Sec. 1201. Findings; sense of Congress; purposes

445 words·~2 min read·/bill/116/hr/8632/ih/section-1201

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Congress makes the following findings: The ocean and coastal waters of the United States are foundational to the economy, security, global competitiveness, and well-being of the United States and continuously serve the people of the United States and other countries as an important source of food, energy, economic productivity, recreation, culture, beauty, and enjoyment. Over many years, the resource productivity and water quality of the ocean and coastal areas of the United States have been diminished by pollution, increasing population demands, economic development, and natural and man-made hazard events, both acute and chronic.

Ocean and coastal areas of the United States are managed by State and Federal resource agencies and regulated on an interstate and regional scale by various overlapping Federal authorities, thereby creating a significant need for interstate coordination to enhance regional priorities, including the ecological and economic health of those areas. Regional Ocean Partnerships, established by coastal states working in close coordination with Federal agencies, regional fisheries managers, and Tribal governments, help coordinate interstate responses to critical ocean issues that extend beyond individual State boundaries.

Regional Ocean Partnerships have improved understanding of climate change’s impact on fish and shellfish populations, have invested in identifying indicators of ocean health and addressing coastal mitigation, and have played leading roles in the creation and upkeep of regional ocean data portals that allow for improved understanding of ocean use synergies and trade-offs. Regional Ocean Partnerships engage in coordinated efforts to protect and enhance the health of living resources and engage the public in stewardship of ocean and coastal areas.

The coordination offered by Regional Ocean Partnerships is particularly critical in the era of climate change, with coastal and ocean resources under threat and as demand for offshore resources increases. The purposes of this subtitle are as follows: To complement and expand cooperative voluntary efforts intended to manage and restore ocean and coastal areas spanning across multiple State boundaries. To expand Federal support for monitoring, data management, and restoration activities in ocean and coastal areas.

To commit the United States to a comprehensive cooperative program to achieve improved water quality in, and improvements in the productivity of living resources of, all coastal ecosystems. To authorize Regional Ocean Partnerships as intergovernmental coordinators for shared interstate and regional priorities relating to the collaborative management of the large marine ecosystems, thereby reducing duplication of efforts and maximizing opportunities to leverage support in the ocean and coastal regions.

To enable Regional Ocean Partnerships, or designated fiscal management entities of such partnerships, to receive Federal funding to conduct the scientific research, conservation and restoration activities, and priority coordination on shared regional priorities necessary to achieve the purposes described in paragraphs

(1)through (4).