EPA Region 10 Mercury Strategy Framework - Environmental ...

EPA Region 108. Establish a Technical Exchange ForumMuch work related to mercury is underway by manyparties and there is always a lag time before informationgets disseminated. This technical information ranges fromrecent research results to practical application of newmonitoring techniques.A forum to discuss and disseminate technical information onmercury will help to more effectively coordinate,collaborate, and communicate among West Coast federalpartners, states, and tribes.Mercury Strategy FrameworkEPA role:EPA will act as a coordinator or convener of (monthlyor bi-monthly) calls. We may also explore thepossibility of reviving this in partnership with USGSand other western EPA Regions (the previousroundtable was national in scope and lacked a WestCoast focus). We may also explore the option ofexchanging information online via a ListServerinstead of, or in addition to, regular conference calls.Although states currently participate in the QuicksilverCaucus, the Caucus is just for states and tends to have apolicy focus. Idaho participates in the Great Basin mercuryworkgroup, but the other three states and most of the tribesdo not have similar opportunities.A Mercury Roundtable was once coordinated by USGS andEPA, and may be resurrected as a workable model.Participants said that it was well organized, focused, andextremely useful. Presentations were sent out in advanceand calls focused on technical topics such as results fromnew work and plans for upcoming work. Policy aspectswere limited to interactions among media and implicationsfor cross-program communication.A forum is needed for West Coast-specific technical aspectsof the mercury problem, which can be very different fromEast Coast issues. For example, we have less data, overseastrans-Pacific transport issues, mountains that influencetransport, different ecosystems, and the fact that methylationmay play a more important role here.Mercury Strategy Framework - Page 13