Council on Environmental Quality January 18, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 19, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13547 establishing a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes (National Ocean Policy). As part of the President's charge for Federal agencies to implement the National Ocean Policy, the National Ocean Council developed actions to achieve the Policy's nine priority objectives, and to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Collectively, the actions are encompassed in a single draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan (Implementation Plan). The draft Implementation Plan describes more than 50 actions the Federal Government will take to improve the health of the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes, which support tens of millions of jobs, contribute trillions of dollars a year to the national economy, and are essential to public health and national security. The draft Implementation Plan will ensure the Federal Government targets limited resources more effectively to deliver demonstrable results for the American people, including predictability for users, more efficient and coordinated decision-making, and improved sharing of data and technology. For each action, the Implementation Plan outlines key milestones, identifies responsible agencies, and indicates the expected timeframe for completion. Experts from the National Ocean Council's member departments, agencies, and offices developed the actions in the draft Implementation Plan with significant input from national, regional, and local stakeholders and the general public. The development process included public comment periods from January through April 2011 and June through July 2011, and 12 regional listening sessions around the country. Next, public comments on the draft Implementation Plan will inform the preparation of the final plan. We welcome your general input, and also pose the following questions: Does the draft Implementation Plan reflect actions you see are needed to address the nine priorities for the ocean, coasts, and the Great lakes? What is the most effective way to measure outcomes and to detect whether a particular action in the Implementation Plan has achieved its intended outcome? Would a report card format be useful? Comments received will be collated and posted on the National Ocean Council Web site. The final Implementation Plan is expected in the spring of 2012.