One of 28 National Estuary Programs, the New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP), was created by EPA and the two states to bring the benefits of the Clean Water Act – fishable and swimmable waters – to the people and wildlife of the Estuary.
HEP brings stakeholders together to work collaboratively and develop and implement an Action Agenda to protect, conserve and restore the estuary and the communities that make up this extraordinary resource. HEP's Action Agenda serves as a blueprint to guide and improve future management decisions. It presents shared priorities of our Program and partners to address a wide range of estuary issues. Click here for an interactive map of HEP's geographic scope. The map also shows all of the overburdened communities within our program area as defined by EPA and the states of NY and NJ.
This year, HEP will be developing a new Action Agenda that outlines the major goals and objectives of our Program and partners for the next 10 years. Through this process we seek to: Make all partners feel ownership of the new Action Agenda; Ensure that we are addressing the needs of the Estuary and all of its communities; Develop actions that are reflective of estuarine challenges, community needs and partner priorities.
Our Ask: We are asking NGOs/Community-Based Partners
to host in-person community engagement sessions, this spring and early summer, and gather members of their community to share their vision for the estuary and the challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed. These sessions can take place in the form of standalone meetings or be made a part of other ongoing programs/events. In order to help support organizations interested in hosting a community engagement session, HEP has created these
guidance materials.
HEP will provide small grants ranging between
$2,000-$4,000 to a limited number of organizations that apply to host one of these community engagement sessions.
Organizations interested in hosting should apply at least 20 days before their proposed community engagement session date. HEP will make small grant decisions
on a rolling basis. Priority will be given for proposed sessions that involve multiple NGOs/Community-Based Partners and that take place or otherwise engage disadvantaged/overburdened communities as identified in our map here. HEP seeks to work with partners addressing issues in each of our 10 major waterbody regions: The Bronx River and Western Long Island Sound; East River and Harlem River; Jamaica Bay; Passaic River and Newark Bay; Hackensack River; Lower Raritan River; Lower Hudson River; Upper New York Bay; Arthur Kill and the Kill van Kull (The Kills); Lower Bay (Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, and the Lower New York Bay).
Partner Expectations: Organizations that sign up to host a community engagement session will be expected to commit to:
- Participating in at least one prep call with HEP team to discuss community engagement session structure and one debrief call to discuss major takeaways;
- Hold community engagement session between April 1st to June 30th;
- Coordinating/facilitating the engagement session including but not limited to shaping session agenda with HEP staff, securing space, inviting participants, encouraging attendance, etc.
- Transcribing notes from meeting discussions and sharing photographs from the event;
- Provide HEP team with 30 minutes during the engagement session for an introduction and presentation;
- Making a conscious effort to include as many voices as possible to ensure engagement sessions are as representative of each community as possible including providing translation services as appropriate.
HEP looks forward to partnering with many of the wonderful organizations that strive to make our estuary safe, resilient and healthy for all.
For any questions about this process or this form please don't hesitate to reach Liz Balladares at Eballadares@hudsonriver.org
