[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 17, 2009)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 28591-28592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14338]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 115 / Wednesday, June 17, 2009 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 28591]]
Memorandum of June 12, 2009
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments
And Agencies
National Policy for the Oceans, Our Coasts, And the
Great Lakes
The oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide
jobs, food, energy resources, ecological services,
recreation, and tourism opportunities, and play
critical roles in our Nation's transportation, economy,
and trade, as well as the global mobility of our Armed
Forces and the maintenance of international peace and
security. We have a stewardship responsibility to
maintain healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans,
coasts, and Great Lakes resources for the benefit of
this and future generations.
Yet, the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are subject to
substantial pressures and face significant
environmental challenges. Challenges include water
pollution and degraded coastal water quality caused by
industrial and commercial activities both onshore and
offshore, habitat loss, fishing impacts, invasive
species, disease, rising sea levels, and ocean
acidification. Oceans both influence and are affected
by climate change. They not only affect climate
processes but they are also under stress from the
impacts of climate change. Renewable energy, shipping,
and aquaculture are also expected to place growing
demands on ocean and Great Lakes resources. These
resources therefore require protection through the
numerous Federal, State, and local authorities with
responsibility and jurisdiction over the oceans,
coasts, and Great Lakes.
To succeed in protecting the oceans, coasts, and Great
Lakes, the United States needs to act within a unifying
framework under a clear national policy, including a
comprehensive, ecosystem-based framework for the
longterm conservation and use of our resources.
In order to better meet our Nation's stewardship
responsibilities for the oceans, coasts, and Great
Lakes, there is established an Interagency Ocean Policy
Task Force (Task Force), to be led by the Chair of the
Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force shall
be composed of senior policy-level officials from the
executive departments, agencies, and offices
represented on the Committee on Ocean Policy
established by section 3 of Executive Order 13366 of
December 17, 2004. This Task Force is not meant to
duplicate that structure, but rather is intended to be
a temporary entity with the following responsibilities:
1. Within 90 days from the date of this memorandum, the
Task Force shall develop recommendations that include:
a. 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 understanding of
and capacity to respond to climate change, and is
coordinated with our national security and foreign
policy interests. The recommendations should prioritize
upholding our stewardship responsibilities and ensuring
accountability for all of our actions affecting ocean,
coastal, and Great Lakes resources, and be consistent
with international law, including customary
international law as reflected in the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
[[Page 28592]]
b. A United States framework for policy coordination of
efforts to improve stewardship of the oceans, our
coasts, and the Great Lakes. The Task Force should
review the Federal Government's existing policy
coordination framework to ensure integration and
collaboration across jurisdictional lines in meeting
the objectives of a national policy for the oceans, our
coasts, and the Great Lakes. This will include
coordination with the work of the National Security
Council and Homeland Security Council as they formulate
and coordinate policy involving national and homeland
security, including maritime security. The framework
should also address specific recommendations to improve
coordination and collaboration among Federal, State,
tribal, and local authorities, including regional
governance structures.
c. 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.
2. Within 180 days from the date of this memorandum,
the Task Force shall develop, with appropriate public
input, a recommended framework for effective coastal
and marine spatial planning. This framework should be a
comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based approach
that addresses conservation, economic activity, user
conflict, and sustainable use of ocean, coastal, and
Great Lakes resources consistent with international
law, including customary international law as reflected
in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea.
3. The Task Force shall terminate upon the completion
of its duties.
The Task Force's recommendations and frameworks should
be cost effective and improve coordination across
Federal agencies.
This memorandum covers matters involving the oceans,
the Great Lakes, the coasts of the United States
(including its territories and possessions), and
related seabed, subsoil, and living and non-living
resources.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person. Nothing in this memorandum shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions
of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, regulatory, and
legislative proposals.
The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality is
hereby authorized and directed to publish this
memorandum in the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. E9-14338
Filed 6-16-09; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3125-W9-P