What Is the National Coastal Condition Report III?
The National Coastal Condition Report III (NCCR III) is the third in a series of environmental assessments of U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The report includes assessments of all the nation’s estuaries in the contiguous 48 states and Puerto Rico, south-central Alaska, and Hawaii. The NCCR III presents three main types of data: (1) coastal monitoring data, (2) offshore fisheries data, and (3) assessment and advisory data. The NCCR III relies heavily on coastal monitoring data from EPA’s National Coastal Assessment (NCA) to assess coastal condition by evaluating five indicators of condition-water quality, sediment quality, benthic community condition, coastal habitat loss, and fish tissue contaminants-in each region of the U.S. (Northeast Coast, Southeast Coast, Gulf Coast, West Coast, Great Lakes, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico).
