Racial Disparities in the United States Estuary Programs

WHEREAS, the National Estuary Program (NEP) was created in 1987 by amendments to the Clean Water Act to ―identify, restore, and protect nationally significant estuaries in the United States‖; and

WHEREAS, the NEP affords scientists and students places to study environmental biology, geology, chemistry, and physics while supporting recreational activities such as boating, fishing, swimming, surfing, and wildlife viewing; and

WHEREAS, the above stated activities have created an interdependent coastal industry, including housing development, that has generated billions of dollars in revenue; and

WHEREAS, African-Americans and other minority students have been denied access to opportunities, training and resources afforded through the NEP; and

WHEREAS, the 28 Estuary programs are:

Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds, North Carolina
Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine Complex, Louisiana
Barnegat-Bay, New Jersey
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Maine
Charlotte Harbor, Florida
Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries, Texas
Lower Columbia River Estuary, Oregon and Washington
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Delaware Inland Bays, Delaware
Galveston Bay, Texas
Indian River Lagoon, Florida
Long Island Sound, New York and Connecticut
Maryland Coastal Bays, Maryland
Massachusetts Bays, Massachusetts
Mobile Bay, Alabama
Morro Bay, California
Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, New Hampshire and Maine
New York-New Jersey Harbor (Harbor Estuary Program), New York and New Jersey
Peconic Bay, New York
Puget Sound, Washington
San Francisco Estuary, California
San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico
Santa Monica Bay, California
Sarasota Bay, Florida
Tampa Bay, Florida
Tillamook Estuaries, Oregon

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) request the United States Congress require representative minority participation, such as that of the NAACP Branches and State Conferences, in federally funded environmental programs as it relates to planning, implementation and policy in the NEP and related government policy making programs; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that all NAACP Units request a seat on each of the 28 Estuary Programs in the United States and other environmental, rural and urban, policy decision- making bodies related to environmental matters.