The Ocean Protection Council (OPC) is pleased to share the results of two OPC-funded projects. The first is a report providing guidance for addressing microplastic pollution in California’s waters and assessing the risk of microplastics, and the second is a set of reports on validating trash monitoring methodologies and a playbook enabling local governments to use and understand available trash monitoring methods. Please see below for more information about each project.
OPC is pleased to announce that a 2-pager on frequently asked questions for the Coastal Environmental Justice funding opportunity is now available. For more information on the Coastal Environmental Justice Solicitation, please see the Prop 1 webpage. As a reminder, Letters of Intent are due this Friday, April 23, 2021.
OPC staff will be available for virtual “office hours” using a webinar format to answer questions from prospective applicants and provide technical assistance. Office hours are scheduled for April 14, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 PM. The Office Hours webinar will be conducted as an open Q&A session and speakers are limited to 5-7 minutes to allow time for others to ask questions. If you need more time to ask specific questions on your project, you may request a 15-minute pre-consultation meeting when registering for the Office Hours Webinar. Please fill out this form to register for the Office Hours Webinar and/or request an individual pre-consultation meeting: OPC Prop 1 Solicitation: Office Hours Webinar Registration Form.
For more information on OPC’s Coastal Environmental Justice Solicitation, please see the Prop 1 Webpage. Letters of intent are due April 23, 2021.
The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) is pleased to announce the release of a solicitation for letters of intent on coastal projects that benefit communities entitled to environmental justice and improve water quality. Please see the solicitation for specific project types and priorities. OPC has up to $7.5 million to distribute through this round of funding, and letters of intent are due to OPC_Prop1grants@resources.ca.gov on April 23, 2021.
OPC staff will hold an informational webinar for prospective applicants on March 29 from 2:00-3:00 PM. This webinar will include going over the solicitation, the LOI template, and answering questions. To register for the webinar and get more information please complete the Webinar Registration Form . Please see the Prop 1 webpage for more information about the solicitation, letter of intent submission materials, and consultation opportunities with OPC staff.
The Ocean Protection Council (OPC) is pleased to announce the release of Draft Revised Prop 1 Grant Guidelines for public review and comment. Major revisions to the Prop 1 Guidelines include changes to OPC’s priority projects and to the scoring criteria. OPC’s priorities focus on projects benefiting communities entitled to environmental justice. OPC will host a webinar on January 25, 2021 to present the guidelines and receive comments, and the deadline for written public comment is Tuesday, January 26, 2021. Comments may be submitted via email to OPC_Prop1grants@resources.ca.gov. Please see the Proposition 1 webpage for more information.
The Ocean Protection Council, the State Water Resources Control Board staff, and numerous international experts will be participating in a webinar series starting on October 19 to characterize microplastics and human and ecological health effects. This webinar series is hosted by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and the University of Toronto and is open to the public; more information on the webinar series and registration information is available here: https://www.sccwrp.org/about/research-areas/additional-research-areas/trash-pollution/microplastics-health-effects-webinar-series/
The Ocean Protection Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, are reconvening the Science Advisory Panel on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in Aquatic Ecosystems (Panel) to review existing scientific literature and determine the state of current scientific knowledge on the risks of CECs impacting human health and the environment in freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems of the State. The panel will update recommendations submitted in 2012 to the State Water Board to improve the understanding of CECs to protect public health and the environment.
The Panel, will be hosting its initial series of public meetings via Zoom. The meetings are scheduledMonday through Thursday, October 12 – 15 from 8am to 10am. The meetings will include technical presentations for the Panel’s consideration and time is allocated for interested parties to provide input and feedback as part of the initiation of the Panel’s deliberation process. This meeting series is free and open to the public, and registration is available at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1yzijYkVTq6JQH-NYbVxzw
The agenda for the meeting series includes four parts that correspond to each day of the series including:
Part 1: Intended Use of Panel Products
Part 2: CEC Management Approaches
Part 3: Scientific Advances in the Field
Part 4: Stakeholder Input
For those that are interested but unable to attend, the meeting will be recorded and made available to the public for later viewing. This panel is updating information from a previous Science Advisory Panel from 2012, additional information on the previous Science Advisory Panel, including a link to the 2012 report, is available at https://www.sccwrp.org/about/research-areas/emerging-contaminants/cec-ecosystems-panel/.
The Ocean Protection Council and the NOAA Marine Debris Program co-hosted a two-day webinar for the California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy (Strategy) implementation process on June 24-25, 2020. We are pleased to announce that webinar recordings of the two plenary sessions are now available on the Ocean Litter Strategy project resources page. Topics covered during the two plenary sessions can be found on the webinar agenda. Day 1 of the webinar featured opening remarks from Secretary Jared Blumenfeld, NOAA Marine Debris Program Director Nancy Wallace, and OPC Executive Director Mark Gold.
Day 1 of the webinar also featured keynote presentations from:
Dr. Mark Starr on Plastic Pollution and COVID-19, a Public Health Perspective
Baani Behniwal on A California Perspective on Plastic Pollution and Waste Management
Asma Mahdi on Equity and Zero Waste.
Day 2 of the webinar featured agency updates from OPC, the State Water Resources Control Board, CalRecycle, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Day 2 also featured report outs from the day 1 breakout sessions, which were not recorded. Please see the webinar recordings and agenda for more information.
