Commission mixte internationale
Vagues Logo de la CMI IJC Logo
 

Approved November 7, 2002

MINUTES
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
EXECUTIVE MEETING
Ottawa, Ontario
October 7, 2002

The International Joint Commission met in executive session at the Canadian Section office in Ottawa, Ontario October 7, 2002 with Chair Herb Gray in the chair.

COMMISSIONERS
Herb Gray Chair, Canadian Section
Dennis Schornack Chair, U.S. Section
Robert Gourd Commissioner, Canadian Section
Jack Blaney Commissioner, Canadian Section

HEADQUARTERS' STAFF
Murray Clamen Secretary, Canadian Section
Gerald Galloway Secretary, U.S. Section
Helen Kay Austin Ecologist, U.S. Section
Edward BaileyEngineering Adviser, Canadian Section
Frank Bevacqua Public Information Officer, U.S. Section
Lisa Bourget Engineering Adviser, U.S. Section (by teleconference)
Valerie Brunette Executive Asst to the Secretary & Commissioners, Canadian Section
James Chandler Legal Adviser, U.S. Section
Nick Heisler Special Adviser to the Chair, Canadian Section
James Houston Environmental & Informatics Adviser, Canadian Section
Rudy Koop Research Adviser, Canadian Section
Fabien Lengellé Public Affairs Adviser, Canadian Section
Karen Lynch Staff Assistant, U.S. Section
Ann MacKenzie Economics Adviser, Canadian Section
Brad ParkerAdviser, Canadian Section
Russ TrowbridgeAdviser, U.S. Section
Michael Vechsler Legal Adviser, Canadian Section

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL OFFICE STAFF
Gail Krantzberg Director
Doug Bondy Regional Assistant to Director
Marty Bratzel Physical Scientist
Jennifer Day Public Information Officer
Richard Delisle Administrative Officer

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Commissioners approved the agenda (reflected by these minutes) for the October 7, 2002 executive meeting with the following additions:
  1. Lake Erie "dead zone"
  2. Georgian Bay Association correspondence
  3. Duck Lake Orders of Approval
  4. IJC Initiative on Future Sources of Energy
  5. IJC References and Other Studies
  6. Sponsorship
  7. IJC Annual Report
Commissioners noted that the Souris Board will not be appearing on Wednesday morning as planned instead staff from the office of the Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development will brief the Commission on the Invasive Species chapter of their report.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2. The Commission noted the approval of the Minutes of the June 11-13, 2002 Executive Meeting held in Windsor, Ontario

APPOINTMENTS
3. The Commision:

Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study Board, Public Interest Advisory Group (PIAG)
  1. noted the appointment of Mr. Marcel Lussier as Canadian Co-chair of PIAG and Study Board member, and Mr. Jim Snyder as U.S. Study Board member
Council of Great Lakes Research Managers, Canadian. Section
  1. approved the re-appointment of Ms Cheryl Lewis as a member for a three-year term.
Great Lakes Water Quality Board
  1. conditionally approved the re-appointment of Mr. David DeLaunay as a member for one year.

GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT ISSUES

11 th Biennial Report

4. Commissioners:
  1. agreed that the release of the report, including the press conferences and media coverage, went well.
  2. suggested Ottawa may have been a better release city than Toronto; co-ordinating call-in with web-based images to add to briefings; and that follow-up meetings with governments be joint whenever possible.
  3. agreed that staff should provide copies of all media coverage to Commissioners, including where the Op Ed piece had been used.

Areas of Concern (AOC) Special Report

5. The Commission:
  1. noted the report drafting was on schedule.
  2. agreed to seek release of the report in early December 2002, possibly during the December 3-4 executive meeting in Washington, D.C.
  3. agreed that the document should be attractive and as an IJC Report, independent of the contractor's reports.
  4. agreed to use the matrix/table of AOCs as a handout or possibly an enclosure.
  5. agreed to review all the data and comment as appropriate.
  6. noted that a draft communication strategy would be provided for consideration by the end of October.
Areas of Concern (AOC)

6. The Commission:
  1. approved the draft comments on Stage 3 Severn Sound AOC and agreed to transmit them to governments in a letter signed by all Commissioners, noting the letters would be handed to Minister Anderson and US Ambassador Cellucci on Thursday morning at the meeting with governments.
  2. noted the status of the St. Lawrence River Status Assessment and agreed that there would be further discussion of prioritizing beneficial uses, as well as Chair Schornack's commitment to the St. Regis Mohawks for an AOC briefing and to conduct a PIAG meeting on the reservation.
  3. approved a Commission visit to the Oswego AOC in anticipation of receiving a Stage 3 report.
  4. noted Commission letters sent to governments on the Hamilton Harbour AOC .
  5. noted the proposed designation of Presque Isle Bay as an Area of Recovery and the expected letter to the Commission asking for its review, and agreed to ask the Water Quality Board for their views on this designation (see March 2002 letter from the Water Quality Board attached).
Annex 2

7. The Commission approved the Terms of Reference for the Annex 2 Committee as amended to expand membership to include Section advisers and others as may be suggested by Lead Commissioners.

Parties Binational Executive Committee (BEC)/IJC Consultation

8. The Commission approved staffs' continued participation in the review of reporting procedures in response to BEC co-chairs invitation to the IJC (and subsequently approved a letter to BEC).

Biennial Forum Planning

9. The Commission:
  1. noted current plans for the 2003 Biennial Forum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 19-20, 2003 including the hiring of a contractor, and tentatively approved the theme "Restore the Greatness".
  2. approved the concept of workshops subject to further review and discussion at the December executive meeting.
  3. agreed to an opening reception for attendees.
  4. noted the possibility of a meeting with the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission during or adjacent to the Forum.
  5. agreed that the Forum should be officially announced by the end of October.
  6. agreed that there will be a prominent role for the GLWQA Boards at the Forum
  7. agreed that Chair Schornack will be the Lead U.S. Commissioner for the Forum

State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC)

10. The Commission noted arrangements for attending SOLEC in Cleveland including that Chair Gray will address the Special Session for Senior Managers on October16th and that Chair Schornack will speak at lunch on October 17th.

Alien Invasive Species (AIS)/Asian Carp

11. The Commission:
  1. noted actions to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.
  2. agreed to send letters to government officials bringing to their attention the recommendations in the 11th Biennial Report concerning AIS and the proposed Reference and suggesting an early staff meeting.
  3. agreed staff should develop information on the importation of live AIS and what actions the Commission might take.
  4. agreed to closely monitor actions by governments to prevent movement of AIS into the Great Lakes.

COMMISSION HUMAN HEALTH WORKSHOP

12. The Commission agreed:
  1. to hold a human health workshop in Windsor or Chicago depending on which site is better for attendees.
  2. to schedule the workshop, if possible, when the two additional US Commissioners have been appointed (potentially January 2003).
  3. to provide limited financial support for experts.
  4. that in light of the Lake Erie "dead zone" issue, to add health issues with respect to Lake Erie to the list of possible topics.

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TASK FORCE (HPTF)

13. The Commission:
  1. noted the proposed letter to the Commission from the HPTF and a member of the IAQAB, and agreed with the recommendation that the two groups examine transboundary issues concerning the Sumas II power plant in the state of Washington and report by December
  2. deferred action on the proposed HPTF Workplan until staff can review it.

AIR QUALITY ISSUES

14. The Commission:
  1. agreed to send letters to governments requesting a meeting to discuss Detroit-Windsor/Port Huron-Sarnia air quality issues.
  2. agreed to defer the letter to governments on the Canada-US Air Quality Agreement and requested staff to provide Commissioners with a range of possible consultative actions to receive comment on the 2002 progress report of the governments' Air Quality Committee

RECOGNITION OF IJC BOARD MEMBERS

15 The Commission noted the draft Plan of Action and approved the staff recommendations for initial recognition action.

IJC WEBSITE

16 The Commission received an update on the status of the new IJC website, noting the audit in progress by Westlake Consulting and the proposed launch in spring 2003, and asked staff for a report on the need for an IJC webmaster at the December executive meeting.

IJC BROCHURE

17 The Commission discussed the text and layout for a new IJC Brochure and directed staff to re-circulate the final draft to Commissioners for approval. Commissioners approved the title: "Keeping Watch over our Transboundary Environment from Coast to Coast".

IJC POLICIES AND PRACTICES

18. The Commission approved three policies and four practices for the IJC Policy Book.

LIAISON WITH COMMISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION

19. The Commission:
  1. received an oral report from Chair Schornack on the CEC October 3, 2002 Freshwater Issues workshop in New Mexico and agreed that the Commission would submit comments on the Options paper.
  2. noted the December 2 meeting in Washington D.C. to follow-up on the Commissioners' June 2002 meeting with CEC Ministers, and agreed that Secretaries should organize a meeting with the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) in Mexico.

UPPER LAKES PLAN OF STUDY (POS)

20 The Commission received an oral status report on funding, noting that the US Section had funds in their FY03 and FY04 budgets and that the Canadian Section had no funds

WATERSHED BOARD REFERENCE

21. The Commission agreed to prepare a short, comprehensive and stand-alone report to governments covering watershed board activity since 2000 and that staff should submit a draft for discussion at the December executive meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Request by the Georgian Bay Association

22. The Commission agreed to provide the Georgian Bay Association with existing IJC information on channel depths in the St. Clair River and to ask the International Lake Superior Board of Control to examine if there is a need to alert governments to shoreline alterations.

IJC References and Other Studies

23. Chair Gray provided Commissioners with a draft list of on-going References and other studies and asked for Commissioner and staff comments to update it.

Proposal for an IJC Annual Report

24. The Commission agreed that staff should report at the December Executive meeting on the feasibility of a less than 10 page IJC Annual Report

Lake Erie

25. The Commission agreed to invite researchers studying the Lake Erie "dead zone" and botulism outbreak to make a presentation to the Commission at the December Executive meeting.

Duck Lake

26. The Commission approved the staff proposal to initiate a review of the Commission's Duck Lake Orders of Approval.

Policy for IJC Sponsorship

27. The Commission approved the staff proposed policy on sponsorship, subject to addition of an item dealing with advocacy groups supporting an IJC position, and agreed that the policy would be reviewed at the December Executive meeting.

Request for Files

28. The Commission approved the release of the files requested by Dr. Hermon who is doing research on the IJC for a project on the Dead Sea.

IJC Initiative on Future Sources of Energy

29. The Commission agreed that staff should scope out this potential project and report at the December executive meeting.

BRIEFING OF ISSUES PRIOR TO APPEARANCES OF IJC BOARDS

International Rainy Lake Board of Control

30. Noting concerns raised during the 2001 and 2002 floods regarding structural stability of the Boise Cascade Corporation powerhouse and employee safety, the Commission approved a letter to Boise stating that it would be prudent for the company to complete its remedial work on the powerhouse prior to April 2003 and develop a contingency plan to address these concerns.

International Red River Board

31. The Commission endorsed the Board resolution on the Watershed Information Network (WIN), approved sending a letter to EPA in support of WIN and agreed with the Board Co-chairs recommendation that they not accept membership on the Red River Basin Commission




Murray Clamen
Secretary
Canadian Section 		Gerry Galloway
Secretary
U.S. Section

Haut de page

Dernière mise à jour : 

Vagues
Accueil Conseils Recherche Liens Contactez-nous Activités À notre sujet Salle de presse English