Agenda - 05-06-2003 - 6b - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 6, 2003 SUBJECT: State of the Environment 2002 DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource Conservation ATTACHMENT(S): 1) "State of the Environment 2002" report (copies previously mailed to Board) 2) Slideshow handout (full 3/29 version) Action Agenda tem No. PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stancil, 245 -2590 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough Chapel Hill Durham Mebane 732 -8181 968 -4501 688 -7331 336- 227 -2031 PURPOSE: To receive a special presentation from the Commission for the Environment regarding the recent "State of the Environment 2002" report. BACKGROUND: On March 29th, the Commission for the Environment (CfE) sponsored an Orange County Environmental Summit at the Totten Center of the N.C. Botanical Gardens. At the summit, the CfE unveiled its "State of the Environment 2002" report (which had been previously mailed to the Board of Commissioners). The State of the Environment report, as initially conceived and included in the Board of Commissioners goal for Natural Resources, is produced every two years. The first report was produced in December 2000, outlining the key issues and goals of the Commission for the Environment in the group's focus areas of air, land and water. An Interim Report was also presented in December 2001. Recognizing the need to set benchmarks for future evaluations - and the interest in using environmental indicators to measure the County's environmental progress - the Commission for the Environment set out in the spring of 2002 to revamp and considerably expand the State of the Environment report. Over the last half of 2002, CfE members worked with staff to: ❑ identify possible indicators, ❑ assess whether the indicators could in fact be measured, ❑ gather data about the indicators, and ❑ evaluate the implications of those indicators.