For the latest ocean news,
subscribe to Ocean Update
and our other free newsletters.

Need a source or more
information? Contact us at
media@seaweb.org or
301.495.9570.

Comment Period on U.S. Marine Spatial Planning Interim Report Closed

The 60-day public comment period on the Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning report released by the U.S. Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force ended on February 12, 2010. The Task Force will now review the comments before making its final recommendations to President Obama, potentially as soon as this spring.

Wolcott Henry/Marine Photobank

The current draft framework follows the September 10, 2009, release of the Interim Report of the Ocean Policy Task Force, which focused on the need to develop a national ocean policy. The latest report outlines a framework to create and implement coastal and marine spatial planning at a national and regional level. If the proposed legislation passes, it would be the United States' first national ocean policy in its more than 200-year history as a maritime nation.

The draft framework report includes a definition of coastal and marine spatial planning and identification of nine regional areas within the United States where such efforts can be undertaken. It also contains a set of guiding principles and goals for coastal and marine spatial planning efforts and a description of the regional bodies that would undertake the development and implementation of such plans. The report also recommends ways to improve quality and management of the data required to develop coastal and marine spatial plans and acknowledges the need for financial resources to support this endeavor, along with other efforts to bring stakeholders together and to support regional entities empowered to create and implement plans.

"The end result should be a framework that is inclusive and responsive at the local level while being cohesive at the national level," said SeaWeb President Dawn M. Martin.

To view the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force’s reports and comment on the proposed framework, visit www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans

Back to the Just In Archive