What Guides Us
Interlocal Agreement
The Tampa Bay National Estuary Program (TBNEP) was established in 1991 as a local, state and federal partnership. In 1998, partners signed a formal Interlocal Agreement (original), pledging to achieve the goals of a newly completed Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Tampa Bay and the nitrogen reduction goals established by the Tampa Bay Nitrogen Management Consortium. Through this binding agreement with key partners, our Program employs a collaborative approach to achieving the Program’s science-based goals. This agreement is updated every five years with the latest Amended and Restated Interlocal Agreement completed in 2021. Additionally every five years, the USEPA conducts a Program Evaluation and Implementation Review to ensure that significant progress towards accomplishing CCMP goals has been made.
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan
Charting the Course: the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for Tampa Bay serves as a community blueprint for action over a 10-year planning horizon. The CCMP synthesizes years of scientific research into the bay’s most pressing problems and reflects broad-based input from citizens, stakeholders, and communities with a common interest in a healthy bay as the cornerstone of a prosperous economy.
Habitat Master Plan
Seagrasses, mangroves, salt marshes, pineflatwoods, and wet prairies – examples of priority habitats in Tampa Bay – provide food, shelter, and other important services that support numerous birds, fish, mammals, and invertebrates. The Habitat Master Plan seeks to maximize the potential habitat protection and restoration opportunities areas within the Tampa Bay watershed by establishing restoration targets (2030) goals (2050) for each habitat type.
Strategic Plan
Our 2021-2025 Strategic Plan clearly communicates shared programmatic priorities and intended outcomes, as well as provides a framework to guide decisions about how to align personnel and financial resources with the Program’s mission in ways that maximize our impact on Tampa Bay recovery. It focuses on the “how,” while the CCMP describes the “what.” Building upon the Program’s history of bay restoration and protection initiatives, we’ve identified five cornerstone strategies that define a general direction for how we will accomplish the work necessary to achieve our vision:
Open Science
Be the primary source of trusted, unbiased, and actionable science for the Tampa Bay estuary, recognizing that open science principles will serve the Program’s core values.
Story Building
Be a reliable, compelling voice for science and stewardship, recognizing that storytelling is a powerful, evidence-based technique to inspire behavior change and lasting awareness of the Tampa Bay estuary.
Partner Support
Recognize that Management Conference members are key to the long-term sustainability of the Program and are vital to promoting the health and wellbeing of the Tampa Bay estuary.
Funding Catalyst
Be a catalyst for scientific inquiry and collective action, recognizing that grant-making is an effective approach to amplify social and environmental benefits to the Tampa Bay estuary.
Internal Operations
Prioritize the development of internal systems and processes that ensure efficient, effective staff and Program management, recognizing that these controls are necessary for the Program to “stay on top.”
Annual Work Plans
The TBEP Work Plan defines projects consistent with our CCMP and Strategic Plan. The Work Plan and budget guide the activities of TBEP staff for the upcoming fiscal year and serve as TBEP’s application for cooperative funding to the U.S. EPA. The document is organized to respond to the requirements of a federal cooperative agreement.
View/download Annual Work Plan PDFs
View/download Long Term BIL Work Plan Strategy