national ocean policy implementation plan

7/28/2019 National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan

1/36

A PR I L 2 0 1 3

National Ocean Council

NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN


2/36

i

National Ocean Council

Council on Environmental Quality

Oce o Science and Technology PolicyDepartment o Agriculture

Department o Commerce

Department o Deense

Department o Energy

Department o Health and Human Services

Department o Homeland Security

Department o the Interior

Department o Justice

Department o Labor

Department o State

Department o Transportation

Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Joint Chies o Sta

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Science Foundation

U.S. Army Corps o Engineers*

U.S. Coast Guard

Oce o the Director o National Intelligence

Oce o Management and Budget

Oce o the Vice President

National Security Sta**

Domestic Policy Council

National Economic Council

* Member of the Deputy-level committee

** Includes the National Security Advisor and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and

Counterterrorism


3/36

NAIO NAL O C EAN P O LIC Y IMP LEMENAIO N P LAN

ii


4/36

iii

able of Contents

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Organization o the Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

II. The Ocean Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Supporting Economic Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Promoting Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Developing a Skilled Ocean Workorce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

III. Saety and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Improving Maritime Domain Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Providing Maritime Saety and Security in a Changing Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Enhancing the Saety and Security o Ports and Waterways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

IV. Coastal and Ocean Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Reducing Adverse Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Preparing or Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Recovering and Sustaining Ocean Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

V. Local Choices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Providing Tools or Regional Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Strengthening Regional Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Supporting Regional Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

VI. Science and Inormation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Enhancing Our Understanding o Ocean and Coastal Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Strengthening Our Ability to Acquire Marine Data and Provide Inormation . . . . . . . 26

Improving Science-based Products and Services or Inormed Decision-Making . . . . . . 27

VII. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30


5/36


I. Introduction

The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are among our most treasured resources. They are an integral

part o our national identity and our uture. A healthy marine environment eeds our Nation, uels our

economy, supports our cultures, provides and creates jobs, gives mobility to our Armed Forces, enables

sae movement o goods, and provides places or recreation. Healthy, productive, and resilient oceans,

coasts, and Great Lakes contribute signicantly to our quality o lie.

At the same time, these resources are vulnerable to activities and impacts that diminish their health,

productivity, and resilience. Pollution, or example, degrades marine habitats, reduces access to recre-

ational and commercial opportunities, and threatens public health and saety. Habitat loss impacts the

stability o marine populations, leading to signicant economic and cultural consequences. Overshing

photos(clockwisefromtopright):MMS;NOAA;Navy;NOAA;NSF;NOAA


6/36


threatens current and uture opportunities or recreational and commercial shing, compromises our

national ood security, and reduces the ability o marine ecosystems to recover rom disturbances. The

impacts o climate change, such as sea-level rise, increase the vulnerability o coastal communities to

storm damage. Moreover, these problems interact with one another, collectively ampliying their impact

on the health o the ocean.

In addition, a growing population o ocean users is increasingly competing or ocean space both or

established uses such as shing, shipping, military activities, and conventional energy development,

and or emerging uses such as renewable energy development and aquaculture. This competition cre-

ates conficts between users and presents new challenges or decision-makers. Inecient government

decision-making can compound the problem, hampering economic opportunities and impeding the

entrepreneurial, problem-solving eorts o commercial and conservation interests alike.

At the same time, the Nation is encountering new opportunities to improve our understanding o the

ocean, how it works, and how we can expand our use o the ocean while maintaining its health and

resilience. Advances in research, science, and technology are necessary to help us better understand

how marine environments unction, and how they infuence and are infuenced by human activities.Application o this knowledge will inorm locally-driven management practices and will improve and

maintain the health o the ocean, support employment and new economic opportunities, enhance the

Nations saety and security, and help preserve the ocean as a valuable resource.

Recognizing these challenges and opportunities, and building on the recommendations o two bi-

partisan commissions, President Obama established the National Policy or the Stewardship o the

Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes by Executive Order on July , . The National Ocean

Policy (Policy) highlights our responsibility to improve and maintain the health o the ocean, coasts,

and Great Lakes and recognizes the importance o working with States,1 tribes,2 and other partners to

tackle key challenges through common sense, science-based solutions. The Policy aims to ensure that

our valuable ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources will continue to provide a wealth o benets thatsupport the Nations well-being, saety, and prosperity.

Fundamentally, the National Ocean Policy coordinates, through establishment o the National Ocean

Council, the ocean-related activities o Federal agencies to achieve greater eciency and eectiveness,

with a ocus on reduced bureaucracy, improved coordination and integration, and scal responsibility.

The Policy does not create new regulations, supersede current regulations, or modiy any agencys

established mission, jurisdiction, or authority. Rather, it helps coordinate the implementation o existing

regulations and authorities by all Federal agencies in the interest o more ecient decision-making. The

Policy does not redirect congressionally-appropriated unds, or direct agencies to divert unds rom

existing programs. Instead, it improves interagency collaboration and prioritization to help ocus limited

resources and use taxpayer dollars more eciently.

Developed collaboratively by the agencies o the National Ocean Council and based on the work initiated

by the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force in , this National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan

(Plan) provides clear direction to Federal agencies and increased specicity to partners and stakeholders.3

The Plan refects a commitment to develop and apply the latest science and inormation, conduct the

business o government more eciently, and collaborate more eectively with State, tribal, and local


7/36


authorities, marine industries, and other stakeholders. This Plan describes specic actions that translate

the goals o the National Ocean Policy into on-the-ground change to address key challenges, streamline

Federal operations, save taxpayer dollars, and promote economic growth.

A wide range o stakeholders and partners will benet rom these actions to improve the stewardship

and health o the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. For example: States and tribes will benet rom improved coordination with Federal agencies, better inorma-

tion or decision-making, and support or regional priorities and solutions;

Recreational shermen and boaters will benet rom actions that advance conservation pro-

grams and help ensure continued access to healthy and productive waters;

Commercial shermen will be better equipped to meet our Nations growing demand or healthy

seaood through improved science that supports increased sustainable shing opportunity;

The commercial shipping and ports industry will have more accurate charts or sae and ecient

navigation;

The Nations Armed Forces will benet rom improved coordination with maritime interests to

ensure their ability to test and train in order to meet current and emerging national security

requirements;

Oshore energy industries will benet rom better data and inormation to identiy potential

development sites, more ecient leasing and permitting processes, and planning that acilitates

sae access, sae operations, and reduced conficts with other uses;

The aquaculture industry will benet rom streamlined Federal permitting and coordinated

research eorts to support sustainable aquaculture;

Coastal communities will build resilience to extreme events and sustain more coastal jobopportunities; and

Beach-goers, birders, conservationists, and others will benet rom healthier coastal and ocean

habitats and ecosystems.

This Plan presents a common-sense, science-based approach to achieve these benets through resource

management that considers entire ecosystems. The goal o ecosystem-based management supported

by this Plan is to maintain a healthy, productive, and resilient ocean that can continue to provide the

benets and resources humans want and need. Achieving this goal will require both a sound scientic

oundation and a commitment to management practices that are adaptable to changing conditions and

responsive to new challenges and opportunities that emerge. Working together, resource managers,

ocean users, and other stakeholders can develop and apply ecosystem-based management incremen-tally, by learning and sharing eective practices as knowledge and experience increase.

Importantly, this Plan was inormed by thoughtul input rom national, regional, and local stakeholders

rom all marine sectors; tribal, State, and local governments; private sector partners, academic scientists,

and the general public. It refects careul consideration o extensive public comments, particularly those


8/36


that relate to the importance o incremental change, pilot projects, support or local and regional capac-

ity and sel-determination, and the undamental need or more and better inormation.

The Implementation Plan better aligns multiple agency priorities and activities to promote greater

synergies and eciencies in Federal spending. Given todays constrained scal climate and recognizing

uncertainty in the budget and appropriations processes, completion o every action within the identiedtimerames will depend upon the availability o unds and resources.

In that vein, this Plan is intended to be a living document. It is designed to be adaptive to new inorma-

tion or changing conditions, and will be updated periodically as progress is made, lessons are learned,

new activities are planned, and as the Nation continually strives to improve the stewardship o the ocean,

coasts, and Great Lakes or the benet o current and uture generations.

Organization o the Document

This Implementation Plan describes, under the ollowing sections, how specic actions to implement

the Policy will benet: () The Ocean Economy, () Saety and Security, and () Coastal and Ocean

Resilience by supporting () Local Choices, and providing oundational () Science and Inormation.

Subsections describe specic outcomes that advance those benets and the types o actions Federal

agencies will take to achieve them. Specic planned actions are described in the appendix containing

Implementation Actions. Many o these actions will produce benets in the short-term that respond to

immediate needs o communities, ocean stakeholders, and the public. Others create building blocks

to support key outcomes in the medium- to long-term. The actions in this Implementation Plan are

grounded in the National Priority Objectives o the Policy. They encompass eorts previously identied

under these objectives as those that will move our Nation ahead toward resolving the most pressing

challenges acing the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes, and benetting the people, communities,

and businesses that rely on them.

Many o the actions support multiple outcomes, refecting the common-sense value o ocusing and

coordinating the work o Federal agencies to provide products and services that benet all Americans.

In particular, a number o science and inormation-based actions that advance observing systems, map-

ping and charting, and other inormation tools benet many dierent users at the national, regional,

and local level. Those and other actions are thereore discussed in more than one section to explain how

they advance each policy objective.


9/36

II. Te Ocean Economy

The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are among our Nations most valuable resources and stron-

gest economic drivers. In , maritime economic activities such as shipping, marine construction,

energy development, commercial shing, recreational shing and boating, aquaculture, and tourismcontributed $ billion in GDP to the national economy and supported . million jobs.4 Because so

many people live near the coast, in , percent o our Nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or

$ trillion, was generated in the shoreline counties o the United States and territories, including the

Great Lakes.5 These coastal counties supported approximately million jobs and $. trillion in wages.6

The value o the ocean to Americansor commerce, energy, recreation, ood, culture, and national

securityprovides the oundation or our quality o lie now and or uture generations.

As a maritime Nation, we are challenged to maintain and enhance the economic benets that a healthy

and productive ocean provides. The declining health o ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems

threatens their ability to provide the products and services on which much o our economy depends.

For example, marine and aquatic invasive species cost our economy billions o dollars each year indamage to sheries, tourism, and coastal inrastructure.7 Another example indicates that coral bleach-

ing has cost the United States an estimated $. billion over the past years, aecting tourism and

shing, and increasing the vulnerability o coastal areas to storm damage.8 The prolieration o marine

debris along our coasts has signicant economic impacts across a number o marine sectors, including

tourism, recreation, and sheries.9

photo:NOAA


10/36


Government ineciencies can add to these problems. For example, o the seaood consumed in the

U.S. in , an estimated percent (by value) was imported with hal o that coming rom oreign

aquaculture.10 In , the U.S. trade decit in seaood was $. billion, a number that grows annually.11

Government ineciency in the siting, permitting and approval processes or aquaculture may be hin-

dering the domestic aquaculture industrys growth.12 Beyond threatening jobs and economic stability,

poor coordination and ineective planning can cause increased delays, conficts, and costs among the

growing number o ocean users.

This Plan responds to such challenges by ocusing and coordinating action among Federal agencies

under their existing authorizations and budgets, and by providing the tools we need to ensure a robust,

sustainable ocean economy. It also promotes better science and inormation to support economic

growth, more ecient permitting and decision-making, and healthier and more resilient marine eco-

systems that will continue to support jobs, local economies, and a skilled and diverse ocean workorce.

A healthy marine environment provides signiicant economic beneits. For example, millions o

Americans experience the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes each year through recreational shing and

boating, which is a major contributor to the national economy. In , marine tourism and recreationaccounted or percent o the jobs produced by the total ocean economy. million American jobs

in total.13 As such, maintaining healthy, productive waters and access to them or recreation and other

activities is critically important to sustaining the benets that so many Americans enjoy. The recreational

shing and boating communities directly contribute to and help und (through excise taxes and license

sales) many marine conservation, State wildlie and shery programs, and other initiatives that provide

urther benets through vehicles such as the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. These are

just some examples o the value provided by healthy marine waters.

The ollowing actions will support existing and new marine industries, maintain and enhance the vitality

o coastal communities and regions, and preserve the marine ecosystems that support our quality o lie.

Supporting Economic Growth

Businesses, communities, and governments that rely on ocean resources need high-quality scientic

inormation and data. Greater access to high-quality data and inormation will enable maritime indus-

tries, resource managers, and decision makers at all levels o government to make responsible and eec-

tive decisions. Federal agencies will take the ollowing actions that strengthen the national economy

through enhanced accessibility to data and inormation and robust, sustained observing systems.

Advance our mapping and charting capabilities and products to support a range o eco-

nomic activities. To sustain the fow o the trillions o dollars o goods that pass through our

ports and the many businesses that rely on the ocean, our coasts, and Great Lakes, agencieswill coordinate to produce better mapping and charting products, which serve to preserve,

protect, and expand our Nations maritime economic activities. Improved mapping, charting,

and associated products will enhance the eciency o maritime commerce through saer

navigation and better accident-avoidance, and updated hydrographic charts and seafoor maps

will support marine industries such as oshore energy. These products will also provide coastal


11/36


communities with better elevation and bathymetric data to plan or and mitigate the adverse

economic impacts o disasters.

Provide greater accessibility to data and inormation to support commercial markets

and industries, such as commercial shing, maritime transportation, aquaculture, and

oshore energy. Agencies will take a series o actions to acilitate the availability o relevantocean data to provide easier access to inormation or research, planning, and decision support.

Further, agencies will utilize public input, local and traditional knowledge, and scientic inor-

mation to help identiy and communicate the economic value o ecosystem services, such as

healthy and productive wetlands that support spawning, breeding, and eeding o commercially

and recreationally important sh species. This inormation can help decision makers consider

the value o these services when evaluating actions that may impact the economy.

Sustain and urther develop observing systems or the economic benet o maritime com-

merce and marine industry. Federal agencies will support the development and maintenance

o ocean observing systems. Real-time inormation on waterway conditions rom ocean, coastal,

and Great Lakes observing systems such as the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systemdirectly supports the daily operations and eciency o maritime commerce nationwide, as well

as local and regional businesses that rely on the marine environment. Continued development

o Federal ocean observing programs will stimulate private sector ocean technology develop-

ment and provide a rigorous test-bed or new innovations.

Promoting Jobs

Ocean industries are a major employer. In , U.S. commercial ports supported more than million

jobs.14 Similarly, in , commercial sheries supported . million jobs and $. billion in commercial

sh landings, and marine recreational sheries supported , jobs.15 As o March , energy and

minerals production rom oshore areas accounted or about $ billion in economic contributions tothe U.S economy and supported about , American jobs.16 Oshore wind energy has the potential

to directly support . jobs or every megawatt-hour generated. Installing gigawatts o oshore wind

capacity in U.S. waters would create more than , permanent operations and maintenance jobs.17

There is signicant potential along the Nations shorelines to create a large number o coastal restoration

jobs that recover degraded habitats and restore the sheries and recreational opportunities they provide.

For every million dollars invested, coastal restoration creates between and new jobs or coastal

regionsregions that provide key habitat or more than percent o the commercial and recreational

sh catch.18 Marine aquaculture in the U.S. has a arm-gate value o $ million19 and supports up to

, jobs.20 Supporting the growth o sustainable marine aquaculture through the National Shellsh

Initiative and building on existing eorts such as the Gul o Mexico Fishery Management CouncilsAquaculture Plan has the potential to provide additional jobs.

The ollowing actions by Federal agencies will help maintain existing jobs and promote job growth in

coastal and marine-related sectors by improving regulatory eciency, reversing environmental impacts

that hinder economic opportunity, and providing inormation that supports actions to maximize the


12/36


economic value o our natural resources. The goal o these actions is to enhance both immediate and

long-term potentials or job creation.

Increase efciencies in decision-making by improving permitting processes and coordi-

nating agency participation in planning and approval processes. A key goal o the Policy

is to improve eciency across Federal agencies, including permitting, planning, and approvalprocesses to save time and money or ocean-based industries and decision makers at all levels

o government while protecting health, saety, and the environment. Interagency work already

in progress includes more ecient permitting o shellsh aquaculture activities, which will help

produce additional domestic seaood and jobs and provide a template or similar action to

support other marine commercial sectors. Through pilot projects developed in collaboration

with relevant stakeholders, Federal agencies will identiy opportunities to streamline processes

and reduce duplicative eorts while ensuring appropriate environmental and other required

saeguards.

Provide jobs and economic value by protecting and restoring coastal wetlands, coral rees,

and other natural systems. Restoration activities provide direct economic opportunities, andhealthy natural systems support jobs in industries such as tourism, recreation, and commercial

shing. Agencies will coordinate to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands, coral rees, and

other high-priority ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes habitats. Agencies will also work through the

already established a National Shellsh Initiative with commercial and restoration aquaculture

communities to identiy ways to both responsibly maximize the commercial value o shellsh

aquaculture and achieve environmental benets such as nutrient ltration and sh habitat.

Prevent lost employment opportunities and economic losses associated with environ-

mental degradation. Hypoxia and harmul algal blooms have signicant adverse economic,

public health-related, and ecological consequences. Invasive species are a major challenge

that results in economic losses to local communities and industries, costing the Nation morethan $ billion annually.21 Federal agencies will take steps to prevent and reverse widespread

economic impacts caused by hypoxia, harmul algal blooms, invasive species, and other threats

to healthy systems. They will take action to strengthen the monitoring, science, data access,

modeling, and orecasting o hypoxia and harmul algal blooms to provide decision makers with

the necessary inormation to minimize and mitigate harmul impacts on coastal economies.

Federal agencies will take actions to improve our ability to detect and reduce invasive species

in coastal and ocean habitats to protect commercial and recreational sh stocks, help sustain

the jobs and industries that depend upon healthy coastal aquatic ecosystems, and save millions

o dollars in lost revenue and avoided inrastructure damage.

Developing a Skilled Ocean Workorce

A diverse workorce with interdisciplinary skills and training is needed to maintain the Nations place

as a world leader in ocean science and to ensure inormed management and use o ocean, coastal,

and Great Lakes resources. Agencies will coordinate to build the science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM) and managerial workorce capacity needed to ensure that management o and

research on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems are o the highest quality possible.


13/36


Develop human capacity and the skilled workorce necessary to conduct ocean research

and manage ocean resources. Agencies will coordinate to ensure that educational programs

include diverse student groups and that a highly competent workorce is developed. Agency

actions will result in more students, particularly rom underrepresented groups at the under-

graduate and graduate level, pursuing academic elds related to ocean, coastal, and Great

Lakes science and management. This will support the Nations leadership in ocean research and

development and the application o best management practices. For example, agencies will

use existing education and training resources to provide scholarship, ellowship, and internship

opportunities that leverage existing Federal investments in ocean research, marine laborato-

ries, and natural sciences to provide opportunities or education and training. Agencies will

also contribute to periodic ocean-ocused academic competitions or middle and high school

students that have a positive impact on ocean-related career paths.


14/36

III. Safety and Security

The ocean, our coasts, and Great Lakes are critically important to the Nations saety and security. Sae,

secure, and productive access to, and use o, our maritime domain are essential to maintaining military

strength, a strong economy, and a high quality o lie or all Americans. Marine waters comprise the

physical boundaries o our Nation, support the mobility and training o our Armed Forces, and providean economically vital oundation or energy, commerce, tourism and recreation, commercial and recre-

ational shing and boating, and other industries. For many Native and tribal communities and coastal

residents, these waters directly sustain lie and cultures. It is undamentally in our Nations best interest

to better understand, protect, and sustain these waters.

Industry, government, academia, and the public conduct numerous activities on our coastlines and in

the ocean and Great Lakes or a variety o purposes. By improving eective coordination and situational

awareness, these comingled activities will take into consideration the saety and security o our people,

property, and the health o the marine environment. Federal agencies will work together to improve

our overall awareness o the maritime domain, be responsible stewards o the marine environment, and

enhance the saety and security o our ports and waterways.

International cooperation is equally important. United States accession to the Convention on the Law

o the Sea (Convention) is critical to protecting our navigational rights and reedoms, both or military

vessels and or civilian vessels and their cargoes, and to advancing our economic interests in the ocean.

The Convention accords to the United States extensive oshore resource rights, including exclusive rights

to natural resources such as oil, gas, and sh, out to nautical miles rom shore, and additional rights

to seabed resources, including oil and gas, beyond nautical miles in several large areas. Accession to

photo:UNH/NOAA


15/36


the Convention also means that the United States would have the opportunity to place U.S. nominees/

designees on various Convention bodies, including those developing the rules governing mineral

resources in the deep seabed, and those making recommendations regarding Parties submissions on the

continental shel beyond nautical miles. Joining the Convention will advance our national interests

by protecting and enhancing our access to the ocean and important natural resources.

Improving Maritime Domain Awareness

A solid understanding o the wide range o activities, inrastructure, and environmental conditions that

occur in the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems enables inormed reactions and responses to

events that occur in those waters. Maritime domain awareness is achieved by eciently collecting and

sharing inormation and by improving the Nations inrastructure or ocean observing and remote sens-

ing systems. It is also important to ocus on greater collaboration with the international community to

enable better sharing o inormation, expertise, and knowledge with other nations.

Enhance remote sensing systems or ocean observations to support maritime domain

awareness. Federal agencies will optimize use o enhanced remote sensing systems or oceanobservations to improve awareness o real-time oceanographic, meteorological, and ecological

conditions in the maritime domain. An integrated system o remote sensing assets designed

or ocean observations will assist decision-makers by providing a more complete picture o the

marine environment.

Engage internationally to exchange inormation, expertise, and knowledge about policy

issues in the maritime domain. The United States will collaborate with international organi-

zations and bodies, such as the International Maritime Organization and Intergovernmental

Oceanographic Commission, and with other nations, in exchanging inormation, expertise, and

knowledge to address high-priority ocean policy issues. These eorts will improve awareness

o activities in the maritime domain, especially among those nations sharing a maritime borderwith the United States, and enhance our ability to address high-priority ocean policy issues

eciently and eectively.

Providing Maritime Saety and Security in a Changing Arctic

The Arctic is rapidly changing. One o the most dramatic changes is the decrease in sea ice, which is likely

to increase vessel trac in the U.S. Arctic. Commercial vessels may capitalize on more expeditious routes,

cruise ships and recreational vessels are expected to bring more tourists to the region, shing grounds

are shiting, and oil and gas companies are moving orward with exploration activities and obtaining

leases to drill into the Arctic seabed. This brings a need or improvements to our Arctic communication

systems and environmental response management capabilities; our ability to observe and orecast sea

ice; and the accuracy o maps and charts o the region. Our maritime saety and security in the Arctic

hinge upon these actions.

Enhance communication systems in the Arctic to improve our capability to prevent and

respond to maritime incidents and environmental impacts.Federal agencies will improve

Arctic communication systems by advancing both technical capabilities and partnerships.


16/36


Agencies will strengthen existing communication systems to allow vessels, aircrat, and shore

stations to eectively communicate with each other and to receive inormation such as real-

time weather and sea ice orecasts that will signicantly decrease the risk o loss o lie at sea or

damage to property or the marine environment. Agencies will partner with each other, Native

communities, industry, and other countries as appropriate to identiy user needs and existing

capabilities prior to building new communication systems.

Improve Arctic environmental incident prevention and response to ensure coordinated

agency action, minimize the likelihood o disasters, and expedite response activities.

Increased Arctic vessel trac brings increased risks o collisions, groundings, and other serious

marine incidents that can lead to loss o lie and property and damage the marine environ-

ment. A coordinated and prepared all-hazards response-management system will mitigate the

impacts o marine-pollution events on ragile Arctic communities and ecosystems. To improve

responses, Federal agencies will conduct joint spill-response workshops and exercises, develop

and implement response coordination and decision-support tools like the Arctic Environmental

Response Management Application, and improve spill prevention, containment, and responseinrastructure, plans, and technology or use in ice-covered waters.

Improve Arctic sea ice orecasting to support saety at sea. Sea ice orecasting is one o the

most urgent and timely issues in the Arctic region. To ensure the best tactical and long-term ice

orecasts are available or sae operations and planning, Federal agencies will work together to

better quantiy the rates o sea ice melt and regrowth, understand shiting patterns o distribu-

tion o ice, develop better maps o the ice edge, expand participation in the sea ice observation

program, and coordinate with international partners to enable better model-based orecasting

over larger areas. Improved observations will contribute to improved orecasts, which will better

inorm Arctic maritime saety and security activities.

Improve Arctic mapping and charting or sae navigation and more accurate positioning.

Advancements in hydrographic charting will enhance the saety o navigation in the Arctic

region by reducing the risk o damaging maritime incidents. Federal agencies will update nau-

tical charts and establish priorities, in concert with Native communities and stakeholders, or

shoreline and hydrographic surveying activities. Further, mapping gravity data over the State

o Alaska will help correct meters-level errors in Arctic positioning. Such eorts will support U.S.

Navy and U.S. Coast Guard operations and help ensure the saety and security o all mariners

in the Arctic.

Enhancing the Saety and Security o Ports and Waterways

The saety and security o our people, property, and the marine environment and the viability o mari-

time commerce rely on sae, ecient, and secure navigation and waterways management systems. This

includes eective planning or and response to emerging threats to our ports and harbors rom illegal

human activities, climate change, and extreme weather events or other natural disasters. Federal agen-

cies will conduct several actions that leverage existing resources in a coordinated manner to ensure the


17/36


saety and security o all those who make a living rom, enjoy through recreation, and rely on the health

and vitality o our ports and waterways.

Conduct Waterway Analysis and Management System assessments and Port Access Route

Studies to support decisions on waterways management and other navigational priori-

ties. The sae and secure navigation o commercial, recreational, and government vessels inand out o our Nations ports depends on accurate and timely assessments o our waterways.

Federal agencies will evaluate the perormance o our waterways management systems on a

consistent basis to identiy the improvements needed to ensure the saety and security o our

maritime public, the economic vitality o our ports, and the integrity o our marine ecosystems.

Assess the vulnerability o our ports and waterways to sea-level rise and extreme weather

events or other natural disasters and enable actions that more eectively reduce risks

and impacts. The Nations ports and waterways inrastructure support many economic, saety,

and security activities. A better understanding o the potential impacts o climate change on

our ports and waterways will prepare us to respond and adapt accordingly in order to preserve

critical assets. Vulnerability assessments are critical to understanding how extreme weather,sea-level rise, and other maniestations o climate change may aect our coastlines. Federal

agencies will conduct such assessments, in collaboration with State, tribal, local, and regional

eorts. Federal agencies will develop and disseminate methods, best practices, and standards

or assessing the resilience o natural resources, populations, and inrastructure in a changing

climate.

Advance ocean observing systems to urther enhance search and rescue operations and

spill response in our ports and waterways. Ocean observing systems provide real-time and

near real-time oceanographic, meteorological, and ecological data, which eed into search and

rescue and oil spill trajectory models. The reliability, quality, and resolution o ocean observing

system data have a direct impact on the model output, which infuences operational decisionsor search and rescue and oil and hazardous substance spill response. Advancing the capabilities

and reliability o our ocean observing system inrastructure will urther protect lie, property,

and the marine environment in our economically vital ports and waterways.


18/36

IV. Coastal and Ocean Resilience

The health and integrity o coastal habitatssuch as coral rees, wetlands, mangroves, salt marshes,

and sea grass bedsare key to sustaining our Nations valuable coastal and ocean ecosystems and the

wealth o benets they provide to us. Outdoor enthusiasts across the Nation access coastal habitats or

shing, boating, birding, and hiking; communities depend on coastal wetlands as buers against hur-

ricanes; divers and snorkelers enjoy the beauty o coral rees; and commercial shermen provide resh

seaood or our tables. Coastal habitats provide spawning grounds, nurseries, shelter, and ood or nsh,

shellsh, migratory birds, and waterowl. They protect coastal communities, homes, inrastructure, and

businesses against damage rom erosion and fooding, they support hundreds o thousands o jobs,

they improve water quality by ltering and detoxiying runo, they dampen the outbreak o pests and

pathogens, they capture and store carbon, and they yield compounds or lie-saving medicines. Healthy

watersheds and coasts sustain our Nation by providing abundant clean water to coastal communities,

residents, businesses, industries, and ecosystems.

Degradation o coastal habitats and ecosystems diminishes their health and their ability to provide envi-

ronmental, economic, and societal services to the Nation. Our Nation lost nearly , acres o coastal

wetlands each year between and .22 Roughly hal o the coral rees under U.S. jurisdiction arein poor or air condition because o ocean warming, disease, and human activities.23 Habitats are

being altered by invasive species that threaten native aquatic lie and cost billions o dollars per year in

natural and inrastructure damage.24 Trash in the Nations waterways injures and kills wildlie, degrades

habitats, intereres with navigation, threatens public health and saety, and creates additional costs

or shipping, shing, tourism, and coastal communities. Pollution rom a variety o sources aects our

pho

to:USFWS


19/36


streams, rivers, estuaries, and coasts, and is the leading cause o water quality problems in the United

States. Such pollution represents a major cause o rapidly declining ocean and coastal ecosystem health.

These threats are exacerbated by the environmental impacts o climate change and ocean acidication

and the resulting shits in wildlie populations and abundance. Sea-level rise, increased severe storm

events, changing ocean temperature, and saltwater intrusion present serious and growing threats to low-lying coastal communities through the destruction o inrastructure, food inundation, loss o arable land,

and the potential displacement o millions o people.25 Climate change is also predicted to alter water

levels o the Great Lakes, thereby changing water cycles and supply, habitats, and economic uses o the

Lakes. Ocean acidication, caused by increased levels o carbon dioxide that make marine waters more

acidic, can harm the growth o plants and animals, including recreationally and commercially important

sh and shellsh. Marine industries such as shellsh aquaculture, and the jobs and communities they

support, ace increased impacts rom the changing chemistry o our marine waters.

Federal agencies will work together to support the various national, State, tribal, and local eorts to

prepare or, respond to, and mitigate or avoid the degradation and loss o ocean and coastal habitats,

water quality, and ecosystems through improved capabilities, proactive stewardship, strengthenedresearch, and enhanced collaboration. Agencies will also enable and support eorts to understand,

minimize, and adapt to the impacts o climate change, ocean acidication, sea-level rise, and extreme

weather events, strengthening the resilience o coastal communities.

Reducing Adverse Conditions

Through National Ocean Policy actions, thousands o acres o wetlands and priority habitat will be

protected, restored, or enhanced. Our Nations coral rees will be improved by better coordinating exist-

ing authorities and implementing projects to prevent or mitigate harmul impacts. Actions to support

partnerships and eorts to locate, monitor, control, and eradicate invasive species will protect native

aquatic populations and their habitats. Collaborative watershed restoration eorts are important tothe overall success o coastal and marine habitat conservation. Restoration eorts in the Gul Coast,

Mississippi River Basin, and Great Lakes, and or Pacic Northwest salmon are excellent examples o

collaborative, voluntary upland watershed conservation and restoration.

Reduce coastal wetland loss. Federal agencies will work together and in cooperation with

States and tribes to identiy the underlying causes o wetland loss in coastal watersheds, and

opportunities to more eectively protect and restore the important unctions and values they

provide. Agencies will conduct pilot studies to identiy the most common underlying actors

responsible or coastal wetland loss and the most successul tools or addressing it. These actions

will complement ongoing State, local, and tribal government projects seeking to protect and

restore coastal wetland ecosystems such as the Gul Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and

the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.

Protect, conserve and restore coastal and ocean habitats. Agencies will coordinate to use

and provide scientically sound, ecosystem-based approaches to achieving healthy coastal

and ocean habitats. For example, working through the U.S. Coral Ree Task Force, agencies will

coordinate to address key threats to coral ree ecosystems, including impacts rom land-based


20/36


sources o pollution, climate change, ocean acidication, planned activities (authorized activi-

ties), and unplanned activities (such as vessel groundings and spills).

Locate, control, prevent, and eradicate invasive species populations.Federal agencies

will improve our ability to prevent and reduce impacts rom invasive species, ocusing on early

detection and response, to protect ecologically, commercially, recreationally, and culturally,important marine species and their habitats.

Improve and preserve our Nations coastal and estuarine water quality to provide clean

water or healthier waterways, communities, and ecosystems.Through more eective use

o voluntary programs, partnerships, and pilot projects, agencies will work to reduce exces-

sive nutrients, sediments, and other pollutants. Agencies will also help protect, conserve, and

maintain high-quality coastal waters by identiying priority areas or water quality monitoring

and assessment and providing nancial assistance to private landowners seeking to apply

voluntary conservation practices. Other actions will reduce the impacts o hypoxia and harmul

algal blooms aced by many coastal and inland States.

Preparing or Change

Agencies will take a number o actions to improve the resilience o coastal communities and enhance

their ability to adapt to the impacts rom climate change, extreme weather events, and ocean acidica-

tion. Agencies will develop estimates or global mean sea-level rise and make available coastal inunda-

tion and sea-level change visualizations and decision-support tools relevant to regional, State, tribal,

and local decision-makers. They will oer tools and training courses on how to design and implement

vulnerability assessments and develop a national assessment o coastal and ocean vulnerability to both

climate change and ocean acidication.

Actions will be conducted in coordination with other Federal climate change and ocean acidicationprograms and strategies, including the National Action Plan or Managing Freshwater Resources in a

Changing Climate, the National Fish, Wildlie and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy, the Strategic Plan

or Federal Research and Monitoring o Ocean Acidication, the U.S. Global Change Research Program,

the National Climate Assessment, and the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. To the

extent appropriate, these actions will also be coordinated with and guide relevant Federal Emergency

Management Agency eorts such as national preparedness, disaster response and recovery, and food

hazard map development.

Strengthen and integrate observations into a coordinated network o sentinel sites to

enhance the Nations ability to provide early warnings, risk assessments, and orecasts

or impacts.Federal agencies will strengthen and integrate observations rom the Nationsprotected areas, research sites, and observing systems into a coordinated network o climate

sentinel sites. This is an ecient and eective way to provide decision-makers with the inorma-

tion they need to reduce risks and increase resilience o ocean and coastal environments and

communities in a changing climate.

Determine the impacts o interacting stressors on ecological systems, economies, and

communities.Agencies will develop an integrated research agenda to help address gaps in


21/36


our current understanding o impacts due to multiple, interacting actors, and build a ounda-

tion or the development o models, tools, and services to better inorm uture planning and

decisions and improve implementation o existing policies. This integrated, interdisciplinary

agenda will provide inormation or better orecasts o changes in ecological, economic, and

social systems due to climate change and ocean acidication, and improved eectiveness o

adaptation actions, with the goal o reducing risks and negative impacts on communities. For

example, enhanced sea-level rise projections can inorm the development o food hazard maps.

Assess the vulnerability o coastal communities and ocean environments to climate

change and ocean acidication and, in partnership with tribes, coastal communities and

States, design and implement adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerabilities. Agencies

will develop methods, best practices, and guidance or assessing the vulnerability and resiliency

o resources to a changing climate, building o existing eorts such as the National Climate

Assessment. These tools will allow decision makers to assess local vulnerability, avoid actions

that increase vulnerability o human communities or degrade natural resources, and take actions

that increase resilience o both natural systems and communities. Agencies will also strengthenthe institutions, mechanisms, and capacities or systematically enhancing resilience to hazards

and incorporating adaptation strategies or coastal and ocean species and habitats into uture

planning, management processes, and inrastructure investments.

Recovering and Sustaining Ocean Health

Agencies will take a number o actions to signicantly improve our Nations capacity to address the

long-term challenges and impacts o natural and human-caused environmental changes. These actions

will strengthen collaboration through scientically sound ecosystem-based management.

Eective management o activities that aect ocean health requires considering several inter-connected

unctions o ocean ecosystems, the resources they provide, and how human activities impact boththe ecosystems themselves, and the communities that depend on them. Most previous management

approaches have ocused on a single resource or issue and designed solutions ocused on that resource

or issue alone. For example, the conventional approach to managing sheries has been to ocus on a

single species and work to ensure its availability, primarily by limiting how many o them can be caught.

Integrated, ecosystem-based management goes urther and supports the goal o having a greater

abundance, distribution, and diversity o sh, more jobs, and thriving shing communities by also

addressing the ood sources and ecosystems that sh need to grow and the actors that aect them.

By understanding those connections, managers can make decisions that support all components o

the system, so there can be more sh overall. Federal shery managers are already applying a more

integrated management approach, but it does not include consideration o non-shery actors, suchas water quality, that aect sheries.

Together, the ollowing actions will provide a lasting oundation or enhancing the many vital benets

our Nation derives rom healthy ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems.

Establish a ramework or collaboration and a shared set o goals to promote ecosystem-

based management.Agencies will increase their collaboration with other levels o government,


22/36


experts, practitioners, and stakeholders to enhance the eciency, consistency, and transparency

o their development and implementation o ecosystem approaches to management based

on existing statutes and regulations. Agencies will develop principles, goals, and perormance

measures that support the development o integrated ecosystem-based management.

Improve coastal and estuarine restoration eorts through better monitoring, coordina-tion, and planning. Monitoring restoration eorts provides important data and inormation to

improve the science o restoration and track the societal benets o restoration activities, such as

increased sh populations and enhanced protection o coastlines rom storms. Federal agencies

that und and implement coastal and estuarine habitat restoration projects will evaluate and

track these eorts to ensure that they are ecient and eective.

Improve the Nations preparedness or, and response to, environmental hazards through

better orecasts, increased and more integrated monitoring, and strengthened prepared-

ness. Agencies will establish a Health Early Warning System that alerts public health ocials

and managers to marine-related threats to human and ecosystem health rom diseases, toxins,

and pathogens. To enhance our Nations ood saety and security, other actions will augmentcontaminant monitoring and disease surveillance programs in a target region, and develop new,

rapid assessment methods to detect contaminants and spoilage in seaood. Further actions

will also reduce the negative impacts o trash and marine debris by enhancing non-regulatory

prevention, reduction, and removal methods through methods such as community-based

grants. In addition, agencies will develop and implement a coordinated response management

system to better protect Arctic communities and ecosystems rom potential oil spills and other

pollution events.

Protect signiicant natural and cultural marine and Great Lakes areas and suicient

habitat to ensure maintenance o ecosystem processes. Identiying ecologically important

and culturally signicant areas or ocused protection or management supports the long-termsustainability o ocean resources. Several Federal agencies have processes by which to identiy

important marine areas or management or protection under existing authorities. Agencies will

address, with input rom State, tribal, regional, local, and stakeholder interests, the protection o

essential sh habitat and support reactivation o the National Marine Sanctuary Site Evaluation

List. This List is a public process tool or evaluating marine areas that may be considered or

national marine sanctuaries in a transparent and public way.


23/36

V. Local Choices

Throughout the U.S., there are myriad tribal, State, regional, and local eorts to support and grow marine

economies, protect and conserve the environment that supports quality o lie, and sustain unique

social and cultural identities. Priorities, however, vary across regions, as do the ways in which dierent

regional actors choose to address them.

All regions share an interest in growing their economies and providing jobs that support strong com-munities, which they address through a diverse and oten unique array o marine uses. For example, their

interests range rom conventional to renewable energy, they have dierent commercial and recreational

sheries, and they oer distinct tourism and recreational activities. They also have dierent priorities

or environmental protection and the use o ocean resources. In the Pacic and Caribbean, coral ree

ecosystem conservation is a ocus area, while in the Pacic Northwest, addressing the impacts o ocean

acidication on local shellsh growers is a top priority. In the Gul o Mexico, eorts are underway to

minimize the impacts o harmul algal blooms on human health, while in the Great Lakes, States are

working to control invasive species to minimize the damage they cause to commerce, municipal inra-

structure, and the Great Lakes ecosystem.

In Arctic communities, adapting to the impacts o climate change is a regional priority, while ChesapeakeBay communities ocus on approaches to improve water quality. Regardless o the specic issues being

addressed, communities and stakeholders need more and better inormation and coordinated and

responsive Federal agency actions that address locally relevant issues. Actions under the National Ocean

Policy provide tools and services that support and build on action at local, State, tribal, and regional

scales. These will strengthen partnerships across all levels o government and with regional and local

stakeholders and communities.

pho

to:DawnStandifur


24/36


Providing Tools or Regional Action

Science and data provide the building blocks or inormation and tools to support tribal, State, local,

and regional action. Ecient access to observations and inormation is improving our ability to under-

stand and predict ecosystem eventssuch as a loss or change in habitat or coral bleachingas well

as long-term planning and decision-making. Pilot projects ocused on ecosystem-based managementallow scientists, managers, and stakeholders to account or and address the many actors that aect

how ecosystems work, at a manageable scale and in the context o relevant issues. More ecient dis-

covery o, and access to, inormation improves the ability o tribal, State, local, and regional planners to

understand, predict, and prevent or mitigate events. Assessing vulnerability is yet another crucial step

in preparing or and responding to the impacts o climate change, ocean acidication, and extreme

weather on ocean environments and coastal communities.

Identiy and implement pilot projects that use an ecosystem-based approach to partner-

ing in the stewardship o ocean and coastal resources. In collaboration with local, regional,

and tribal practitioners, agencies will identiy and conduct pilot projects that incorporate best

practices or ecosystem-based management, test on-the-ground eectiveness o decision-support tools, and demonstrate the practical utility o ecosystem-based approaches. Pilot

projects will determine what additional data, tools, and training are required, identiy how the

collaborative and scientic rameworks may need to be altered to be more useul, and enable

decision-makers and managers to understand how ecosystem-based management can be most

eectively implemented at regional scales relevant to address specic resource management

objectives.

Assess the vulnerability o communities and ocean environments to climate change

and ocean acidication and support and implement adaptation strategies to promote

inormed decisions.Agencies will develop best practices and guidance or assessing the

vulnerability and resilience o communities, inrastructure, and resources to a changing climate

and ocean acidication, and will develop and promote adaptation tools and strategies to help

coastal communities address these risks. These tools will enable decision-makers at all levels

o government to assess local vulnerability, inorm near-term and long-term investments, and

avoid actions that increase vulnerability.

Expand and improve discovery o and access to non-classied Federal data and decision-

support tools, including ocean and coastal mapping products, to support local, tribal,

State, and regional decision-making. Not all existing Federal data are easily accessible or in a

useable ormat or regional decision-making and planning purposes. Agencies will coordinate

to make unrestricted Federal data publicly available in a standards-based ormat through anational data portal (ocean.data.gov). This central portal or planning-related ocean, coastal, and

Great Lakes data will allow or easy discovery and access to data and derived products which

support the urther development o new and/or improved decision-support tools or planners

at all levels o government.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/ocean.data.govhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/ocean.data.gov


25/36


Strengthening Regional Partnerships

Federal agencies will work to strengthen and leverage existing regional partnerships and to build new

ones. Agencies will honor the government-to-government relationship, trust obligations, and consulta-

tion responsibilities o the Federal government with Federally-recognized tribes and expand partner-

ships with tribes and Native communities. Agencies will also partner with and assist States in advancingthe network o regional alliances to protect ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes health. Partnerships with

local governments and private interests are also needed to leverage limited resources.

Existing regional ocean and Great Lakes partnerships are voluntary, usually multi-state orums estab-

lished by State Governors that identiy shared priorities and take critical action on a range o issues

relevant to their region. They have dierent structures and employ varied methods and approaches to

enhance the ecological and economic health o the region. These eorts involve non-governmental

stakeholders and multiple State and Federal agencies involved in coastal and ocean management.

Federal agency actions will increase communication among ocean sectors, streamline processes, lever-

age resources, and enhance coordination among all levels o government.

Support regional priorities and enhance regional partnerships ability to address issues

o regional importance.Federal agencies will enhance on-the-ground progress by supporting

regional priorities such as data collection and analysis, and by improving coordination among

Federal oces based in regions. Agencies will identiy opportunities to leverage resources and

partner on the continued development and organization o regional alliances and existing

partnerships. This will include data collection and analysis needed to advance regional eorts,

compile resources available to enhance accomplishment o mutual regional goals, and identiy

and distribute best management practices that are broadly applicable or all regional ocean and

coastal entities (or example, how to eectively engage stakeholders, develop partnerships,

identiy priorities, develop regional action plans, and measure success).

Support engagement o interested tribal authorities and use o tribal inormation.

Agencies will work with interested tribal governments to support tribal involvement in pri-

ority-setting and planning or each region, including the integration o traditional ecological

knowledge and scientic data collected by indigenous groups. Agency engagement o and

coordination with tribes will ensure that tribal interests, lands, treaty and other reserved rights,

and co-management agreements are appropriately considered and included in each region.

Supporting Regional Priorities

Marine planning is a science-based tool that regions can use to address specic ocean management

challenges and advance their economic development and conservation objectives. Marine planningwill support regional actions and decision-making and address regionally determined priorities, based

on the needs, interests, and capacity o a given region. Just as Federal agencies work with States, tribes,

local governments, and users o orests and grasslands, among other areas, marine planning will provide

a more coordinated and responsive Federal presence and the opportunity or all coastal and ocean

interests in a region to share inormation and coordinate activities. This will promote more ecient and

eective decision-making and enhance regional economic, environmental, social, and cultural well-


26/36


being. In turn, regional actions will support national objectives to grow the ocean economy, increase

regulatory eciency and consistency, and reduce adverse impacts to environmentally sensitive areas.

The scope, scale, and content o marine planning will be dened by the regions themselves, to solve

problems that regions care about in ways that refect their unique interests, capacity to participate, and

ways o doing business. Marine planning should build on and complement existing programs, partner-ships, and initiatives. The intent is to ensure that a region can develop an approach that it determines

works best.

This approach balances regional and national interests and recognizes that actions commensurate with

regional interests and capacities will provide the most immediate regional benets. Knowledge and

experience will build over time and contribute to achieving national objectives.

Support marine planning to advance regionally determined economic, social, environ-

mental, and cultural interests. States, tribes, and Regional Fishery Management Councils may

choose to participate on regional planning bodies established in accordance with the National

Ocean Policy Executive Order, this Implementation Plan, and guidance to be released by the

National Ocean Council. State, tribal, and Fishery Management Council participation on regional

planning bodies is voluntary.

Should all States within a region choose not to participate in a regional planning body within their

region, a regional planning body will not be established. Instead, Federal agencies will identiy and

address priority science, inormation, and ocean management issues associated with marine planning as

described in the Executive Order. In doing so, Federal agencies will coordinate with non-Federal partners

and authorities, including States, ederally-recognized tribes and Fishery Management Councils, and

stakeholders, to ensure that Federal actions support and advance both regional and national objectives.

Marine plans produced by regional planning bodies can provide inormation about specic issues,

resources, or areas o interest to better inorm existing management measures. Or, they can describeuture desired conditions and provide inormation and guidance that supports regional action moving

orward. Each region has fexibility to build the elements o its plans over time in response to what the

region wants to accomplish, the resources available to do the work, and the time it will take to learn

what works best in that region. Examples o potential ocus areas or marine planning could include,

but are not limited to:

Developing inormation that acilitates more eective review and permitting among State,

Federal, and tribal authorities or a specic class o activity such as oshore energy inrastructure;

Characterizing environmental conditions and current and anticipated uture uses o marine

space to assist in siting oshore renewable energy; Developing and implementing a plan to acquire data and inormation to support more ecient

management o activities o particular regional interest, such as remote sensing data to support

coastal mapping;

Identiying a specic geographic area and addressing management challenges that would

benet rom multi-government resolution;


27/36


Identiying and developing inormation that better inorms agency or government-to-govern-

ment consultations under the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and

the National Environmental Policy Act that apply to oshore development activities important

to the region; or

Developing maps and inormation that inorm eective co-location o multiple existing andnew ocean uses, such as commercial shing, military training, and new energy inrastructure

development.

Robust stakeholder engagement and public participation are essential to ensure that actions are based

on a ull understanding o the range o interests and interactions that occur in each region. Consultation

with scientists, technical experts, the business community, and those with traditional knowledge is a

oundation o marine planning.

Regional planning bodies are not regulatory bodies and have no independent legal authority to regulate

or otherwise direct Federal, State, tribal, or local government actions. All activities will continue to be

regulated under existing authorities. For example, commercial and recreational shing will continue

to be managed exclusively by the relevant State and Federal sheries managers and Regional Fishery

Management Councils or Commissions.

As an initial action, the National Ocean Council will provide additional guidance to support marine plan-

ning in the regions that choose to move orward through regional planning bodies as described above.


28/36

VI. Science and Information

Scientic and technological advances allow us to better understand our world. Building our knowledge

allows us to respond more appropriately to new challenges, adapt to changing conditions, and takeadvantage o emerging opportunities or the benet o our Nation. Strong science, technology, and

engineering capabilities and inormed people and communities are the oundation or improving

our understanding o the marine environmentrom the coasts to the deep seaand inorming our

decisions about how best to manage the activities that aect the valuable and multiple resources the

marine environment provides.

Sustained scientic research and innovative technologies give us the high-quality inormation we need

to maintain or restore ocean resources, guide development and investment opportunities, saeguard

lives and property rom marine hazards, enhance national security, prepare or and respond to the

impacts o climate change and ocean acidication, improve public health, and protect ocean resources.

Advancing our scientic, technological, and engineering capabilities also increases the Nations com-petitiveness and helps spur the innovation that drives our economy and improves our quality o lie.

Ultimately, success in improving the ways we use and manage ocean resources depends on building

broad public understanding and recognition o the importance o the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes

to our daily lives and the long-term welare o our Nation.

The actions in this section will engage partners and stakeholders to provide signicant, long-term

commitments o scientic, technological, and educational support to address existing priorities and

photo:NOAA


29/36


apply new knowledge to improve our approaches to management and inorm our responsible pursuit

o opportunities. Discoveries and technological advances will provide data and inormation to improve

decision-making and enhance the eectiveness o management actions. A ocus on undamental

research and exploration will ensure continued advances in basic scientic understanding. An inormed

society will enable innovative and eective entrepreneurship and stewardship. Collectively, these actions

will provide inormation and capabilities needed to support economies, improve human well-being,

enhance environmental health, and increase saety and security.

Enhancing Our Understanding o Ocean and Coastal Systems

For the United States to continue to be a global leader in understanding and acting on the connections

between our well-being and the health o the natural environment, we need to continue exploring

and expanding our knowledge o the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Management and policy

decisions must be based in the context sound science provides, through the integration o natural and

social science data, inormation, and knowledge. National Ocean Policy actions will contribute to high-

quality science and ensure that inormation based on that science is made available to guide decisionsand actions. Insight gained rom scientic research, advances in observations, and innovative technolo-

gies will urther enable evaluation o trade-os between alternative management scenarios, enhance

our ability to balance competing demands on ecosystems, and strengthen our Nations economic and

scientic competiveness. At the same time, increasing understanding o the ocean, coasts, and Great

Lakes among our people and communities will empower better-inormed public stewardship o ocean

resources.

Advance undamental scientic knowledge through exploration and research. Through

Federal research and exploration activities and partnerships with non-governmental organiza-

tions, new ocean discoveries will expand our knowledge and understanding o oceanic and

Great Lakes biodiversity, biogeochemical processes, ecosystem services, and climate interac-tions. Agencies will use the Ocean Research Priorities Plan, a document built with input rom the

ocean science and technology community, as a reerence in determining research directions.

They will conduct expeditions in poorly known or unknown regions o the ocean and Great

Lakes. They will also work to incorporate natural, social, and behavioral-science inormation in

decision-support tools, which will enable Federal, State, tribal, regional, and local authorities to

manage ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources more eciently and eectively.

Advance technologies to explore and better understand the complexities o land, ocean,

atmosphere, ice, biological, and social interactions on a global scale. Environmental

observation provides the basis or inorming decision-making. New technologies, including

improved remote sensing systems, and the coordination among agencies needed to developand implement them, are critical to improving our understanding o the underlying physical and

ecological processes driving the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes, as well as to identiying more

ecient means o monitoring these ecosystems. Federal agencies will evaluate how to most

eectively integrate observational data, test and develop ocean sensors and communication

standards, and implement data and modeling techniques to support a global observational

capability to show how observed variables change over time.


30/36


Increase ocean and coastal literacy.Increased public understanding o ocean and coastal

science and the importance o the ocean in how our planet unctions will empower people and

communities to be better stewards o ocean resources and increase awareness o opportunities

related to these resources. It will also increase interest in activities to address the issues acing the

ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.Agencies willcontribute to opportunities or systematic

inclusion o ocean topics and concepts into mainstream K- and inormal education systems.

Agencies will also develop content that incorporates the latest ocean science or use in schools,

aquariums, science centers, National Parks, and other institutions, and conduct demonstration

projects that deliver ocean observing data or schools and other educational opportunities.

Strengthening Our Ability to Acquire Marine Data and Provide

Inormation

Vital to ocean and coastal research and management in the United States is the availability o modern

ships, undersea vehicles, moorings, satellites, laboratories, instruments, and observing systems. Our

ability to send sensors and scientists to sea through these acilities and inrastructure provides criticalinormation or protecting human lives and property rom marine hazards, enhancing saety and security,

understanding and projecting global climate change and ocean acidication, improving ocean health,

and providing or the protection, sustainable use, and enjoyment o ocean resources. Improved science

and technology will help the scientic community orecast changes with greater certainty and provide

guidance or communities, resource managers, and commercial interests alike.

Assess the status o the Federal Oceanographic Fleet to inorm uture planning and

to ensure a more eicient interagency approach to managing the Fleet. The Federal

Oceanographic Fleet is a critical national inrastructure that supports Federal agency and

academic oceanographic operations, surveys, and research across a broad spectrum o needs.

Ships provide access to the sea and Great Lakes and enable us to gather critical inormation thatsupports our responsible use and management o marine resources. Federal agencies will use

the inventory and status report o the Federal Oceanographic Fleet to identiy its capacity to

support a range o requirements nationwide, including in the Arctic, such as data collection and

research, weather and climate, ocean mapping, and the understanding o ocean and seafoor

physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes.

Advance and sustain ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing system inrastructure

to support a variety o users.The hard inrastructure o our ocean observing systems, which

include various sensors and instruments axed to buoys, gliders, piers, sea walls, and other

platorms (e.g., satellites), orm the oundation or a national, integrated observing system

which yields real-time inormation about the marine environment, including meteorologi-

cal, oceanographic, and ecological conditions. Such inormation is o value to many dierent

usersrom commercial and recreational interests to government and academiaon a daily

basis or multiple purposes. Federal agencies will work to advance and sustain the inrastructure

o ocean observing systems, such as the Integrated Ocean Observing System and the Ocean

Observatories Initiative, to ensure their capability, reliability, and longevity in providing valu-

able data and inormation to a growing community o users. Federal agencies will also develop


31/36


a national ocean observation and monitoring plan to address new autonomous underwater

vehicle technologies and sustained monitoring o the water column.

Develop an integrated ocean and coastal data and inormation management system to

support real-time observations. Agencies will coordinate to develop a nationally integrated

inormation management system or our ocean observing systems.We need this systemwithsupporting interagency data management policiesto realize the ull potential and benets

o the Nations investment in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing systems. This eort will

provide easy access to relevant ocean observing data and inormation or research, planning,

and decision support, and will be closely linked with the national marine planning data portal

(ocean.data.gov) and other ocean and coastal data portals and services.

Implement a distributed biological observatory in the Arctic to monitor changes and

improve our understanding o their socioeconomic and ecosystem impacts. The eects

o Arctic changes and human activity on ecosystems and Alaskans who depend on them are

poorly understood. Continued observations are needed to orm a basis o understanding o

the changing processes in the Arctic region. Agencies will continue to develop and deploy adistributed biological observatory, or an array o sites or consistent monitoring o biophysical

responses in the Arctic marine environment, as a component o the integrated Arctic Observing

Network. Regional collaboration and partnerships will increase our capacity to monitor and

assess changing environmental conditions and support improved management o Arctic coastal

and ocean resources.

Improving Science-based Products and Services or Inormed

Decision-Making

High-quality science and inormation are the oundation or the development o new and improved

products and services, including decision-support tools and inormation displays, which can help inorm

the decisions at all levels o government working to protect and sustain our economy and environment.

Federal agencies will pursue the ollowing actions to enable all interests and decision-makers to make

the best-inormed decisions possible.

Improve the science ramework to support decision-making. Implementing ecosystem-

based management will require support rom all available scientic tools and methods (e.g.,

observing, monitoring, synthesizing, hypothesis testing, modeling, predicting, and reporting).

Agencies will identiy gaps in the basic natural and socioeconomic data needed to advance

development and practice o ecosystem-based management, and develop plans to ll them,

and engage partners and stakeholders in development o guidelines and best practices. Provide the high-quality data and tools necessary to support science-based decision-

making and ecosystem-based management. Robust decision-support tools and processes

will provide inormation derived rom natural and social sciences and traditional knowledge

to support timely and eective decision-making. To the degree practicable, these tools and

processes will take advantage o and build upon Federal, State, tribal, regional, and local data
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/ocean.data.govhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/ocean.data.gov


32/36


portals and regional data sharing systems, and be coordinated with other Federal data policies

and initiatives.

Develop and share decision-support tools to identiy coastal land protection and restora-

tion priorities. Developing and sharing decision-support tools will promote better coordination

between Federal agencies and local, State, regional, and tribal entities in identiying protectionand restoration priorities across the coastal landscape. As a pilot project, Federal agencies will

complete the initial build-out o a Chesapeake Bay decision-support tool system and institute

collaborative partnerships within the Bay to support coastal land conservation and restoration

planning.


33/36

VII. Conclusion

This Implementation Plan identies practical, ecient, and responsible actions that Federal agencies will

take to support healthy, productive, and resilient ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters, thriving coastal

communities, and a robust, sae, and secure marine economy. The Plan will strengthen and build on

existing relationships, help orge new partnerships, and enable broad participation rom stakeholders

and the public in decisions that impact the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. Fundamentally, it will pro-vide the science and tools our Nation needs to sustain and enhance the quality o lie or all Americans.

photo:ErnestKoe


34/36

Endnotes

. Throughout the Implementation Plan, the term State includes Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands,

Guam, the Commonwealth o the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

. Tribes reers to Federally-recognized tribes.

. The Implementation Plan is intended to be read in conjunction with Executive Order and

the Final Recommendations o the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, July , .

. NOAA Coastal Services Center. . NOAA Report on the Ocean and Great Lakes Economy o the

United States. http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/_/pd/econreport.pd(accessed February ).

. NOAA National Ocean Service, Special Projects Division, Spatial Trends in Coastal Socioeconomics

(STICS). . http://coastalsocioeconomics.noaa.gov/ (accessed February ), and NOAA Oce o

Program Planning and Integration. . The Ocean and Coastal Economy: A Summary o Statistics.

http://www.ppi.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/coastal-economy-pocket-guide---.pd(accessed February ).

. Ibid.

. Lovell, Sabrina, and Susan Stone. . The Economic Impacts o Aquatic Invasive Species: A

Review o the Literatur

national ocean policy implementation plan

Documents