Meeting Record for the 136^th Meeting of the Great Lakes Science Advisory Board

April 7, 2005
Telephone Conference Call, 2:00 p.m.-3:50 p.m.

1. Call Sign In and Introductions

   Members and International Joint Commission staff signed and self introductions followed.

   
   
2. Approval of the Minutes of the 135^th Meeting.

   Dr. Bowerman moved that the minutes previously approved by the Board comprise the Science Advisory Board approved minutes for posting on the International Joint Commission web site, with seconding by Dr. Braden. Dr. Heathcote and Dr. Jones abstained from voting, and the motion was approved by the balance of the members in attendance.

   In terms of follow up, the Board agreed that a future discussion would be held to determine whether reporting styles or improvements are necessary based on feedback from Board members and other users accessing the minutes through the International Joint Commission web site.

3. Approval of the Agenda

   The agenda was accepted as presented.

4. Old Business

Role of Liaison/Appointment of Council Liaison

The secretary noted that current liaisons are as follows: International Air Quality Advisory Board - Dr. Perlinger, Council of Great Lakes Research Managers - Dr. Donahue, Water Quality Board - Dr. Heathcote and Mr. Unwin, and Health Professionals Task Force - Dr. Gibson. He indicated that the role of liaisons has been discussed at previous meetings as well, and that the reporting function has now been assigned to the secretaries in order to reduce the work load of the members.

Dr. Swackhamer commented that although the concept is important, she wasn't able to participate in work beyond her Science Advisory Board responsibilities when she served as a Board alternate to the Council. Dr. Heathcote agreed that keeping current with the Water Quality Board was also very time consuming. Dr. Donahue recommended that the role of liaison be defined as "point of contact" for the Board, with flexibility for designates to determine the level of involvement that is appropriate for purposes of good communication. He added that this would not necessarily entail in person attendance at meetings, but rather one of keeping abreast of activities and opportunities for collaboration. Dr. Donahue suggested that this role be expressed in a short document and be made available to guide the liaison designates in fulfilling their function. [Attachment #1 - PDF document forwarded to the Science Advisory Board under separate cover]

Co Chairs Update on Spring Semi Annual Meeting

A brief overview of the Science Advisory Board reporting to the Commission at the upcoming semi annual meeting was provided and it was requested that the slides being used in the presentation be circulated to Board for their comment and input.

5. Work Group Reports

   Work Group on Ecosystem Health

   Dr. Carpenter provided an overview of the recent Health Effects Workshop, held in Chicago March 29-31. A discussion ensued on the appropriateness of circulating the summary statement from the Workshop, and the concern of the Commission that such a statement could misconstrued as an official International Joint Commission policy, or even Science Advisory Board advice. Dr. Jones stated that the process of Board reporting requires the Work Group to report to the Science Advisory Board, and not release its own advice.

   Mr. Kirschner clarified that the statement was not released the Work Group to anyone beyond those in attendance at the meeting, and was circulated for the benefit of those participants who had to leave the workshop in advance of the summation. Dr. Donahue suggested that any preliminary documents circulated as part of a Work Group activity should be clearly identified as working documents that have no official International Joint Commission policy and Science Advisory Board advisory status.

   Work Group on Parties Implementation

   Mr. Unwin indicated that the four reports prepared under various contracts for the Work Group have been completed, with the final development scenarios to be modeled and draft report anticipated by the end of April. He said that the reports prepared under contract include:

   Inventory and Assessment of Urban Stormwater Management Technologies and Practices in the Great Lakes Basin; Hugh Whiteley and Christine Zimmer

   Land Planning and Development Mitigation for Protecting Water Quality in the Great Lakes System: An Evaluation of U.S. Approaches; Elizabeth Brabec and Peter Kumble

   Controlling the Impacts of Urbanization on Water Resources: Laws, Policies and Institutions in Ontario; Marcia Valiante

   Modeling Water Quality and Quantity Impacts of Different Urban Development and Land Use Planning Scenarios: Schneider Creek, Ontario Water's Edge Ltd.

   Dr. Heathcote added that the Work Group is in the process of developing recommendations from its work, for use by the Board in its 2003-2005 Priorities Report.

   Work Group on Emerging Issues

   Dr. Jones reported that five discussion papers on Great Lakes governance have been received from Drs. Karkkainen, Francis, Von Moltke, McCaffrey, and Sproule Jones, and was presently under review by the WG. He added that the Science and Agreement Workshop Proceedings have now been completed and reviewed by the Board, and he recommended that they be approved for publication. The Board accepted the recommendation and approved the publication of the proceedings accordingly.

6. Liaison Reports

   In order to best utilize the remaining time on the conference call, the secretary recommended that the written reports provided under separate cover comprise the reports for the Water Quality Board, International Air Quality Advisory Board, and Council of Great Lakes Research Managers. The respective email dates for the documents were April 6/05 [2:14PM], February 25/05 [9:57AM], and February 28/05 [1:42PM]. The email documents are available for resending upon request to the Secretary. Mr. Weiner reported that in terms of the Health Professional Task Force, that the Commission had approved a revised role for the Task Force that included less outreach to physicians as was originally provided in their mandate, and more emphasis on Board collaboration. He said that one proposed activity under consideration was defining the role for public health in a revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

7. Future Priorities - several suggestions were raised for discussion

   Dr. Heathcote reported that the Water Quality Board and International Air quality Advisory Board have agreed to collaborate on a land use priority for the next cycle, and a scoping exercise is underway through a number of conference calls involving interested members and International Joint Commission staff. She added that there has been agreement that the area of study will be the Lake Erie Basin and the Detroit/Windsor area in particular. Dr. Heathcote added that a scoping meeting is being planned, as a next step, to involve outside experts and define a terms of reference for the priority.

   Water Quality Impacts of Water Quantity Management - Dr. Braden inquired why Annex 2001 was not under International Joint Commission discussion or advisement by the Boards. Dr. Donahue suggested that an assessment of the ecosystem implications of Annex 2001 decisions would be an excellent opportunity to integrate quality and quantity scientific and policy relationships.

   Great Lakes Regional Collaboration - A review of the scientific implications of the United States regional collaboration was identified.

8. 2003 - 2005 Science Advisory Board Priority Report

   The secretary reviewed the reporting timeline established by the Board for production, review and approval of its report.

9. International Joint Commission Great Lakes Conference and Biennial Meeting

   The secretary reviewed the Science Advisory Board responsibilities associated with the International Joint Commission Biennial Meeting and highlighted the 137^th Meeting; June 8, 1-5 PM, the public meeting [panel discussion] during the LAMP/RAP Workshop; June 9, 3-4 PM, the Board hosted workshops on June 9, Pathogens, New Chemicals and Land Use, the Co Chairs plenary statement on June 10 at 9-10:45 AM and the Institutional Arrangements and Governance sessions June 10-11. He noted that the full program is available through the IJC web site http://www.ijc.org/2005biennial/about_en.php

10. Future Meetings
    
    
    • #137 - June 8, 2005, 1-5 PM, Kingston Ontario
    • #138 - September 30 - October 1, tentative location Kalamazoo, MI
    • #139 - December 1 - 2, 2005, location to be determined
    • #140 - February 15 - 16, 2006, location to be determined
    • #141 - May 10 - 11, 2006 PROPOSED
    
    
    
11. Other Business

    Dr. Brown advised the Board that reductions to Department of Fisheries and Oceans Great lakes Fish Contaminants Surveillance Program were being planned and would affect the provision of Great Lakes science under the Agreement. Mr. Weiner added that the Commissioners anticipated raising this for discussion among the Boards on April 13, 2005, and have identified it as an issue to raise with governments on April 14. He said that any advice that the Board could offer would be greatly appreciated by the Commission. Following a brief discussion, Misters Fox, Weiner, Dr. Brown, and the secretary agreed to convene a conference call for the purpose of developing a Science Advisory Board resolution to address the matter. [Attachment #2 - PDF document]

12. Adjournment

    There being no further business of the Board, Dr. Rose moved that the meeting be adjourned with seconding by Mr. Fox. The motion was approved by all of those in attendance.