Technical Summary 



d) shifting a portion of data gathering burden to developers through clearly defined 

 data gathering or impact statement requirements consistent with applicable state 

 guidance; 



e) imposing sliding scales of fees for development permits to help fund data gathering 

 and enforcement activities; 



f) making optimal use of federal grants-in-aid, technical assistance, and data gathering 



capabilities. 



In addition, state permit fees should be increased to provide pass-through 

 funding to support local enforcement activities. Local and state permit 

 application fee structures should provide for increased charges where incomplete 

 applications must be returned and resubmitted. 



Research and Assessment 



A permanent research program needs to be put in place at the state level, 

 building on the integrative, management-oriented approach of the 

 Narraganset Bay Project. Research is needed to understand the functioning of the Bay 

 system, to identify and evaluate linkages between individual and cumulative impacts and 

 ecosystem function, and to improve monitoring efforts. The management-oriented 

 research endeavors of URI, Brown, and other area research institutions must be fully and 

 consistendy supported. Management application and public education shouki be 

 emphasized. Results should be capable of translation into simple and understandable 

 documents, films, newspaper articles, and policy materials. 



Analytical and predictive capability has been enormously improved during the past 

 fifteen years of research on the Bay system, but many key parameters remain poorly 

 understood Technical analytical tools are needed to enable policy makers to more precisely 

 characterize receiving waters and pollutant inputs. The Coastal Resource Center at the 

 University of Rhode Island has begun the task of characterizing the biological, chemical 

 and physical aspects of Bay estuarine waters, and is quantifying major pollutant inputs. 

 However, on-going field surveys of pollutant inputs need to be expanded in order to target 

 management response effectively, and to reflect changing conditions in the Bay basin as a 

 complete system. 



In order to refine non-point source management strategies so as to link particular 

 watershed inputs to waterbody effects, it is important to determine the explicit water quality 

 requirements of discrete marine uses. The Coastal Resource Center has begun this effort, 

 using national water quality criteria data, literature surveys, and results of species-specific 

 chronic toxicological studies in identifying requirements specific to important local species. 

 This effort needs to be broadened, and fiilly coordinated with development of Rhode Island 

 Geographic Information System (RIGIS) land use data development objectives. 



Non-point pollution problems need to be defined based on 

 characterization of the estuary and examination of marine use requirements. 



Problem definition should consider, to the extent possible, the presence and severity of 

 combined pollution inputs, causal relationships among inputs and land use, levels of 

 specific source categories of pollutants in receiving waters, interactions among 

 contaminants in the estuary, and impairment of desired uses. A definition of 



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