Here is your important National Ocean Policy Council Monthly Report:

I. Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body Announces Public Webinar, Membership Roster
II. U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Two Bills With National Ocean Policy Provisions
III. Great Lakes Boating Magazine Addresses NOP, Calls NOPC “The Voice of Boaters”
IV. Petition Cites NOP As Justification For Protection Of 81 Species Under ESA
V. NRC Report Calls For National Sustainability Policy, Cites NOP As Model

I. Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body Announces Public Webinar, Membership Roster
 
In an email announcement, the federal, state, and tribal co-leads for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RPB) disclosed that the Mid-Atlantic RPB will hold a public webinar from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, August 1 to “provide an update about our progress and plans going forward, as well as future opportunities for public input.”  
 
Under the National Ocean Policy, the Mid-Atlantic RPB is tasked with developing a Coastal and Marine Spatial Plan for Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  
 
The announcement states that “input during this webinar will help us plan for an inaugural, in-person public meeting in the fall of 2013.”  According to the email, since April, the RPB “has been developing operational and administrative processes, as well as identifying opportunities to engage stakeholders throughout the ocean planning process.” 
 
The announcement further notes that the RPB “will implement a transparent regional planning process and we welcome stakeholder collaboration and input,” and concludes by noting that the RPB “look

[s] forward to working collaboratively to advance successful ocean planning in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
 
Additional information about the webinar, including the agenda and log-in details, will be available here in the coming weeks.
 
The Mid-Atlantic RPB has also released a membership roster.  The RPB includes 9 federal members (and 4 federal alternates) representing the following entities:
 
U.S. Navy (Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff);
U.S. Navy (DOD);
National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA);
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Interior Dept.);
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (Energy Dept.);
Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA);
Maritime Administration (Transportation Dept.);
Environmental Protection Agency; and
U.S. Coast Guard (Homeland Security Dept.)
 
The RPB also includes 12 state members (2 each from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania), 6 state alternates, 1 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council representative (who also represents Virginia), 1 tribal member, and 1 tribal alternate. 

II. U.S. House Of Representatives Passes Two Bills With National Ocean Policy Provisions
 
In a 227-198 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed H.R. 2609 (Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014), which would provide FY 2014 funding for federal entities including the Department of Energy (DOE) and Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 
 
The legislation includes a provision that would prohibit funds appropriated under the bill from being used to implement the National Ocean Policy Executive Order.  This provision was incorporated through an amendment offered on the House Floor by Rep. Bill Flores that was agreed to by voice vote shortly before the overall bill was passed. 
 
DOE is a member of the National Ocean Council, and DOE officials have been identified to serve on Regional Planning Bodies tasked with developing Coastal and Marine Spatial Plans for regions including the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico.  USACE is also involved with Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning and participates in National Ocean Policy initiatives.
 
On Thursday, in a 216-208 vote the U.S. House of Representatives also passed H.R. 2642 (Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, also known as the “Farm Bill”).  This legislation includes a provision in Section 11326 that requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General to submit a report to Congress within 90 days detailing all USDA activities engaged in and resources expended in furtherance of the National Ocean Policy to date, as well as any FY 2014 budget requests that would be used to support National Ocean Policy implementation.
 
The provision also includes six findings, including the following:

  • “Despite repeated Congressional requests, the National Ocean Council, which is charged with overseeing implementation of the policy, has still not provided a complete accounting of Federal activities under the policy and resources expended and allocated in furtherance of implementation of the policy.”
  •  “The continued economic and budgetary challenges of the United States underscore the necessity for sound, transparent, and practical Federal policies

III. Great Lakes Boating Magazine Addresses NOP, Calls NOPC “The Voice of Boaters”
 
The August 2013 issue of Great Lakes Boating includes an editorial that addresses the National Ocean Policy and refers to the National Ocean Policy Coalition as “the voice of boaters.”
 
The editorial notes in particular that the National Ocean Policy “lacks input from the biggest users of the Great Lakes, recreational boaters and sportsfishermen,” and that “[t]he only organization speaking out for these users is the National Ocean Policy Coalition…, of which the Great Lakes Boating Federation is both a member and ardent supporter.”
 
Among other things, the editorial outlines concerns with the policy’s requirements to establish Regional Planning Bodies, develop a coastal and marine spatial plan for the Great Lakes, and institute ecosystem-based management.  
 
Writing that the policy could have a “serious impact” on Great Lakes recreational activities and that “users want to have a say in how it’s decided,” the editorial states that there are no means of providing advice to the National Ocean Council (NOC) because the only formal advisory body to the NOC (Ocean Research Advisory Panel) does not include Great Lakes representation. 
 
The editorial also says that the National Ocean Policy Final Implementation Plan does not adequately acknowledge the “economic engine” that is generated by Great Lakes recreational boating and fishing activities, and urges recreational boaters to contact federal, state, and local officials and communicate to them that “this new federal effort to manage, ‘protect,’ and zone the Great Lakes region is harmful to Great Lakes recreational interests, and that proceeding forward without them is simply not right or just.”

IV. Petition Cites NOP As Justification For Protection Of 81 Species Under ESA
 
WildEarth Guardians earlier this week announced the filing of a petition with theNational Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for the protection of 81 “imperiled” marine species and species subpopulations under the Endangered Species Act.  The announcement says that the petition is part of an effort to “jumpstart the protection of our oceans.”
 
WildEarth Guardians states that the IUCN findings represent “the best available science,” and that “[o]ur oceans and the species that call them home are facing unprecedented threats from fishing, ocean acidification, pollution from toxic runoff and dumping of waste at sea.”
 
The announcement also notes “[r]ecognizing the decline of ocean health,” the National Ocean Policy Executive Order was issued in July 2010 “requiring agencies, including NMFS, to ‘protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversity of ocean…ecosystems,’ and to ‘use the best available science and knowledge to inform decisions affecting the ocean.’”  The announcement states that the petition “seeks to compel NMFS to live up to this mandate.”
 
WildEarth Guardians General Council Jay Tuchton said that the Obama Administration “acknowledges our oceans’ health is rapidly declining, even issuing an executive order instructing all agencies to do all they can to protect the ocean.”  Tuchton adds that the petition “is an effort to press NMFS to take concrete action in keeping with the President’s direction,” and that if NMFS “won’t take action in situations as dire as those faced by these critically imperiled species, it signals the Agency doesn’t really want to do anything but talk about declining ocean health.”
 
Of the 81 species proposed for protection, according to information contained in the petition, the following four are known to occur in waters under U.S. jurisdiction, among other places.
 
In a section on “The Obama Administration’s Policy Of Increasing Protection Of Marine Environments,” the petition discusses findings in the 2010 Census of Marine Life, as well as the National Ocean Policy Executive Order.  Statements of note regarding the National Ocean Policy include the following:

  • The Secretary of Commerce “is required to abide by the policy set forth in this executive order, namely he or she must ‘protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversity of ocean…’ and to ‘use the best available science and knowledge to inform decisions affecting the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes, and enhance humanity’s capacity to understand, respond, and adapt to a changing global environment’”
  • “One clear way for the Secretary to comply with this obligation is to use his or her authority under the ESA to protect marine biodiversity”
  • “The dire threats to the health of the oceans and marine species are clearly understood by the President and those threats were included in the policy decisions that led to Executive Order 13,547”
  • The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and President Obama through the Executive Order “have recognized the extreme threats to the ocean biodiversity and the need to combat those threats wherever they occur…the need to follow the ‘precautionary approach’ when dealing with threats to the oceans and the need to set a new course for improved stewardship of the ocean”
  • The Secretary “should follow this direction from the President by recognizing the weight of the science, listing the petitioned species and subpopulations under the ESA, and thus provide them with the protection that they need in order to stop their slide towards extinction”

V. NRC Report Calls For National Sustainability Policy, Cites NOP As Model
 
The National Research Council recently released a study on “Sustainability for the Nation: Resource Connection and Governance Linkages” that is intended to provide a framework for policymakers and regulators to assess the “consequences, tradeoffs, and synergies of policy issues involving a systems approach to long-term sustainability and decisions on sustainability-oriented programs.” 
 
Among other things, the study recommends the development of a National Sustainability Policy that provides clear guidance to executive agencies on addressing governance linkages on complex sustainability problems and informs national policy on sustainability.
 
The report specifically states that creating a National Sustainability Policy by Executive Order and incorporating an implementation framework would “substantially enhance the nation’s capacity to address many of the governance challenges” it faces.  It also says that it could “significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of complex initiatives involving multiple federal agencies, state, regional, and local governments, and non governmental stakeholders,” and would address environmental, economic, and societal issues and support human well-being.
 
The report cites several “models” for the development of a National Sustainability Policy, including the National Ocean Policy.  According to the report, the National Ocean Policy “speaks to the need for connections similar to those required for sustainability in that it establishes a national framework to address a cross-governance challenge, and then engages stakeholders in regular meetings and other interactions designed to stimulate cooperative action.”  It concludes that the National Ocean Policy is a “good model for addressing sustainability linkages.”
 
An event that will serve as the “launch” for this new report will take place from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm PST on Wednesday, July 24 at the University of California, Davis.  The event will also be accessible via webcast.  Webcast registration is available here.

 

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