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Managing Troubled Waters: The Role of Marine Environmental Monitoring (1990)
Marine Board (MB)
 Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems (CETS)

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111
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OCR for page 111
B A Conceptual Mode} of Marine Environmental Monitoring The Marine Board has developed a conceptual model of marine en- vironmental monitoring as a tool for assessing monitoring systems. (See text Figure 1.1.) The model consists of elements that, ideally, one should consider in the optimum design of a marine environmental monitoring program. Deficiencies of monitoring strategies are usually the result of failure to consider one or more of these steps or of considering them out of logical sequence. The Marine Board will focus on the technical compo- nents and linkages in the figure but will consider them within the overall conceptual model. The questions specified below elaborate on this model and are an aid in conducting a consistent evaluation of monitoring within the framework of the conceptual model. The model and the supporting questions were used by the committee in conducting its case studies of marine environmental monitoring. INSTITUTIONAL SETTING Each case study examined how institutional conditions in the case study area have affected the design and conduct of the monitoring studies conducted there. This examination encompassed review of specific laws, the regulatory implementation of laws, court orders or the threat of court orders, management agency responsibilities, self-interest, public concerns, and scientific and technical developments. Issues included the following: 111

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112 APPENDIX B . What are the federal, state, and local statutes and regulations pertaining to monitoring? . What, if any, are the institutional or statutory constraints on mon- itoring program design or technical efficiency? How do they vary across relevant agency and jurisdictional lines? What monitoring programs have existed and how have they evolved? How do public perceptions and pressures affect monitoring? What do the institutions (agencies, etc.) and the public expect monitoring to accomplish? Are public expectations regarding monitoring programs realistic? What can be done to increase public appreciation of the prospects and limitations of marine environmental monitoring? NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING Each case study evaluated the degree to which the physical and biolog- ical properties and processes of the study area were considered in the initial program conception and design. Each study also considered the degree to which these programs adapted to improved understanding of environmental properties-the depth, water circulation and dilution potential, sedimentary regimes, characteristics of the biota, and living marine resources. Issues addressed included: . To what extent was an environmental baseline established and natural variability considered in its establishment? What special concerns need to be considered for the various envi- ronments considered by the case study? ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND HUMAN HEALTH OBJECTIVES Each case study evaluated the degree to which environmental quality objectives were clearly stated at the outset of the existing monitoring programs and the extent to which they are environmentally meaningful. These objectives may have been general and programmatic, they may have been defined by specific criteria and standards, or they may have been left undefined. On the one hand is a need to define carefully the parameters to be used to detect changes. On the other is the concern that the parameters, although quantitatively measurable, may not be sensitive or interpretable in terms of environmental health. Specific issues considered were: . What were the environmental quality objectives at the onset of the environmental monitoring programs? · To what degree were the programs designed to detect some a priori change related to an environmental quality objective?

OCR for page 113
APPENDIX B 113 · If measurable changes were observed in contaminant or population levels, how were they interpreted in terms of changes to the ecosystem, economy, or human health? · What are the characteristics of monitoring programs that respond to different environmental quality objectives (e.g., compliance monitoring versus environmental trends monitoring)? TECHNICAL DESIGN Each case study evaluated the depth and rigor of design considerations used in past and ongoing monitoring of the study area. Among the issues addressed were: · What spatial and temporal requirements were considered in de- signing the monitoring systems? Is there documentation of the design? · What components of the marine ecosystem and contaminants were monitored? How were they selected? · What methodologies were used? Why were they selected? · To what extent were the monitoring programs designed to test hypotheses? · How do monitoring objectives and strategies differ among differ- ent monitoring applications (e.g., point source versus regional, continuous versus pulse effects, etc.~? · What was the relative emphasis among research, monitoring ob- servations, and data analysis and synthesis? Were these approaches well integrated? · Were cumulative and indirect effects accounted for in the technical design? · In the evolution of the monitoring program, what steps were taken to ensure maximum value of the entire data set to chronicle c.hnnoe.~ in the environment? . Was the monitoring designed to establish pollutant source and receptor relationships? · Was the technical design modified as a result of monitoring results, and was the design adaptable to such chance.? . 0~ rib ^^ -I ~-~ Was the design of the monitoring program constrained or influ- enced by actual or anticipated modeling efforts? Was quality assurance a functional component of the design? IMPLEMENTATION A review of the implementation of the monitoring systems according to the technical design would require an examination of the organization of personnel and flow of activity required to accomplish the identified

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114 APPENDIX B environmental quality objectives. Examples of important issues include the following: . Were objective procedures followed in going from the monitoring program designed to that which was implemented? How did the cost and time limitations affect the implementation of the design program, and how did any effects influence statistical confidence? · What mechanisms exist for logistical coordination of monitoring programs? Were they effectively used? How might they be improved? How was the quality assurance program included in the program design that was implemented? TECHNICAL INTERPRETATION Each case study evaluated the technical interpretation of monitoring and made recommendations for improving it. Specific issues addressed included the following: · Were the conclusions supported by the resulting data, and were they consistent with the limitations of the design? Was the ability to detect differences adequately considered? . What was the potential for missing subtle, indirect, or cumulative effects of multiple or long-term activities? · What was the relevance of observed effects to human, resource, or ecosystem health? . Were relationships between sources and receptors established for monitored pollutant loadings and contaminant levels found in the environ- ment? TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION Each case study determined the critical technological needs for moni- toring in the study area. Specifically, areas of mathematical modeling, re- mote sensing, in situ instrumentaion, sampling systems, etc. were reviewed to improve the reliability, efficiency, and timeliness of interpretation of the results. Examples of important issues are: . What were the main technological constraints in the design and implementation of the monitoring program? · To what extent were the monitoring systems structured to encourage innovation? How could the structure be improved? . ~ what extent do improvements in monitoring depend on improve- ments in predictive technologies and field verification technologies such as those applicable to the quantitative description of the waste field, exposure concentrations, doseiresponse relationships, and food chain accumulation?

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APPENDIX B 115 o What are the specific needs for new technology or transfer of existing technology in such areas as mathematical models, remote sensing, in situ instrumentation systems for measuring organic and biological response, sampling systems for particulates and bioavailable substances, and data analysis and management systems? DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS The case studies assessed the management and interpretation of the data sets generated by the monitoring programs. This component is crit- ical to the eventual application of the monitoring results to management decisions. Associated issues are: Were the results of research integrated with the monitoring pro- gram results when they were analyzed? What methods were used to ensure reliable, timely, and powerful data analysis capability? ~ what extent were the data collected subjected to sophisticated analysisJsynthesis techniques? · How might data collection be automated and coupled with these emerging data management and analysis capabilities? Can automated ex- pert systems of broad applicability be developed in marine environmental monitoring? · What mechanisms exist or could be created for timely and effective transfer of data to products for decision-makers' needs? DECISION MAKING Although the primary focus of the systems assessment of marine envi- ronmental monitoring in each study area was on technical issues, it was also necessary to consider the use of the monitoring results in subsequent man- agement decisions. Each case study evaluated how the decision making, the activities that were managed, and the monitoring program responded to one another. The studies assessed whether the monitoring programs and results addressed regulatory needs and requirements and to what ex- tent the requirements adapted and would adapt to the present and future capabilities of monitoring. Bred: The following issues pertaining to decision making that were consid · What was the linkage between environmental monitoring and de- cision making? 1b what extent do regulatory requirements adapt to the present and future capabilities of monitoring, and to what extent did re- quired monitoring adapt to changes in regulatory requirements?

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116 APPENDIX B · How were decisions made or influenced by the results of the monitoring programs? · How did monitoring programs and results address regulatory needs and requirements? · Were the results of enviromental monitoring programs integrated functionally in decision making with other environmental assessment ap- proaches (i.e., assessments based on existing information, predictive and conceptual environmental models, experimental approaches, and observa- tions and measurements of environmental processes)?

Representative terms from entire chapter:

monitoring program