United Nations
Envionment
Programme

UNEP/NOWPAP/POMRAC/
FPM 1/4
11 March 2003

Original: ENGLISH

Northwest Pacific Action Plan
Pollution Monitoring
Regional Activity Center

The status
of Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre (POMRAC) of
UNEP Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP)

Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Center (POMRAC) of UNEP Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP) was formed by NOWPAP Fourth Intergovernmental Meeting (Beijing, China, April 6-7, 1999) and is hosted and implemented by the Pacific Geographical Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (Vladivostok, Russian Federation).

In its work POMRAC is guided by the UNEP Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP), the Resolutions of NOWPAP First Intergovernmental Meeting (Seoul, Korea, September 14, 1994), the Resolutions of NOWPAP Third Intergovernmental Meeting (Vladivostok, Russia, April 9, 1998), NOWPAP Fourth Intergovernmental Meeting (Beijing, China, April 6-7, 1999) and NOWPAP Seventh Intergovernmental Meeting (Vladivostok, Russia, March 20-22, 2002).

Based on the NOWPAP/3 PHASE II programme, POMRAC is engaged in, inter alia, the development of a regional monitoring programme, development and implementation of monitoring data, quality and analytical control methods, training courses relevant to monitoring methodologies and data and analytical control.

For specific components of the NOWPAP/3 PHASE II programme, POMRAC co-operates with NOWPAP Regional Activity Center (before its establishment UNEP serves as interim Secretariat for NOWPAP) International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) UNESCO, CEARAC, DINRAC, MERRAC and other regional centers in the establishment of a collaborative, regional monitoring programme.

The overall goal of POMRAC is coordination of activity and establishment of cooperation in regional monitoring of Atmospheric Deposition and Rivers and direct inputs in the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP/3) under the NOWPAP Regional Seas Programme.
On the territory of Russia POMRAC in its work is guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, laws and other norms of Russian legislation, this document, UNEP and RCU NOWPAP management directives.

The Russian national NOWPAP body is the Ministry of Natural Resources with Center for International Projects acting as its executive body.

Russia is represented in POMRAC by the experts from the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, the Far East Hydrometeorological Research Institute, regional branches of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The main functions and tasks of POMRAC are:

• To collect relevant information on the introduction of the program of regional monitoring of Atmospheric Deposition and Rivers and direct inputs in the Northwest Pacific Region.
• To organize Focal Points meetings and Meeting of Working Groups under the plan approved by the member states at Intergovernmental Meetings.
• To collect information on technologies and know-how in the field of monitoring of Atmospheric Deposition and Rivers and direct inputs in the Northwest Pacific Region.
• To develop training programs, to plan and organize training courses and technical seminars.
• To coordinate an exchange of monitoring results in the network of monitoring stations which are included in NOWPAP/3 and to give these results to other NOWPAP projects and organizations.
• To provide regular reports on the activity of Regional center and to submit these results to NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meetings.
• To publish the technical reports, manuals, bulletins etc. as results of NOWPAP activity.
• To continuously inform the population and organizations concerned on the condition of Atmospheric Deposition and Rivers and direct inputs in the Northwest Pacific Region.
• To maintain contacts with POMRAC Working Groups and with the appropriate national and regional international organizations in NOWPAP member states to achieve the objectives and tasks of the UNEP NOWPAP.
• To provide the necessary methodical and, when possible, technical assistance for organizations of the NOWPAP countries in efforts and techniques of monitoring of sea, coastal and associated fresh waters and atmosphere.
• To organize data inter-calibration in cooperation with other international and regional organizations concerned, especially IOC UNESCO. To promote harmonization of the approaches and techniques used in NOWPAP/3 monitoring network.
• To consider and in consultation with the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) to undertake other necessary initiatives to achieve the objectives and tasks of the Action Plan in the field of pollution monitoring.

Within its terms of reference and under current legislation, POMRAC has the right to:

• Liaise with NOWPAP partners;
• Participate in NOWPAP work on adjacent subjects;
• Involve specialists and experts in the preparation of materials on NOWPAP problems, to form regional environmental cooperation expert boards in consultation with the National Focal Points NOWPAP Member Countries.
• Participate in an information exchange on regional environmental problems in accordance with national rules and procedures;
• Conduct meetings and other activities on realization of POMRAC thematic sectors and the program as a whole and on adjacent subjects;
• Prepare recommendations for national and international partners concerned on prospective lines of activity of POMRAC NOWPAP;
• Conduct analysis of information on the problems of international environmental cooperation in the region;
• Advise organizations, institutions and individual experts on international environmental cooperation in the region;
• Correspond with the POMRAC partners on routine matters.

The managerial functions of POMRAC are executed by POMRAC Secretariat which is hosted and implemented by the Pacific Geography Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and the Center for International Projects. Day-to-day technical-organizational work is to be done by the assigned researchers and technicians from Pacific Geography Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.