President Obama has issued an Executive Order that creates the nation’s first comprehensive national policy to govern the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes. This landmark effort seeks to provide a comprehensive structure for managing multiple uses in the ocean, ranging from oil and gas extraction and exploration to recreation and much more.
Prior to this new National Ocean Policy, the United States had a regulatory jumble of more than 140 different and often conflicting laws pertaining to ocean management, all of which were overseen by more than 20 separate agencies. What this new policy enables is well-thought-out interaction with the ocean, allowing us to protect sensitive ecosystems while still providing avenues for fishing, shipping and developing renewable energy in ways that minimize the impacts on the environment.
The President’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force developed this policy after more than a year of holding hearings, gathering public input and finding coordinated ways for ensuring the protection, maintenance and restoration of the U.S. ocean, coasts and Great Lakes.