National Dredging Team

The National Dredging Team (NDT) was established in 1995 to implement the recommendations in a 1994 Report to the Secretary of Transportation on the dredging process, to promote national and regional consistency on dredging issues, and to provide a mechanism for issue resolution and information exchange among Federal, State, and local agencies and stakeholders.

It is the vision of the NDT that dredging of U.S. harbors and channels is conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner while meeting environmental protection, restoration, and enhancement goals.

Membership

The NDT is a Federal interagency group that includes the following agencies:

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Co-chair
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Co-chair
• Maritime Administration
• NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service
• NOAA's National Ocean Service
• Fish and Wildlife Service
• U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Navy serve as participating agencies.

The NDT is composed of agency managers, decision-makers, and technical experts, and is guided by a Steering Committee composed of senior-level executives. The Steering Committee reviews the progress of the NDT and provides guidance for future NDT action. At the July 2003 Meeting, the NDT Steering Committee renewed the NDT Charter and endorsed the publication and implementation of the NDT's new Action Agenda.

NDT Charter and the National Dredging Policy

Under the NDT's current Charter (PDF, 337KB), which was renewed in 2003, the goals of the NDT are to facilitate communication, coordination, and resolution of dredging issues among the participating Federal agencies and to serve as a forum for promoting the implementation of the National Dredging Policy and the recommendations in the National Dredging Team's new Action Agenda.

Action Agenda

In 2001, the NDT sponsored a stakeholder workshop in Jacksonville, Florida, to assess and adjust the direction of dredged material management and to recommend needed actions for the first decade of the new millennium. Actions proposed at the workshop were consolidated by the NDT into a new action plan entitled, "Dredged Material Management: Action Agenda for the Next Decade" (Action Agenda) (PDF, 2.5MB), which makes 22 recommendations addressing beneficial use of dredged material, regional sediment management, emerging issues, and strengthening Regional Dredging Teams.

Progress to Date

The 1994 interagency report to the Secretary of Transportation on the dredging process, entitled, "The Dredging Process in the United States: An Action Plan for Improvement," made 18 recommendations under the following four headings: strengthening mechanisms for dredging and dredged material management planning; enhancing coordination and communication in the dredging project review process; addressing scientific uncertainties about dredged material; and funding dredging projects consistently and efficiently.

Once the NDT was established, efforts for addressing these recommendations were initiated. While implementation action is ongoing, most of the 18 recommendations have been addressed, including completion of the following documents:

• Guidance Document for Development of Site Management Plans for Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Sites
• Local Planning Groups and Development of Dredged Material Management Plans (PDF, 255KB)
• Procedures to Elevate Issues from Regional Dredging Teams and Local Planning Groups to the National Dredging Team
• Dredged Material Management and State Coastal Management Programs: Lessons from a Workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 1999
• National Coastal Program Dredging Policies: An Analysis of State, Territory, and Commonwealth Policies Related to Dredging and Dredged Material Management (PDF, )