On 20 April 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy released its preliminary report. It is an ambitious and thorough examination of the oceans' importance to the nation. This is the first comprehensive high-level study of national ocean issues since the Stratton Commission some 35 years ago.
The draft was circulated for comment to state governors and concerned members of the public with a deadline of 4 june. After editing, the final report will be submitted to the President and Congress. The President then will have 90 days to submit an implementation plan to Congress. During this time, he is required to consult on the report with state and local officials and other stakeholders.
Initiative for this study came from Congress, when it passed the Oceans Act of 2000 in June of that year. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in August, it came into effect the following January at the beginning of the George W. Bush administration.
The act created a 16-member commission to undertake an 18-month study of U.S. ocean activities and to recommend a comprehensive national ocean policy for the future. Its mission was to: recommend changes to U.S. laws to improve management, conservation, and use of ocean resources; assess present U.S. ocean-related facilities and technologies; review federal ocean activities to find areas of duplication and overlap, as well as to identify where new programs are needed; review known ocean resources and forecast availability and demand for them; review opportunities for development of ocean products and technologies; and review relationships among federal, state, and local governments with respect to ocean activities planning.
The commissioners elected retired Navy Admiral James D. Watkins as chairman. A former Chief of Naval Operations (1982-86), in 1993-2000 he was the founding president of the very influential Washington-based Consortium for Oceanographie Research and Education.
A comprehensive nationwide investigation and analysis of virtually all U.S. national ocean activities was an essential prerequisite for the formulation of a proposed ocean policy structure. The commission held 15 public meetings and made 17 site visits throughout the country, with 440 experts providing testimony. In addition, numerous written inputs were submitted for compilation and assessment by the commission. The complex work of analysis and formulation of recommendations took considerably lonser than anticioated.
The report makes 198 specific recommendations for the executive and legislative branches of government. Critical actions proposed are: establishment of a National Ocean Council in the executive office of the President; creation of a nonfederal presidential council of advisors on ocean policy; strengthening the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and improving other ocean-related federal agency structures; development of a flexible, voluntary process for creating regional ocean councils, facilitated and supported by the National Ocean Council; doubling U.S. investment in ocean research; implementation of the national Integrated Ocean Observing System; increasing ocean education through effective coordinated programs; strengthening the link between coastal and watershed management; creating measurable water pollution reduction goals, and strengthening incentives, technical assistance, and other management tools to do this; reforming fisheries management by separating scientific assessment and allocation; acceding to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea; paying for these recommendations by establishing an ocean policy trust fund with revenue from offshore energy activity and other new and emerging offshore uses.
Will all this happen? There are serious questions of politics, timing, and funding. The Bush administration does not "own" this initiative. Although it came from bipartisan congressional action, it was Democrat Bill Clinton who signed it into law. The final report will be going to the White House and Congress at the height of the national elections frenzy. Ocean matters never have been hot election issues. Then the 90day implementation report from the President most likely will get to Capitol Hill after the next administration takes office.
The commission's estimate for new investment is $1.2 billion for the first year and $2.4 billion for the second. After that, annual costs stabilize at $3.2 billion. For the government, these are not huge sums, and the ingenious ocean policy trust fund could greatly reduce new demand on the public purse. Nevertheless, current issues of the massive national deficit, financing economic recovery, and two concurrent wars will be obstacles to finding support for the national ocean policy initiative.
To follow the action and read the 551-page draft report see www.oceancommission.gov/.