Setting Objectives 



Environmental quality objectives, unlike goals, are specific and 

 shorter ternn. They are aimed at achieving broader, longer term 

 goals. Achievable through the implementation of specific action 

 plans, objectives generally reflect the environmental criteria, the 

 preferred uses, or the elimination of use impairments that the 

 Conference considers appropriate and desirable for various es- 

 tuarine segments. Objectives undoubtedly will vary from one seg- 

 ment to another. Typically, they are established on the basis of 

 preferred uses, standards, and permit activities to improve water 

 quality. But objectives may also be based on changes in environ- 

 mental indicators, such as diseased fish. 



One of the goals in the Chesapeake Bay Program, for example, is 

 to reduce point and nonpoint sources of pollution to improve water 

 quality, thus sustaining the bay's living resources. Some 16 objec- 

 tives have been set to reach that goal. Included is a commitment 

 from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Colum- 

 bia to develop, adopt, and implement a basinwide plan that would 

 reduce, by 40 percent, the nutrients entering the bay. Actions to 

 meet this objective by the year 2000 began in 1 988. 



The Puget Sound Water Quality Authority provides another illus- 

 stration of setting goals and objectives. One of the Authority's 

 long-term goals is to protect consumers of shellfish from conta- 

 minants, maintain and enhance the abundance of shellfish, and 

 control pollution so that closed shellfish beds can be reopened and 

 additional closures prevented. 



To safeguard consumers and shellfish, the Authority has set 

 specific objectives and taken action to achieve them. Attaining one 

 objective, the Puget Sound Authority is developing stormwater 

 control programs that will reduce pollutant loadings from 

 stormwater and combined sewer overflows. Besides instituting 

 pollution control programs to protect and restore shellfish, it is 

 testing for toxicants in certain shellfish beds. The Authority is also 

 extending monitoring and certification efforts. In addition, it is 

 attempting to further public education and involvement in the 

 protection of shellfish, and to identify funding sources for shellfish 

 protection programs. The Authority aims at prevention, not just 

 remediation. 



To help achieve environmental goals and objectives, the Manage- 

 ment Conference develops action plans directed toward specific 

 priority problems. Action plans may address the management 

 areas, as shown in Table 4.3, or problems or causes such as those 

 on the matrix in Figure 4.2. An action plan for a known problem may 

 be implemented before the full CCMP is developed and adopted, 

 but it is still considered a part of the CCMP. A CCMP usually 

 contains more than one action plan. 



Action Plans for 

 Controlling Pollution 

 and Managing 

 Resources 



45 



