The
MENDOCINO COUNTRY Independent
posted September 20, 2009
Nancy
Sutley, Chair
OCEAN POLICY TASK FORCE RELEASES REPORT,
TAKES TESTIMONY
On September 17, an influential federal panel tasked this summer by
President Obama with revitalizing the nation's coasts, oceans and the
Great Lakes released an interim report and took testimony in San
Francisco from government officials, environmental groups, activists,
tribes and industry representatives.
The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force is charged with developing
a comprehensive national plan for managing, restoring and
protecting the marine environment, promote the safety of seafood,
preserve wildlife, improve water quality and protect the economies of
coastal communities.
In the current “chaos,” as one speaker said, more than 140 laws and 20
different federal agencies regulate the ocean
The San Francisco hearing was part of a national tour, which also
includes Anchorage, Providence, R.I., Cleveland, New Orleans and
Honolulu. The task force is taking public comment on a final plan they
intend to send to the president in the next few months.
Represented on the panel were the EPA, NOAA, DOI, the Navy, the Coast
Guard. The task force is led by White House Council on Environmental
Quality Chair Nancy Sutley who chaired the meeting.
The CEQ is charged with administering NEPA, the National Environmental
Protection Act and Sutley is principle presidential environmental
advisor. She reports directly to Obama.
Through interagency working groups and coordination with other EOP
components, CEQ works to advance the President’s agenda. It also
balances competing positions, and encourages government-wide
coordination, bringing federal agencies, state and local governments,
and other stakeholders together on matters relating to the environment,
natural resources and energy.
In addition, CEQ oversees Federal agency implementation of the
environmental impact assessment process and acts as a referee when
agencies disagree over the adequacy of such assessments.
There is no question this was the correct forum to oppose offshore oil
leasing, wave buoy pilot project permits and expansion of the Naval
Weapons Training Range.
Mendocino Well Represented
Over 50 individuals signed up to speak and were allowed only 2 minutes
each. Most represented mainstream enviro institutions local, state and
national. Among them there is widespread agreement that the country's
oceans and coasts are under assault from climate change and rising
seas, pollution, overfishing, habitat loss and the development of
traditional and alternative energy sources.
Many speakers alluded to the North Pacific Garbage Patch and stated
that environmental expeditions were studying it in real time.
Mendocino County was amply represented with presentations by Rosalind
Peterson, Meredith Smith, Judith Vidaver, Susan Nutter of Ocean
Protection Coalition and Richard Johnson of Ocean Sanctuary Alliance.
He read the organization’s petition and called for Obama to “just
stop” OCS leasing, wave buoy array projects, and the Naval Training
expansion while policy development “which sounds nice but when special
interests weigh in the process will drag out for decades.”
Peterson did not repeat her previous claim that Naval bombing at sea
would cause earthquakes but an associate of hers did. Vidaver
unfortunately called for the elimination of petrochemicals, continuing
the OPC tradition of crackpotism.
The county government was represented by Teri Gross of the county
counsel’s office who mentioned the April BOS resolutions opposing both
Navy Training Range Expansion and OCS lease sale 236 off the Mendocino
coast.
In addition, she mentioned the County had joined in
a a legal action to halt the Greenwave generator buoy array pilot
program permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency (which was not
represented at the hearing). The Navy representative left the podium
long before public comment began to focus on its proposal to militarize
the coast from Puget Sound to the Mendocino Humboldt line.
Heidi Dickerson of congressman Mike Thompson's Fort
Bragg office spoke on his behalf expressing concern about OCS drilling
impacts on fisheries.
The Task Force is focused on five topics:
1. National Policy: Recommendations for a national policy that ensures
the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean,
coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, enhances the
sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserves our maritime
heritage, provides for adaptive management to enhance our capacity to
respond to climate change, and is coordinated with our national
security and foreign policy interests.
2. Framework for Policy Coordination: Recommendations for
a framework for policy coordination of efforts to improve stewardship
of the oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes among Federal, State,
tribal, and local authorities, including regional governance structures.
3. Implementation Strategies: Recommendations for an
implementation strategy that identifies and prioritizes a set of
objectives the United States should pursue to meet the objectives of a
national policy for the oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.
4. Marine Spatial Planning: Recommendations for a
framework for effective coastal and marine spatial planning that is a
comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based approach that addresses
conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of
ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources.
5. Emerging Issues on Ocean, Coasts and Great Lakes
Policy: Comments on the implications of other emerging issues for
ocean, coasts and Great Lakes policy, such as offshore renewable energy
development and climate change.
Its draft report recommended several broad strategies, including
improving coordination among local, state and federal agencies;
boosting ocean water quality through more sustainable land practices;
basing management of marine resources on the health of the environment
and the use of marine spatial planning - that is, accurately mapping
ocean space to create a more detailed picture of the resources and uses
in a given area.