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Ocean Protection Council approves funding for pilot plastics monitoring program; plan aims for standardized statewide microplastics network
Summary
Ocean Protection Council staff told the Microplastics Monitoring Subcommittee that the Statewide Plastics Monitoring Strategy (adopted 2022) will inform an OPC-funded pilot program to standardize microplastics methods, develop a pilot monitoring design, and establish data-management protocols through a technical advisory committee and tribal consultation.
Dr. Kayla Kelly, Water Quality Program Manager at the Ocean Protection Council, reviewed the Statewide Plastics Monitoring Strategy and described OPC's initial steps toward implementation, including recent council approval of funding for a pilot statewide plastics monitoring program.
Kelly summarized the strategy (adopted in February 2022) as two-track: immediate multi-benefit solutions to reduce plastic pollution and a science track to inform future management. She said four of the strategy's 10 recommendations focus on monitoring: standardizing microplastics methods, piloting a monitoring program, and building toward a statewide ambient monitoring network and centralized, publicly accessible data hub.
The pilot, Kelly said, will fund a technical advisory committee to design sampling based on the strategy, conduct government-to-government tribal consultation, establish data-management infrastructure and protocols, and implement field sample collection that leverages existing monitoring programs where appropriate (for example, the State Water Board's SPOT program within SWAMP). OPC and the State Water Board are coordinating on next steps; OPC has not yet selected grantees for field sampling.
Kelly told the subcommittee that the pilot planning emphasizes monitoring across land-use gradients (urban, agricultural, undeveloped), prioritizing water bodies likely to represent "worst-case scenarios" such as urban runoff and sensitive habitats, and filling freshwater and sediment data gaps. She invited the Microplastics Subcommittee to provide technical expertise and participate on advisory structures as the pilot progresses.
Subcommittee members asked about coordination with Division of Drinking Water microplastics monitoring efforts; Kelly said those efforts are synergistic and OPC is coordinating with the State Water Board on overlap and data opportunities. Kelly confirmed the OPC council had approved pilot funding the previous week but that specific grantees and sample-collection contractors are still to be identified.
The next steps described: forming a technical advisory committee, conducting tribal consultation, designing a pilot monitoring study leveraging existing programs, creating data-management standards, and implementing pilot field sampling.
