impairment, the development of a TMDL, and recommendations for restoration of remediation 
(e.g., see Reynolds 1999a,b; http://www.fsl.orst.edu/emds/ ). 
Phase 3 . Development and implementation 
A team will be formed consisting of research scientists, modelers, computer systems analysts, 
and WEB page designers to develop and implement the system. Contact persons from each of 
the research teams working in the Aquatic Stressors research program will be assigned to provide 
liaison with the decision support team. If approfM’iate, other team members and contacts would 
be provided from other EPA Laboratories, Program Offices, and State agencies. This 
development effort would produce the decision support system and a guidance document on its 
application. 
Phase 4 . Application 
During the final stages of development, data, models, and information from selected case studies 
will be incorporated into the expert system. This would be done in cooperation with the decision 
personnel associated with the studies and training would be provided along with a guidance 
document and system documentation. 
Products 
FY04 Framework(s) for decision-support system (all Ecology Divisions). 
FY06 Decision-tree guiding application of approaches with case studies (all Ecology Divisions). 
APM 3C FY07 Decision-support system(s), including forecasting of future cause-effect 
relationships (MED). 
Benefit of Products 
A series of decision-support systems will provide States and Regions with a common set of tools 
for approaching TMDL development and assessing alternative options for watershed restoration. 
Existing tools and databases will be made readily available, and gaps in knowledge bases will be 
more readily identified. Decision-support systems will also facilitate an integrated approach to 
assessment and diagnosis at the regional scale, thus improving the efficiency of the TMDL 
process. 
Gap Analysis 
Gaps by geographic region, biological scale, resource class, and stressor type 
The research tasks outlined above will be applied within coastal watersheds bordering on both 
freshwater and saltwater receiving water bodies. Regional case studies will be developed within 
each of three areas, the Great Lakes, the Atlantic coast, and the Gulf coast. This research area 
will depend heavily upon each of the other research areas of this document (Sections 4-7) for 
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