Geographic Programs - Puget Sound Action Agenda: Technical Investigations and Implementation Assistance Program

Puget Sound has been designated as one of 28 estuaries of National Significance under section 320 of the Clean Water Act. The goal of the National Estuary Program (NEP) is to attain and maintain water quality in designated estuaries that will assure protection of public water supplies and the protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous population of shellfish, fish and wildlife and allows recreational activities in and on the water. The Puget Sound National Estuary Program's approved Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, the Puget Sound Action Agenda, has a goal to restore and maintain the Puget Sound Estuary's environment by meeting 2022-2026 ecosystem targets. The Puget Sound Action Agenda charts the course to recovery of our nation's largest estuary–it complements and incorporates the work of many partners from around Puget Sound to describe regional strategies and specific actions needed to recover Puget Sound. These strategies and actions provide opportunities for federal, state, local, tribal, and private entities to better invest resources and coordinate actions. The EPA is committed to protecting and improving water quality and minimizing the adverse impacts of rapid development in the Puget Sound Basin. These commitments include protecting the watersheds and waters of Puget Sound by protecting the fundamental watershed processes that provide and create aquatic habitats and by reducing the generation and release of toxic, nutrient, and pathogen pollution. This program has the following main objectives: First, implementing the approved CCMP, the Action Agenda for Puget Sound, is the primary objective of this program. Funds are directed to the highest priority work as articulated in every four-year update to the Action Agenda work plan. The updated work plan identifies implementation strategies to achieve reductions in the harmful impacts on Puget Sound and restore previously damaged aquatic ecosystem functions. A central component of the Puget Sound Action Agenda is its Science Work Plan which identifies some of the core scientific work that must be completed for implementation efforts to succeed. Together with projects aimed at achieving specific environmental outcomes, the science studies and technical investigations inform adaptive management of sustained efforts towards the restoration and protection of Puget Sound. Funding has been designated for three Strategic Initiative Leads (SILs) – Stormwater, Shellfish, and Habitat. A new lead program was created with Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding, called the Riparian Systems Lead.