Almost three years ago, I reported that the White House Council on Environmental Quality had issued the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Since that time, the Nation Ocean Council, formed by President Obama in Executive Order 13547, has been working diligently to prepare an agency roadmap to put the new National Ocean Policy into action.
On April 16, 2013, the National Ocean Council did just that when it published the National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan (the “Implementation Plan”). The Implementation Plan represents a significant step forward for the National Ocean Policy, and marine industries should be aware that the new interagency processes and actions it mandates – while not new law – may result in additional hurdles despite its express intent to streamline regulatory processes. For a more detailed summary of the Implementation Plan, take a look at the Ocean Law Alert we published earlier this week and feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.