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U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - Joint Ocean Commission Initiative

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Chapter 5: Advancing a Regi<strong>on</strong>al ApproachRecommendati<strong>on</strong> 5–1The Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong> Council should work with C<strong>on</strong>gress, the President’s Council of Advisors<strong>on</strong> <strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>Policy</strong>, and state, territorial, tribal, and local leaders, including representatives fromthe private sector, n<strong>on</strong>governmental organizati<strong>on</strong>s, and academia, to develop a flexible andvoluntary process for the creati<strong>on</strong> of regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean councils. States, working with relevantstakeholders, should use this process to establish regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean councils, with support fromthe Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong> Council.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 5–2The President, through an executive order, should direct all federal agencies with ocean- andcoastal-related functi<strong>on</strong>s to immediately improve their regi<strong>on</strong>al coordinati<strong>on</strong> and increasetheir outreach efforts to regi<strong>on</strong>al stakeholders.To initiate this process, NOAA, EPA, USACE, DOI, and USDA should:• collaborate with regi<strong>on</strong>al, state, territorial, tribal, and local governments, and n<strong>on</strong>governmentalparties to identify regi<strong>on</strong>al priorities and informati<strong>on</strong> needs.• identify inc<strong>on</strong>sistencies in agency mandates, policies, regulati<strong>on</strong>s, practices, or fundingthat prevent regi<strong>on</strong>al issues from being effectively addressed and communicate these tothe Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong> Council.• improve coordinati<strong>on</strong> and communicati<strong>on</strong> am<strong>on</strong>g agencies, including the possibledevelopment of interagency protocols to guide regi<strong>on</strong>al decisi<strong>on</strong> making.• coordinate funding and grants in a manner c<strong>on</strong>sistent with regi<strong>on</strong>al priorities.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 5–3The President should form a task force of federal resource management agencies to developa proposal for adopti<strong>on</strong> and implementati<strong>on</strong> of comm<strong>on</strong> federal regi<strong>on</strong>al boundaries. Thetask force should solicit input from state, territorial, tribal, and local representatives.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 5–4Pending the creati<strong>on</strong> of a regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean council, the governors in each regi<strong>on</strong> should selecta suitable entity to operate a regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean informati<strong>on</strong> program that carries out research,data collecti<strong>on</strong>, informati<strong>on</strong> product development, and outreach based <strong>on</strong> the needs andpriorities of ocean and coastal decisi<strong>on</strong> makers.The entity assigned to carry out the regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean informati<strong>on</strong> program should:• include representati<strong>on</strong> from federal agencies, state, territorial, tribal, and local decisi<strong>on</strong>makers, scientists, as well as experts in informati<strong>on</strong> exchange and outreach.• communicate regi<strong>on</strong>al research and informati<strong>on</strong> priorities to federal agencies and otherswith ocean and coastal resp<strong>on</strong>sibilities to help guide their programs.• maintain str<strong>on</strong>g links with the regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean observing systems to help them fulfillregi<strong>on</strong>al data collecti<strong>on</strong> requirements while adhering to nati<strong>on</strong>al Integrated <strong>Ocean</strong>Observing System requirements.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 5–5The Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong>ic and Atmospheric Administrati<strong>on</strong> (NOAA) and the U.S. Envir<strong>on</strong>mentalProtecti<strong>on</strong> Agency (EPA), working with other appropriate federal and regi<strong>on</strong>al entities, shouldcoordinate the development of regi<strong>on</strong>al ecosystem assessments, to be updated periodically.As part of this process, NOAA and EPA should:• incorporate data and informati<strong>on</strong> developed at the state and local levels, includingresource assessments developed by state coastal management programs.• coordinate with the organizati<strong>on</strong> resp<strong>on</strong>sible for improving regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean informati<strong>on</strong>collecti<strong>on</strong> and disseminati<strong>on</strong> activities to make optimum use of regi<strong>on</strong>al informati<strong>on</strong>.• collaborate closely with regi<strong>on</strong>al ocean councils.CHAPTER 31: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS483

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