Maumee RAP Advisory Committee

The Maumee RAP Advisory Committee (RAC) of PCS is responsible for the development and implementation of projects in the Maumee Area of Concern (AOC) that will improve water quality and delist the Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) including such tasks as reviewing current issues and concerns in relation to the status of the BUIs, recommending and developing projects that will move the area toward delisting, and tracking the status of the BUIs in the Maumee AOC, etc.

The Maumee RAC is made up of 12 to 15 dues paying members of PCS. Ex-officio memberships can be awarded to agencies and/or organizations unable to pay dues. The RAC Chair has an appointed seat on the PCS Board.

The Maumee RAP has existed in many forms over its first 20 years. Here is a brief history of how the Maumee RAP got to where it is now:

History of the Maumee RAP

The Maumee RAP began on October 1, 1987, when the first public meeting was held by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Ohio's statewide RAP coordinator) and the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG)(local coordinator for the Maumee RAP). In 1988 the Maumee RAP Advisory Committee was formed. The 74-member RAP Advisory Committee included representatives from all levels of government, business and industry, universities and other interested individuals. Problem definition was completed in 1990 with the submission of the Maumee RAP Stage 1 Report (1990) to Ohio EPA. Stage 1 of the RAP process was officially concluded in March 1992 when the Maumee RAP Stage 1 Report (1990) was reviewed and accepted by the IJC.

After Stage 1 was finished and the Advisory Board was abolished, the Maumee RAP Implementation Committee (MRIC) was formed to oversee all the restoration activities of Stage 2 that were occurring throughout the Maumee AOC. In 1998 MRIC released a new Strategic Plan for the organization that utilized much of the same structure with a few minor differences including a few new action groups, a new logo, and a new simplified name for the organization, Maumee RAP Committee. The Strategic Plan classified action groups into three categories: issue, support or watershed. The Maumee RAP Committee was still the formal decision-maker for the organization that resided under the umbrella of TMACOG.

A 10-year Activities and Accomplishments Report was completed in 2002 setting the stage for identifying next steps toward restoration. The Maumee RAP undertook an intensive and ambitious effort to create the MaumeeAOC Stage 2 Watershed Restoration Plan (Stage 2 Restoration Plan). This plan combines the IJC requirements of a Stage 2, USEPA and Ohio requirements for a watershed action plan, with attention to the nonpoint source management measures of the Ohio Coastal Management Plan, and consideration of TMDL and Natural Resource Damage investigations in the AOC. The plan underwent public review in November 2005 and a draft was submitted to Ohio EPA for review in early 2006.

After much discussion in 2006, the Maumee RAP Committee determined in early 2007 that their best path forward for efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability would be to form their own non-profit 501(c)3 organization and to leave the umbrella of TMACOG. In March 2007 the Partners for Clean Streams (PCS) was officially created. In January 2008 the Maumee RAP Committee completed its merger into PCS organization to become the Maumee RAP Advisory Committee (RAC). With this group now established under PCS, the RAC intends to spend much of 2008 making the changes requested by Ohio EPA and ODNR for completing the Stage 2 Restoration Plan.