Water Log 20.3

Richard J. McLaughlin, J.D., LL.M., J.S.D.

The year 2000 has been an eventful year for the marine law and policy community. For over a decade, the community has supported the establishment of a national blue-ribbon commission to make recommendations for a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy. This year, that effort culminated in the creation of two ocean commissions.

 The Pew Foundation, which has supported a wide variety of ocean and coastal conservation projects over the years, has contributed 3.5 million dollars to create the Pew Oceans Commission. The bipartisan Commission will be co-chaired by Governor Christie Todd Whitman of New Jersey and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. Other members of the Commission will be made up principally of highly respected government officials, and leaders from the science, business, and conservation communities.
 The Commission will assess the condition of America's oceans and living marine resources and set priorities to protect and manage them for future generations. Regional hearings on specific topics will be held during the next year and a half and final recommendations will be presented to Congress in January 2002. Included among the issues that will be examined are ocean pollution, unintended fishing impacts, adverse impacts of coastal development, climate change, aquaculture, and invasive species.

 In August, four months after the Pew Commission was established, President Clinton signed the Oceans Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-256) creating the Commission on Ocean Policy. The purpose of this Commission is to examine all aspects of the utilization, conservation, and governance of the nation's ocean and coastal regions. Specific recommendations will be developed to promote protections from marine hazards, stewardship of fisheries resources, prevention of marine pollution, enhancement of marine transportation, expansion of marine scientific research, improvement in efficiencies of marine technologies, and creation of a more coordinated and coherent coastal and ocean governance system.

 The Commission will be composed of sixteen members appointed by the President. Four members will be appointed from nominees put forward by the Majority Leader of the Senate, four from nominees selected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; two shall be appointed from nominees of the Minority Leader of the Senate, and two from nominees of the Minority Leader of the House. The President has the authority to appoint the remaining four members.
 Regional meetings open to the public will be held in the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and Gulf of Mexico. Within eighteen months after the establishment of the Commission, a final report of findings and recommendations will be submitted to Congress and the President. Within 120 days after receiving the report, the President is required to submit to Congress a statement of proposals to implement or respond to the Commission's recommendations. However, nothing in the Act authorizes the President to take any administrative or regulatory action as a result of the report in the absence of Congressional mandate. Moreover, the President made it clear in his statement upon signing the Act that he interprets his Constitutional authority to allow him to also present his own recommendations as well as decline to offer any recommendation.

 Modeled, to some extent, after the well known and highly successful Stratton Commission created in 1966, the new Commission is hoping to have an equally strong influence over the development of ocean policy in the new century. The Stratton Commission's final report in 1969, The Nation and the Sea, spurred Congress to introduce a series of bills leading to the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as well as passage of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, which continues to serve as the foundation of the nation's coastal and ocean governance efforts.
 Prior to the enactment of the Oceans Act of 2000, the Pew Foundation's Ocean Commission was viewed as the primary vehicle to gather information and promote reforms of existing federal coastal and ocean policies. In light of the new nationally-mandated and Congressionally-sponsored Commission on Ocean Policy, it is likely that the privately-funded Pew Commission will unfortunately be relegated to a subsidiary role in the ocean planning effort. Such an outcome would be a shame. Both efforts can only enhance the gathering of information and serve to increase public awareness of threats to our ocean and coastal areas. As long as the two Commissions collaborate to avoid as much unnecessary duplication of effort as possible, the nation's citizens will clearly benefit from the insights and expertise offered by both groups.

 The growing number of new voices that will engage in the debate over national ocean policy during the next two years is a welcome change after years of political neglect. We can only hope that the President and Congress will act boldly on the resulting recommendations to better meet the nation's current and future needs in the new century.