U.S. ocean usage policies headline next session

Addressing plans being made by the Obama Administration to control usage of coastal waterways and inland channels, Jack Belcher, managing director for the National Ocean Policy Coalition, intends to inform the South Central Industrial Association of its options at Tuesday’s membership meeting.

“There is a process under way with the Obama Administration developing national ocean policy through the National Ocean Council,” Belcher said in preparation for his visit to Houma. “The goal [of President Obama] is to create a policy that coordinates between federal agencies to avoid conflict on the oceans. There is a tool that they are employing called coastal marine special planning.”

Belcher explained that the president’s council wants to determine which activities would be permitted to take place and where that might occur on the open seas. Members of the National Ocean Policy Coalition are working to make sure the Obama policy is not developed in such a manner that it would create no go areas and restrict usage of the waters and natural resources by blocking both fishing and petroleum exploration and production.

“What we are concerned about is that they are going to zone the oceans and that it will make it harder for certain activities to take place,” Belcher said. “They [want] to create these regional planning bodies that are appointed by the White House,” Belcher said.

If that zoning effort takes place, this energy and government policy expert warned, states could be hampered by regional bodies that would in essence become politicized organizations fighting states rights and the free market.

“What we are doing is spreading the word about this policy to make sure organizations [and] communities that depend on activity in the ocean and coastal areas are aware of this process and they are weighing in to avoid policies that could prohibit fishing in certain areas and make it more difficult for oil and gas activities, and shipping,” Belcher said.

As a marine industrial watchdog, the NOPC said that a lot of the meat is contained in a Strategic Action Plan released on Jan. 24 by the National Ocean Council as the National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean Coasts and Great Lakes.

Objectives in this plan, according to a release from the NOPC, include Ecosystem management, marine and coastal special planning, coordination of federal agencies with state and tribal bodies, adaptation of climate change and ocean acidification, ecosystem and water quality protections, and coastal mapping.

Belcher said these objectives seem reasonable on the surface, but the “devil is in the details.”

“A lot has not been revealed as to what they are planning to do. They are trying to do this without statutory changes, but there are 20-plus statutes that are at play here and various activities that take place in the oceans,” Belcher said.

Confusion surrounds which agencies would be in charge of what regulations under the president’s plan and a concern of overlapping jurisdictions is an added issue for NOPC members.

“This is taking place by administrative process. So there is a big question about the impact on statutory changes and the states’ role in all this. What they are essentially doing is creating a regional planning body that would not only impact what takes place in federal waters, but also in coastal areas. They even go so far as to say they would also consider making decisions for activities that do not take place in the ocean, but impact oceans. Like intercoastal routes and watersheds,” Belcher said.

While Belcher said that a coordinated effort among federal and state agencies regarding what takes place in the ocean can be good, there is a question as to if this effort is a power grab by the federal government to create organizations about what states and companies can do and where they can do it.

Belcher said that while there are on occasion issues that arise between industries such as oil and commercial fishing, those matters are often settled without federal intervention.

“That’s frightening,” Belcher said. “We want to insure we are not going to have an outcome that will make it more difficult for all of us. The big question is, ‘Why do we need this?’ Everybody has a major concern here.”

In addition to directing the NOPC, Belcher is a partner with EnergyNorthAmerica, a former staff director for the U.S. House of Representatives sub-committee on energy and mineral resources, and a past manager of government and regulation policy with Shell.

The SCIA membership meeting will be held at the Marriott Courtyard in Houma between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.