York Harbor Water Quality. Regional Summary. (JABERRT # 287, RIC # 2248).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1998. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Wastewater Pollution Control. Marine Science Section. (JABERRT # 248).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1997. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey, Executive Summary. (JABERRT # 304).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1997. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey. (JABERRT # 299).

Kachalsky, L.A., O'Brien & Gere and Trotta, R.L, Gaffoglio, R., DeSantis, V. 1994. Jamaica Bay CSO Facility planning Project: New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Pages 5-77 in Water Environ Fed/et al, A Glob Perspec. For Reducing CSOs:Balancing Technol, Costs, and Water Qual, Louisville, KY.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1994. Jamaica Bay comprehensive watershed management plan. Executive summary, draft, New York City Department of Environmental Protection. New York, NY. 62pp.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1994. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey, Executive Summary. (JABERRT # 292).

Schwartz, J.J. and Porter, K.S. The State of City’s Waters. 1994. New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), New York Harbor Estuary. (JABERRT # 361).

URS Consultants, Inc. 1994. Remedial investigation report for the Pennsylvania Avenue Landfill vols 1-5. Prepared for New York City Deparment of Environmental Protection (DEP) Division of hazardous material management. Draft, January 1994.

Brosnan, T.M. and O’Shea, M.L. Date unknown. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey 1993. Executive Summary. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Sciences Division. Wards Island, NY. 20pp.

Brosnan, T.M. and O’Shea, M.L. 1993. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey: 1991-1992. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Sciences Division. Wards Island, NY. 398 pp.

Brosnan, T.M. and O’Shea, M.L. 1993. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey: 1991-1992. Executive Summary. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Sciences Division. Wards Island, NY. 29 pp.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1993. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey 1991-1992. Marine Science Section, Division of Scientific Services, Bureau Of Clean Water. Wards Island, NY. (JABERRT# 294).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1993. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey 1991-1992, Executive Summary. Marine Science Section, Division of Scientific Services, Bureau Of Clean Water. Wards Island, NY. (JABERRT # 293).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1991. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey 1988-1990. Marine Science Section, Division of Scientific Services, Bureau Of Clean Water. Wards Island, NY 10035. (JABERRT # 295).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1990b. Jamaica Bay CSO facility planning project. Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting of September, 26 prepared by O’Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc. for NYC DEP, N.Y.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1990a. Jamaica Bay CSO facility planning project. Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting of June, 19 prepared by O’Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc. for NYC DEP, N.Y.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1989a. Jamaica Bay CSO facility planning project. Citizen’s Advisory Commitee Meeting of April, 3 prepared by O’Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc. for NYC DEP, N.Y. (JABERRT # 139, RIC # 297).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1989b. New York City Phase II, city-wide combined sewer overflows study of Jamaica Bay and 26th Ward tributaries (water quality monitoring - dye studies). Performed by Hydroqual, Inc.,New York City Department of Environment (DEP).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1989c. New York City Phase II, city-wide combined sewer overflows study of Jamaica Bay and 26th Ward tributaries (water quality monitoring - sediment oxygen demand and peeper sampling analysis). Performed by Hydroqual, Inc., New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1989d. New York City Phase II, city-wide combined sewer overflows study of Jamaica Bay; water quality monitoring-dye studies. Performed by Hydroqual, Inc., NYC DEP.N.Y.

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1986. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Wastewater Treatment. Water Quality Section. 154 pp. (JABERRT # 360).

Malcom Pirnie, Inc. 1985. Jamaica Bay chlorine study. Project 175-90-1. New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bureau of Water Pollution Control, New York, NY. 400pp. (JABERRT # 43).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1985. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Wastewater Treatment. Water Quality Section. (JABERRT # 296).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1984. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Water Pollution Control - Plant Operations. Water Quality Section. (JABERRT # 297).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1983. New York Harbor Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Water Pollution Control - Plant Operations. Water Quality Section. (JABERRT # 300).

City of New York, Department of Environmental Protection. 1982. New York Harbor, Water Quality Survey. Bureau of Water Pollution Control, Laboratory Section, Wards Island, NY 10035. (JABERRT # 290).

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