Approved February 9, 2004

MINUTES
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
EXECUTIVE MEETING
Washington, DC
December 9-11, 2003

The International Joint Commission met in executive session at the U.S. Section office in Washington, DC on December 9-11, 2003, with Chair Dennis Schornack in the chair.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

1. The Commission approved the agenda, with the addition of consideration of the appointments of Lee Grim as a member to the U.S. Section of the International Rainy Lake Board of Control and Doug Barnes as a member of the Canadian Section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board.

MINUTES

2. The Commission approved the minutes of the October 15, 2003 conference call; the minutes of the October 20-23, 2003 Fall Semi-annual meeting held in Ottawa; and the minutes of the November 15, 2003 executive meeting held in Toronto, with the addition of "factory farms" to the list in item 3c.

ACTION ITEMS/ACTIONS TAKEN

3. The Commission reviewed the status of action items report and agreed that the report is not a part of the minutes, but rather an in-house management tool for Commissioners and advisers.

2004-2005 SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

4. The Commission:

1. approved the revised 2004 Schedule of Meetings, changing the date of the Fall Semi-annual meeting to October 18-22, 2004 to avoid conflicting with the SOLEC meeting;
2. agreed staff should provide a cost assessment of a possible Commissioners' or executive meeting in the St. Andrews area in conjunction with the June 25-26, 2004 St. Croix 400^th anniversary celebrations;
3. agreed that the IJC Combined Schedule of Meetings should reflect Commissioners' speaking appointments.

APPOINTMENTS

5. The Commission approved:

1. the re-appointments of Kenneth Hamilton, William Appleby, and William Ayer as members to the Canadian Section of the International St. Croix River Board and Edward Logue as a member to the U.S. Section of that Board for a term of 3 years; and approved the appointment of Colonel Thomas Koning as Acting Co-chair of the U.S. Section of the Board upon the retirement of Don Porteous on January 4, 2004;
2. the re-appointments of Drs. John Braden, David Carpenter, and Judith  Perlinger as members to the U.S. Section of the Science Advisory Board and Drs. Allan Johns, Donna Mergler, Glen Fox as members to the Canadian Section of that Board for a term of 3 years; and approved the appointments of Drs. Bruce Krushelnicki and Pierre Payment as members to the Canadian Section of that Board for a term of 3 years;
3. the re-appointments of Larry Field, Michel Gagne, John Hall, Marc Hudon, Elaine Kennedy, Anjuna Langevin, Sandra Lawn, Paul Webb and Al Will as members to the Canadian Section of the Public Interest Advisory Group (PIAG) of the International Lake Ontario St. Lawrence River Study Board, and Dan Barletta, Tom McAuslan, Tony McKenna, Jon Montan, Henry Stewart, Paul Thiebau, Scott Tripoli, and Stephanie Weiss as members to the U.S. Section of the PIAG;
4. the appointments of Lee Grim as a member to the U.S. Section of the International Rainy Lake Board of Control and agreed staff should draft a media release concerning new appointments to the board (Mr. Grim and Mr. Richardson);
5. the appointment of Doug Barnes as a member of the Canadian Section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board.

POLICY ON PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS

6. The Commission reviewed the policy on publications and public presentations and agreed that staff should re-draft the policy by re-ordering the paragraphs and ensuring a consistent approval process among the Secretaries and the GLRO Director.

DIRECTORS REPORT

7. The Commission agreed to defer discussion of the Director's report to an in-camera session.

APPROACH ON ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES

8. The Commission reviewed the draft outline and strategy regarding a possible joint report with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission on alien invasive species and possible implications for the 12th biennial report and agreed:

1. to confirm its previous decision that IJC advice on the review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement would be in a separate report and not as part of the 12th Biennial Report, and
2. that staff should request a letter from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission outlining its expectations on possible collaboration for a joint report, with IJC decision regarding such a possible joint report deferred pending receipt of this letter.

GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT (GLWQA) REVIEW ADVICE

9. The Commission discussed the nature of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board’s (WQB) and IJC’s advice to governments on the review of the GLWQA and:

1. Approved the focus questions for stakeholder consultations, pending discussions with Co-chairs of the WQB, with minor edits to the first paragraph and the addition of questions asking "What has worked in the GLWQA and what has not worked in the GLWQA - what are the successes and failures?";
2. Agreed to keep the roundtable discussions open to the public and deferred finalization of meetings and schedule pending further discussion with the WQB Co-chairs and contingent on the amount and source of funding;
3. Agreed that neither Chair of the Commission would participate in the Wingspread Conference, but that the GLRO Director would attend as an observer so that the Commission could remain fully informed of the group's advice;
4. Agreed that staff should draft a joint letter from the Chairs of the Commission to Paul Muldoon and Lee Botts, the chairs of Wingspread Conference, welcoming their efforts in addressing issues concerning the review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and specifying the IJC's role in Wingspread Conference.
5. Following discussions with the Co-chairs of the WQB, agreed that focusing on the process and design of the review would be most helpful to governments; agreed to reconsider the timing of the Commission's advice following meetings of the Binational Executive Committee and the Wingspread Conference in January, a Science Advisory Board workshop in early February, and possible further consultations with government leaders; agreed to continue planning for the release of the 12^th biennial report in June 2004 recognizing that the Commission's advice on the GLWQA review may be released later in 2004

2005 BIENNIAL MEETING

10. The Commission considered the options for 2005 Biennial Meeting sites and agreed that staff should continue searching for locations, focusing on Toronto and Kingston and considering university sites.

12^th BIENNIAL REPORT

11. The Commission:

1. Approved the writing team, process and timeline, pending the outcome of discussions with the WQB co-chairs;
2. Agreed that staff, in drafting the report, address: "urbanization" in terms of "imperviousness", factory farms, linkages between urbanization and climate change, offering possible solutions (including what individuals could do), problem definition (what has already been done, and what more could be done), and successes that provide examples (including from outside the Great Lakes basin).

INTERNATIONAL AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD

12. The Commission noted the two reports of the IAQAB, "Air Quality in Selected Binational Great Lakes Urban Regions" and "Summary of Critical Air Quality Issues in the Transboundary Region" and agreed to the proposed release schedules but with the public release of the former report on February 16, 2004 in advance of the Windsor workshop being organized by the Windsor Essex Environmental Advisory Committee.

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TASK FORCE

13. The Commission:

1. Approved the 2003-2004 work plan and budget of the task force;
2. Agreed that staff should invite the Canadian Great Lakes Environmental Scholar to meet with Commission at the February Executive Meeting.

IJC WEBSITE

The Commission received an oral briefing on the status of the Commission's new website and plans for Phase 3, and agreed that staff should determine how:

1. Hits have changed since moving to the new website, and
2. States and provinces handle youth sites for consideration in how the IJC might create such a site or link to others' youth sites

ST. MARY-MILK RIVERS

15. The Commission deferred discussion to the February Executive Meeting.

WATER USES REVIEW REPORT

16. The Commission deferred discussion pending Commissioners' review of the report.

DUCK LAKE

17. The Commission approved the minute of decision revoking its Duck Lake orders with changes to accommodate Commissioners' signatures, and the communication plan with changes to the media release noting that jurisdiction will now lie with the Province of British Columbia.

INTERNATIONAL SOURIS RIVER BOARD

18. The Commission approved the action plan for achieving an enhanced mandate for the Board and the letter transmitting the plan to governments.

INTERNATIONAL LAKE ONTARIO-ST. LAWRENCE RIVER STUDY BOARD

19. The Commission received an oral briefing from the Study Board on the progress and direction of the study; considered end-of-study issues including a possible briefing session with state and provincial officials prior to the end of the study; and agreed to consider information management efforts including the possibility of hosting a workshop to examine issues, approaches, and options in further detail.

CHRISTINA RIVER BASIN

20. Commissioners received an oral briefing from Jerry Kaufman of the University of Delaware's Water Resources Agency regarding the Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership.

CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION

21. Commissioners received an oral briefing from Bill Madizeski, former chair of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, regarding Chesapeake Bay restoration projects and governance structure.

OTHER BUSINESS

Letter Regarding Commission Consultation On Emissions From Coal Fired Power Plant

A. The Commission discussed advice from the International Air Quality Advisory Board concerning the workshop and suggested possibly piggy-backing to an existing meeting to save travel costs.

St. Croix River Alewife Study

B. The Commission agreed to provide $5000 U.S. to the St. Croix International Waterway Commission in support of a one-year study on alewife-bass interaction pending resolution of concerns regarding Native American support and full funding availability.

National Wildlife Federation letter

C. The Commission deferred discussion of a letter from the National Wildlife Federation pending review of the Lake Superior Binational Program.

44^th Annual Report of the International Souris River Board

D. The Commission agreed to accept and post the report on the website.

Fourth Annual Report of the International Red River Board

E. The Commission agreed to accept and post the report on the website.

Communications Expert to International St. Lawrence River Board of Control

F. The Commission agreed that IJC communications staff, in coordination with the joint IJC-Board Communications Committee, should identify part-time tasks for potential communications assistance to the board and present findings to the board for its consideration.