Hearing on National Ocean Policy Held
The House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on President Obama’s National Ocean Policy on Oct. 24. President Obama signed an executive order creating an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force in June 2009.
Headed by the Council on Environmental Quality, it consisted of representatives from the 24 government agencies with oversight roles in the oceans and Great Lakes. The task force released its final report in June 2010 and the report was adopted by President Obama as the National Ocean Policy later that summer. This is the second oversight hearing the Committee has held on the Plan.
In his opening statement, Representative Doc Hasting, Chairman of the Committee, said, “Instead of getting input and statutory authorization from Congress, the Obama Administration has decided that the President’s signature alone is all that’s needed to make major changes to policies governing ocean activities and to create a huge new bureaucracy that will change the way inland, ocean and coastal activities will be managed. This could cost jobs and have devastating long term economic impacts throughout the country.”
Testifying at the House hearing Nancy Sutley, Chairwomen of CEQ, said, "The National Ocean Policy does not establish any new regulations or restrict the multiple uses of the ocean and does not expand federal jurisdiction." Instead, she said the policy creates a "unifying framework for a more coordinated way" of addressing ocean management decisions the government is facing every day.
The policy also calls for regional bodies across the United States to begin "coastal and marine spatial planning." The plans are intended to address growing demands on the ocean for fishing, transportation, energy and recreation. The effort draws on recommendations made by the 2004 U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
Congressman Jim Costa asked Jane Lubchenco, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about the status of merging the delta smelt and salmonoid biological opinion and sought assurances that the NOP would not impact ongoing activities in the Delta.
In response, Dr. Lubchenco emphasized that the NOP doesn’t change existing regulation or authorities. Additionally, she said, “a more integrated consideration of biological opinions is certainly appropriate” and indicated that it “is under consideration”.
