US law to establish policy on the oceans
The Oceans Act of 2000 established the United States Commission on Ocean Policy, a working group tasked with the development of what would be known as the National Oceans Report.
The objective of the report is to promote the following:
- Protection of life and property;
- Stewardship of ocean and coastal resources;
- Protection of marine environment and prevention of marine pollution;
- Enhancement of maritime commerce;
- Expansion of human knowledge of the marine environment;
- Investments in technologies to promote energy and food security;
- Close cooperation among government agencies; and
- U.S. leadership in ocean and coastal activities.
Responses from the executive branch to the commission's report are listed in a National Ocean Policy, sent to the legislative branch.
The act was passed by the United States Congress on July 25, 2000 and signed by the President a fortnight later.
The Commission
- Has 16 members
- U.S. House and U.S. Senate Majority nominate 8 people each and the U.S. President appoints 4 from each list
- U.S. House and U.S. Senate Minority nominates 4 people each and the U.S. President appoints 2 from each
- 4 people self-determined by U.S. President
Chair: supervises commission staff and regulates funding.
Members must be "balanced by area of expertise and balanced geographically".
To be eligible, members must be "Representatives, knowledgeable in ocean and coastal activities, from state and local governments, ocean-related industries, academic and technical institutions, and public interest organizations involved with scientific, regulatory, economic, and environmental ocean and coastal activities." (https://web.archive.org/web/20060207190735/http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/oceanact.html)
The Commission's report is required to include the following, as relevant to U.S. ocean and coastal activities:
- an assessment of facilities (people, vessels, computers, satellites)
- a review of federal activities
- a review of the cumulative effect of federal laws
- a review of the supply and demand for ocean and coastal resources
- a review of the relationships between federal, state, and local governments, and the private sector
- a review of the opportunities for the investment in new products and technologies
- recommendations for modifications to federal laws and/or the structure of federal agencies
- a review of the effectiveness of existing federal interagency policy coordination
The Commission is to give equal consideration to environmental, technical feasibility, economic, and scientific factors. In addition, the recommendations may not be specific to the lands or waters within a single state.
Meetings
The Commission is required to hold public meetings. The Commission must hold at least one meeting in each of 6 specified areas around the country. Meetings must be advertised in the U.S. Federal Register.
Committees
The bill has been referred to the following committees:
Amendments
S.Amdt. 3620 by U.S. Sen. Hollings [D-SC]
- To establish a Commission on Ocean Policy, and for other purposes.
- Proposed: June 26, 2000.
- Accepted: June 26, 2000.
Funding
The Act provides for $8.5 million for the Commission.
In 1999, $3.5 million was appropriated for the same effort, but never used. Therefore, only $2.5 million would need to be accumulated to completely cover the cost of this act.
Biennial Report
A biennial report must be submitted by the U.S. President to Congress of all federal programs incorporated with coastal and ocean activities. This was set to begin in September 2001.
The report must include:
- a description of each program
- the current level of funding for the program
- linkages to other federal programs
- a projection of the funding level for the program for each of the next 5 fiscal years
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