Puget Sound Partnership Adopts Action Agenda

On December 1, 2008, The Puget Sound Partnership adopted an Action Agenda to clean up Puget Sound by 2020. The Agenda impacts 112 cities in the 12 counties surrounding the Sound, and is designed to address four key questions:

1. What is a healthy Puget Sound? 
2. What is the current status of Puget Sound and what are the biggest threats to it? 
3. What actions must be taken to move from where we are today to a healthy Puget Sound by 2020? 
4. Where do we start?

The Agenda is intended to be a living and adaptable guide for use by federal and state agencies, Indian tribes, city and county governments, business and environmental organizations, watershed groups, and individual landowners as they take action to protect and restore the Sound.

AWC appreciates the many city official comments and inputs in the development of this “blueprint for the Sound”. We worked with numerous cities to craft comments as the Agenda was developed over an 18 month period, and provided a detailed comment letter (pdf, 355 kb) to the Partnership on the final draft from AWC’s President, Port Angeles Councilmember, Karen Rogers.

In addition, our Ecosystem Coordination Board Representative, Federal Way Councilmember Jeanne Burbidge, submitted a letter of comment (pdf, 71 kb) on the draft set of initiatives.

With the Action Agenda adopted, the Partnership will now focus on implementation of clean up and restoration work, including:

• Developing an accountability system for achieving results, including performance, effectiveness and the efficient use of money spent on cleanup; and 
• Promoting public awareness about the state of the Sound and what people can do to bring it back to health.

AWC is continuing to work with the Partnership staff on implementation in several priority areas, and will keep members informed as these efforts move forward.  Currently, we are participating in several workgroups related to:

• Low Impact Development 
• Puget Sound Coordinated Monitoring Program
• Stormwater Monitoring Work Group

For more information, please contact Special Projects Coordinator, Andy Meyer at andym@awcnet.org or 800-562-8981.

Overview of Puget Sound Partnership

In 1996, the Legislature created the Puget Sound Action Team (PSAT) to define, coordinate, and implement the state’s agenda for restoring the environmental health of Puget Sound. Ten years later, the Legislature has merged the PSAT into a new state agency called the Puget Sound Partnership (Partnership) to develop a new strategy to focus and finish Puget Sound restoration by 2020.

The Puget Sound Partnership (Partnership) is governed by a Leadership Council. The Governor appointed Bill Ruckelshaus as Chair and in late June 2007 appointed the six members of the Leadership Council. 

More information about the Puget Sound Partnership can be found at www.psp.wa.gov.