Environmental Sensitivity Index Guidelines Version 2.0
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NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 115 Environmental Sensitivity Index Guidelines Version 2.0 October 1997 Seattle, Washington noaa NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION National Ocean Service Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment National Ocean Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce The Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment (ORCA) provides decisionmakers comprehensive, scientific information on characteristics of the oceans, coastal areas, and estuaries of the United States of America. The information ranges from strategic, national assessments of coastal and estuarine environmental quality to real-time information for navigation or hazardous materials spill response. Through its National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, ORCA uses uniform techniques to monitor toxic chemical contamination of bottom-feeding fish, mussels and oysters, and sediments at about 300 locations throughout the United States. A related NS&T Program of directed research examines the relationships between contaminant exposure and indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish. Through the Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division (HAZMAT) Scientific Support Coordination program, ORCA provides critical scientific support for planning and responding to spills of oil or hazardous materials into coastal environments. Technical guidance includes spill trajectory predictions, chemical hazard analyses, and assessments of the sensitivity of marine and estuarine environments to spills. To fulfill the responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce as a trustee for living marine resources, HAZMAT’s Coastal Resource Coordination program provides technical support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during all phases of the remedial process to protect the environment and restore natural resources at hundreds of waste sites each year. As another part of its marine trusteeship responsibilities, ORCA conducts comprehensive assessments of damages to coastal and marine resources from discharges of oil and hazardous materials. ORCA collects, synthesizes, and distributes information on the use of the coastal and oceanic resources of the United States to identify compatibilities and conflicts and to determine research needs and priorities. It conducts comprehensive, strategic assessments of multiple resource uses in coastal, estuarine, and oceanic areas for decisionmaking by NOAA, other Federal agencies, state agencies, Congress, industry, and public interest groups. It publishes a series of thematic data atlases on major regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and on selected characteristics of major U.S. estuaries. ORCA implements NOAA responsibilities under Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972; Section 6 of the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978; the Oil Pollution Act of 1990; the National Coastal Monitoring Act of 1992; and other Federal laws. It has four major line organizations: Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division, Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division, Strategic Environmental Assessment Division, and the Damage Assessment Center. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 115 Environmental Sensitivity Index Guidelines Version 2.0 Joanne Halls Jacqueline Michel Scott Zengel Jeffrey A. Dahlin Research Planning, Inc. P.O. Box Columbia, South Carolina 29201 Jill Petersen NOAA Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division 7600 Sand Point Way N.E. Seattle, Washington 98115 ATMOSP ND HE A RI IC C N A A D E M C I N O I S L T A R N A O T I I T O A N N U. S. E C D R E E PA M RT O M M EN T OF C Seattle, Washington United States National Oceanic and National Ocean Service Department of Commerce Atmospheric Administration Nancy Foster William Daley D. James Baker Assistant Administrator Secretary Under Secretary for Oceans for Ocean Services and and Atmosphere Coastal Zone Management Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment National Ocean Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Spring, Maryland CITATION Please cite this report as “NOAA. 1997. Enviromental Sensitivity Index Guidelines, Version 2.0. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 115. Seattle: Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 79 pp. + appendices.” NOTICE This report has been reviewed by the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and approved for publication. Such approval does not signify that the contents of this report necessarily represent the official position of NOAA or of the Government of the United States, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use. Contents 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 The Need for Standardized Definitions ..................................................3 Report Outline............................................................................................... 4 2 The Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping System............................ 5 Shoreline Classification .............................................................................5 Relative Degree of Exposure to Wave and Tidal Energy............. 7 Shoreline Slope ....................................................................................8 Substrate Type.................................................................................... 9 Definitions of ESI Rankings.............................................................. 11 Biological Resources................................................................................ 20 Human-Use Resources ............................................................................24 Recreational Areas/Access Locations...................................... 24 Management Areas .........................................................................24 Resource Extraction Sites............................................................ 25 Cultural Resources ..........................................................................26 3 Compiling Biology and Human-Use Resource Information ...................27 Introduction................................................................................................. 27 General Guidelines .....................................................................................27 Biological Resources................................................................................ 29 Overlapping Distributions of Biological Polygons................... 29 Digitizing Directions........................................................................ 34 Tabular Data Guidelines for Biological Data............................ 34 Species List................................................................................................ 40 Human-Use Resources ............................................................................40 Source (Metadata) Documentation.................................................... 42 4 ESI Database Organization............................................................................ 51 Basemap Data........................................................................................... 55 The ESI Data Layer ............................................................................. 55 The HYDRO Data Layer...................................................................... 59 The INDEX Data Layer ........................................................................59 Biological Data ..........................................................................................59 Biology Data Layers ...........................................................................60 Biology Lookup Tables......................................................................... 61 Biology Data Tables............................................................................. 61 Human-Use Data....................................................................................... 66 Quality Control Standards..................................................................... 67 5 Standards for ESI Map Symbolization..................................................... 71 Shoreline Sensitivity Ranking Index........................................................ 71 Biological Features Symbolization........................................................ 72 Human-Use Features ................................................................................74 6 References Cited............................................................................................... 77 Appendices A Master Species List B ESI-GIS Data Dictionary C ESI Atlas Identification Numbers D Creating “Regions” from Biology Polygon Data Layers E Integrating NOAA’s ELMR Database and ESI Biology Data Layers and Data Tables F Quality Control Procedures for Delivering ESI Data List of Figures 1 Biological polygons with multiple elements .............................................33 2 Overlapping biological polygons ..................................................................33 3 The ESI-GIS data structure......................................................................... 52 4 ESI shoreline with wetland (10) and flat (7) polygons..........................