Federal Geographic Data
Committee
Marine Boundary Working Group
July 16, 2002
Minutes
The Federal Geographic Data Committee's (FGDC) Marine Boundary Working
Group (MBWG) met at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July
16, 2002. An agenda is included at the end of the minutes, as is a list
of items that were distributed at the meeting. Individuals who wish to
request copies of these items should contact David Stein at Dave.Stein@noaa.gov.
Highlights
Donald Campbell, FCC, welcomed everyone to the facility. Cindy Fowler,
co-chair of the working group, called the meeting to order and participant
introductions were made. This was the fifth meeting of the MBWG. The objectives
of the meeting were to highlight some of the recent activities under way
by members of the working group and to identify areas for collaboration.
Agenda Items
- A year in review and a look ahead. Cindy Fowler, NOAA Coastal
Services Center, presented the accomplishments of the working group
to date, as well as priority work items for next year. The work item
that has received the most amount of attention is the marine boundary
best practices handbook, which falls under the working group's training
strategy. The working group was in agreement that this should be a priority.
The next step will be to develop a scope of work and outline of the
handbook. Several people volunteered to help design and develop the
handbook and will be called on to do so in the near future. It is likely
that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal
Services Center will be able to devote resources to the handbook and
lead the effort. Contracting options were also discussed. The goal of
the handbook will be to provide the technical and legal guidance necessary
to effectively create and describe marine boundaries. The handbook will
be a priority work item for fiscal year 2003.
The marine boundary Web portal was also demonstrated. The goal of this
Web portal is to point users to digital marine boundary data. A disclaimer
of some kind will have to be developed since the digital data are not
considered the official legal source. Ole Varmer agreed to help draft
this text. The site will be released to members of the working group
for comment in early August.
It was also decided during this time that a marine boundaries list server
would be created to increase communication among working group members.
The NOAA Coastal Services center will host the list server.
- Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecological Reserve.
Mitchell Tartt, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, reported
on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecological Reserve. This
presentation addressed the legal and technical issues associated with
the creation of marine boundaries for the Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve and associated Reserve Preservation Areas
as defined within Executive Orders 13178 and 13196.
- Marine Protected Areas initiative. Joe Uravitch, acting director
of the NOAA National Marine Protected Area Center, reported on the Marine
Protected Areas initiative and the National Marine Protected Area Center.
Joe discussed the status of activities under Executive Order 13158,
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including the status of the MPA Center
and the National Inventory of Marine Managed Areas, now in its second
year of development. It was noted after his presentation that there
is opportunity for collaboration between the MBWG and the MPA inventory
team on data dissemination issues.
- Coastal Mapping and Charting Study. Terry Schaefer, National
Academy of Sciences, Ocean Studies Board, gave a briefing on the Coastal
Mapping and Charting Study being conducted by the Oceans Study Board
and the Mapping Science Committee. The study will identify and suggest
mechanisms for addressing national needs for spatial information in
the coastal zone. By examining the major spatial information requirements
of federal agencies, as well as the principal user groups they support
(e.g., state and local coastal managers, urban planners, resource managers,
maritime industry), the committee will identify high priority needs,
evaluate the potential for meeting these needs based on the current
level of effort, and suggest steps to increase collaboration and ensure
that the nation's need for spatial information in the coastal zone is
met in an efficient and timely manner. Specific results of the study
could not be discussed at this point. The timeline of the project is
as follows: interim findings, October 2002; prepublication, August 2003;
final publication, October 2003.
- The State of Florida's perspective on marine boundaries. Harry
Norris, program administrator, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute, reported on some of the
marine boundary issues that Florida faces. Issues include the discrepancy
between Department of the Interior (DOI) and NOAA federal/state water
boundaries (Tortugas and South Biscayne Bay as examples), problems delineating
county boundaries offshore because of geography (Big Bend), issues related
to imprecise boundaries or turn points (e.g., depth contours), shared
boundaries that are supposed to be spatially coincident but aren't due
to the use of differing levels of precision, and jurisdiction problems
related to not having an official state/federal boundary. Harry agreed
that a best practices handbook would be useful and could help alleviate
some of the marine boundary problems that exist.
- Short Updates
- Legal update. Ole Varmer, NOAA General Counsel, and his staff
have been developing summaries of the legal authority for the various
boundaries that are referred to on the U.S. marine cadastre Web page
<www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/htm/cadastre.htm>.
He distributed summaries for the National Marine Sanctuaries Act,
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and the Coastal
Zone Management Act. The working group indicated it was a worthwhile
effort and could be added to the Web site.
- Offshore/onshore cadastre coordination. Lee Thormahlen, Minerals
Management Service, updated the group on the offshore/onshore cadastre
coordination. The states of Washington, Oregon, and Florida seem to
be interested in extending the offshore cadastre landward to the mean
high water line (MHL) for planning and water resource management.
- National Park Service GIS Web page. Frank Sannino, National
Park Service (NPS), made the group aware of a Web site that serves
as a repository for NPS boundary information <www.nps.gov/gis/available_data.htm>.
- NOAA Coast Survey offshore boundary development. Meredith
Westington, NOAA Office of Coast Survey, gave the working group an
update on the progress of developing their office's baseline and offshore
boundaries. The focus has been on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
The baseline for the Northwest Hawaiian Islands will be presented
at the Baseline Committee meeting on July 17 at the State Department.
- Baseline Committee update. Ash Roach, State Department and
chair of the U.S. Baseline Committee, announced the Baseline Committee's
meeting scheduled for July 17 and invited all interested parties to
attend. He indicated that the meetings are not closed. They are open
to anyone who is interested.
- Geospatial One-Stop. David Stein, NOAA Coastal Services Center,
gave an update on Geospatial One-Stop. He indicated that the call
for participation for standards and models for the seven National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) framework themes went out. Anyone
who is interested in participating should register by July 29. Information
on Geospatial One-Stop can be found at www.fgdc.gov/geo-one-stop/.
- Shoreline Change Conference. Cindy Fowler, NOAA Coastal Services
Center, distributed a handout summarizing the Shoreline Change Conference
held in Charleston, South Carolina, in May.
- Next Meeting. The next meeting is scheduled to coincide with
the Coastal Geotools Conference scheduled for the week of January 6,
2003. This will be a joint meeting with the Cadastral Subcommittee and
the Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Subcommittee.
Action Items
- Create marine boundaries list server.
- Develop disclaimer for digital data.
- Develop scope of work for the best practices handbook.
- Identify someone from the Department of Justice and the National
Marine Fisheries Service to serve on the MBWG (standing item).
- Coordinate with the MPA inventory team on data dissemination issues.
Items Distributed at Meeting
- Agenda
- A year in review presentation
- One-pager on the MBWG
- Work plan
- Shoreline Change Conference summary
Attendees
FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group Meeting
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Federal Communications Commission Building
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC
8:30 Continental breakfast
- Federal Communications Commission opening remarks
8:45 Welcome and introductions
- Welcome from co-chairs and short introductions from working group
- Review of meeting minutes and action items from February 12, 2002
9:15 Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecological Reserve - Mitchell
Tartt
9:45 Marine Protected Areas Initiative - Joe Uravitch
10:15 Snack break
10:30 A year in review and a look ahead - Cindy Fowler and Lee Thormahlen
- Accomplishments, priority work items, communication
11:45 Lunch
1:00 National Needs for Coastal Mapping and Charting Study - Terry Schaefer
1:30 Florida's perspective on marine boundaries - Harry Norris (tentative)
2:15 Short Updates
- Marine boundary legal update
- Offshore/onshore cadastral coordination
- Coast Survey update on maritime boundaries data development
- Baseline Committee update
- Web site update
- Geospatial One-Stop
- Report back on Cadastral Subcommittee meeting and Shoreline Change
Conference
- Updates from other members - open
3:30 Next meeting - joint meeting with the FGDC Cadastral Subcommittee
- Discuss date, place, and agenda
4:00 Adjourn
Minutes Submitted by
David Stein, NOAA Coastal Services Center
Executive Secretary/Working Group Coordinator
FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group
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