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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 2024 NPC MRC First DRAFT Meeting Summary NPC MRC 7/16/2024 DRAFT Meeting Summary 1 July 16, 2024 NPC MRC Draft Meeting Summary The Tuesday, July 16, 2024 NPC MRC meeting took place at the Peninsula College in Forks, WA and by Zoom connection from 4:00 PM to 6:03 PM ([00:00:01] to [02:03:10]). Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Chris Butler-Minor (Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, ex officio), Eileen Cooney (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County - Economic Groups), Wendy Feltham (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County – Scientific Community), Rod Fleck (City of Forks), Jennifer Hagen (Quileute Tribe Representative), John Hunter (Citizen Representative – Conservation / Environmental Groups), Katie Krueger (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Scientific Community), Rebecca Mahan (Clallam County Representative), Ian Miller (Washington Sea Grant, ex officio), Tami Pokorny (NPC MRC Coordinator and Jefferson County Representative), Alice Ryan (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Recreational Groups), Jill Silver (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County– Conservation/Environmental Groups). A quorum was present at the beginning of the meeting. Jessica Cross (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [PNNL]) and Chris Waldbillig (Coastal MRC Coordinator, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW]) were also in attendance. Introductions Public Comments There were no public comments. Additions to and Approval of the Agenda Tami Pokorny added an update from Alice Ryan on the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) program under New Business. The group also agreed to move the presentation from PNNL up in the agenda. The updated agenda was approved by consensus. Approval of the June 2024 NPC MRC Meeting Summary The June NPC MRC Summary was approved by consensus as written. Announcements Jennifer Hagen announced that the Quileute Tribe deployed their hypoxia moorings last week. The readings are available at the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS) website at https://nvs.nanoos.org/Explorer. New Business Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal and Pilot Project Sara Nawaz with American University’s Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy was unable to attend, but Jessica Cross, PNNL Researcher with the Coastal Sciences Division, presented on Cleaning up Climate Change: Practical Climate Recovery and Carbon Removal. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has NPC MRC 7/16/2024 DRAFT Meeting Summary 2 determined that climate security is dependent on both emissions reductions and carbon removal. Most IPCC scenarios that achieve warming goals below 2 degrees Celsius include carbon dioxide reduction (CDR) strategies along with reducing emissions. However, climate goals rely mostly on reducing emissions. The goal is to be able to reduce CO2 emissions enough to keep global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, while applying offsets only to activities that are especially hard to decarbonize. Although scientists are developing multiple ways to pull legacy carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the options may take a long time to develop and come with different costs and benefits. CDR methods are evaluated from various angles, including scalability, efficiency, durability, environmental sustainability, uncertainty, additionality, and cost. Some of these methods have important energy, water, and land-use costs that can compete with other sustainable development goals. Overall, scientists are learning that having a diverse array of CDR technologies can help mitigate and distribute the costs and impacts over different areas, especially for the global south. This is where ocean-based CDR methods come into play, as they can help add to the diversification, spread out the impacts, and provide a large scale. However, compared to the terrestrial CDR methods, most of the ocean-based methods are in the early- to mid-stages of development. The three main categories of ocean-based CDR technologies are storing carbon through plants (i.e., kelp, macro algae farming, and phytoplankton development); storing carbon as minerals or rocks (i.e., alkalinization or alkalinity enhancement); and engineered systems that directly strip carbon dioxide out of ocean water for storage somewhere else (i.e., below the seabed, underground, or by conversion). Carbon removal can help to mitigate ocean acidification, but since CDR is very slow to develop and take effect, emissions reductions will always be necessary. In addition, while CDR technologies might be able to stop more carbon dioxide from dissolving in the water, it would be extremely difficult to reverse surface ocean acidification. Some CDR methods that can be used at the surface to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can also be used to mitigate subsurface ocean acidification instead, but they cannot do both at the same time. Researchers are working on how to do this more efficiently, but there are no good methods developed yet. In order to help scientists understand how to diversify options, and how to maximize efficiency, safety, and co-benefits, and minimize costs, a lot more research is needed to start pilot projects. Washington State has a number of capacity-building initiatives for developing marine CDR, including from Washington Sea Grant, the Marine Resources Advisory Council, and Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry. Jessica gave an overview of what a marine CDR pilot program might look like, which would include expert, community, and regulator relationships; a technology to test; and a suitable testing site. Testing sites start in a closed system like a laboratory environment, and then move into an open system in a natural environment. An example of a closed system marine CDR pilot project is the EASE-OA Project from PNNL-Sequim, which uses electricity to split seawater into an acid stream and a base stream, sequestering the acid stream and returning the base stream to the seawater, helping to store CO2 from the atmosphere in a more permanent way. The byproduct acid can then be used for emissions reductions or offsets, such as in local concrete manufacturing (reducing emissions by providing a local acid supply instead of shipping acid from farther away), or to facilitate algae growth for biofuel production for further net negative CO2 capture. Jessica gave a background on PNNL- Sequim, which is the Department of Energy’s only dedicated marine sciences laboratory, and focuses on supporting energy and climate solutions, equitable economic development, and healthy coastal ecosystems. The EASE-OA Project timeline has progressed cautiously to ensure human and environmental safety, building an entire body of research around basic ecosystem assessments, including biological response studies to identify possible impacts and risks, narrow in on likely scenarios, and assess the combined impacts using longer and more complex experiments. So far, they have shown that organisms suffer with extreme exposure to high pH levels that are well above permit limits. The next step is to test the impacts of more realistic exposure. Jessica welcomed follow-up questions at her email: jessica.cross@pnnl.gov, and offered to come back when Sara Nawaz is able to present to the NPC MRC. She suggested contacting her colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding potential biological impacts: Paul McElhany: paul.mcelhany@noaa.gov; Shallin Busch: shallin.busch@noaa.gov; and Libby Jewett: libby.jewett@noaa.gov. For NPC MRC 7/16/2024 DRAFT Meeting Summary 3 more information on the biological studies and the seahares and isopods that were studied, contact Lenaig Hemery: lenaig.hemery@pnnl.gov. For more information on phytoplankton ecology, contact Deborah Iglesias Rodrigues at University of California Santa Barbara: iglesias@lifesci.ucsb.edu. Jessica also recommended contacting Sara Nawaz and Will Burns for questions regarding policy. ROV Program Update Alice Ryan gave an update on the ROV Workshop for Mentors that the NPC MRC helped to support. She said the experience was phenomenal, creating connections and helping the teachers to learn how to teach their students about building ROVs. One of the best aspects was that it brought teachers together from all over the country, including American Samoa. It was a merging of mentors, scientists, and teachers, including some from the NOAA program Teacher at Sea. In addition to knowing how to go forward and maybe even helping her students to get to the next level, Alice is hoping to build a connection between her students and American Samoa students. She expressed her thanks and appreciation to the NPC MRC for supporting the workshop. Ian Miller mentioned that he has been working with a Sea Grant specialist in American Samoa and is hoping to build connections there as well because of the interesting similarities between American Samoa and the Olympic Peninsula. Old Business Coast MRC Summit and Film Festival 2024 Planning The Coast MRC Summit will be held from 10/16/24 – 10/18/24 in Forks and La Push. Tami Pokorny asked the group whether it would make sense to come away from the Summit with an action plan for the Coast, particularly in light of the increase in WDFW funding that will be coming to the MRCs. She went over a draft program. Wednesday, 10/16/24, will be held at the Rainforest Arts Center. In addition to some key presentations, Tami suggested tying in the theme of diversifying coastal economies, while making them more pro-community and green and preserving the unique local cultures. A Tribal welcome will hopefully be featured on Wednesday or Thursday. Thursday, 10/17/24, would include a site visit to Rialto Beach, and continue with the theme of diversifying the coastal economies from various angles. Friday, 10/18/24, would feature science presentations in Forks, but from the perspective of how the MRCs can be relevant, engaged, and hopeful with respect to these overwhelming topics. The Film Festival will be held on Friday evening. More information about the Film Festival can be found at: https://wsg.washington.edu/community-outreach/outreach-detail- pages/river-and-ocean-film-festival/. Saturday, 10/19/24, is Maritime Heritage Day at the Rainforest Arts Center in Forks and is being coordinated by others. Discussion followed on how to go forward in economic development in a way that balances obligations to the environment, while also addressing the needs and barriers of living wage jobs. New Business Coast MRC Budget Increase Request Chris Waldbillig announced that the budget increase was on track, and that one-page summaries from the MRCs on how they would use additional funds were due in September. Updates Updates were skipped due to lack of time. Coast MRC Update Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) The last meeting was held on 7/10/24. The agenda and other WCMAC meeting materials can be found at the Ecology website: Department of Ecology - Committees, Boards, and Workgroups (wa.gov). NPC MRC 7/16/2024 DRAFT Meeting Summary 4 Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council The next meeting is scheduled for 7/26/24. West Coast Ocean Alliance Invasive European Green Crab Marine Debris Climate/Fossil Fuels Related (All) Administrative Update Next Agenda (August 20, 2024): The next NPC MRC Meeting will be held on 8/20/24 in Forks with a virtual option. It will include a discussion with Olympic National Park Superintendent Sula Jacobs. Public Comments/General There were no public comments. Adjourn at 6:03 PM Action Items There were no action items. Draft summary compiled by Rebekah Brooks.