Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) are severely degraded geographic areas within the Great Lakes Basin. They are defined by the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada as "geographic areas that fail to meet the general or specific objectives of the agreement where such failure has caused or is likely to cause impairment of beneficial use of the area's ability to support aquatic life." The U.S. and Canadian governments have identified 43 such areas; 26 in U.S. waters, 12 in Candadian waters, and 5 that are shared by both countries. Collingwood Harbour, in Ontario, is the first of these 43 sites to be delisted.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, as amended via the 1987 protocol, directs the Canadian and U.S. governments to cooperate with state and provincial governments to develop and implement Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) for each Area of Concern. RAPs are being developed for each AOC to address impairments to any one of 14 beneficial uses (e.g., restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption, dredging activities, or drinking water consumption) associated with these areas.

RAPs are developed and implemented through an ecosystem based, multi-media approach for assessing and remediating impaired uses. The RAP process is a model of grassroots environmental democracy, stressing empowerment of the affected public within AOCs. States approach RAPs in differing ways. Some have a "hands-on" style of involvement in the process while others delegate much of the decision-making to local groups or agencies within the AOC. These approaches are complemented by Federal technical and financial support and where necessary, the application of federal statutes and authorities. The eight Great Lakes states and the Province of Ontario have the lead in preparing and implementing the RAPs, which is complemented by vital input and expertise of other Federal agencies (USEPA RAP Liaisons) and organizations as well as local governments, industrial and environmental groups and individual citizens.

A RAP is developed in three stages: Stage I identifies and assesses use impairments, and identifies the sources of the stresses from all media in the AOC; Stage II identifies proposed remedial actions and their method of implementation; and Stage III documents evidence that uses have been restored. It is important to note that, in practice, these stages often overlap, and that the RAPs often become iterative documents, representing the current state of knowledge, planning and remedial activity in the AOC.

Successful RAPs are community driven, with active Federal, State and local involvement. The affected community, which is closest to and most directly affected by the resource, in concert with other stakeholders, is empowered to create a future vision for the AOC, a vision generated by the group that will be directly affected by the decisions made. It is important to note that solutions for problems in AOCs and other local, geographically focussed efforts do not fall into the "one size fits all" category. Each of these areas will have a unique blend of circumstances and solutions based upon the complexities of the issues that must be addressed.

The success of the RAPs will ultimately be measured by the degree to which all beneficial uses in the AOC are restored and protected. On a smaller scale, progress is celebrated with the completion of each of the individual implementation projects. Through the ongoing monitoring and assessment projects, progress is measured in many ways; through reductions in toxic or bioaccumulative chemicals in the sediments or in the water column, restoration of critical habitat, source reductions through individual, municipal and industrial pollution prevention efforts, implementation of agricultural best management practices, and either voluntary or enforced point source controls. There have been 24 sediment remediation projects undertaken in 14 different Areas of Concern.

Excerpted from the United States Environmental Protection Agency website.