In February 2003, the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program adopted Advocacy and Review Procedures.

The report outlines major categories of local, state and federal governmental actions for review, the procedures to develop and transmit Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) advocacy positions, and procedures to raise issues not within the major categories of action. The procedures contained within this report provide for flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Advocacy activities should not consume CHNEP efforts at the expense of research, restoration, education, and legislative initiatives. Although the procedures are grounded in Federal Consistency Review requirements of NEPs, these procedures provide for all governmental actions.

The CHNEP demonstrated courage when it adopted its position of advocacy. On December 7, 2001, the CHNEP Policy Committee unanimously adopted the motion to "become a spokesman for the Harbor and the waterbodies in the natural system in the forums where decisions are being made and implementations are being undertaken." Although special reference was made to Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL), Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL), the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and its implications for the Caloosahatchee River, the overall goal was for "the CHNEP to assume the lead role in being the advocate for the Charlotte Harbor Ecosystem Complex and its watersheds." The position further suggested that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management District, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District "look to the CHNEP for guidance in setting Goals for the CHNEP study area for their various programs currently underway."

The CHNEP Policy Committee is made up of elected officials and agency heads of federal, state, regional, county, and city agencies. These are the very agencies that will be the likely recipients of CHNEP advocacy. The advocacy position represents a great commitment to partnership and trust between the CHNEP partners.

The aims of the CHNEP’s advocacy stance are:

• To implement the quantitative objectives and priority actions of the adopted Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP),

• To provide policy-makers with a source of review and comment from an organization which represents the considered opinions of diverse interests, and

• To provide a voice for natural systems within the study area watersheds based on the best scientific information available.

The Advocacy and Review Procedures is available as a PDF file.