FAQs

What is a RAP/AOC?
How many RAPs are in Ohio?
Why was the Black River designated an AOC?
How does an AOC get delisted?

What is a RAP/AOC?
RAP stands for Remedial Action Plans. A RAP identifies specific problems in severely degraded Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC) and describes methods for correcting them. There have been forty-three (43) areas identified by the U.S. and Canadian governments; 26 in U.S. waters, 17 in Canadian water (five are shared between U.S. and Canada on connecting river systems). Collingwood Harbour, in Ontario, is the first of these 43 sites to be delisted.

Remedial Action Plans for the Great Lakes Areas of Concerns are one of the best examples of community-based environmental protection in existence. With public and private agencies and organizations working together, the RAPs continue to be a system to advance the watershed approach for ecosystem remediation and restoration, and they continue to make progress towards the restoration and protection of the all of the forty-two remaining Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

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How many RAPs are in Ohio?
There are currently four Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) in Ohio: Ashtabula River, Black River, Cuyahoga River, and Maumee River. Ohio EPA is responsible for ensuring RAPs are implemented in Ohio. These areas are the state's most polluted and environmentally impacted rivers, which empty into Lake Erie.

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Why was the Black River designated an AOC?
The Black River is the only river system in Ohio where the entire watershed has been designated as an Area of Concern (AOC). It was designated an AOC due to environmental degradation that could have a negative effect on one or more of the Great Lakes.

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How does an AOC get delisted?
The Black River RAP has adopted the Delisting Ohio's Areas of Concern guidance document which was based on the US Policy Committee's Delisting Principles and Guidelines.

RAPs are able to get their AOC delisted by following specific guidances presented in the following document:

RESTORING UNITED STATES AREAS OF CONCERN:
DELISTING PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES
Adopted by the United States Policy Committee, December 6, 2001

To view the entire document, click here.

Ohio EPA also has a document of guidelines that can be followed for possible delisting.

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