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

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• work with the Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong> Council to review other relevant agency programs andsuggest areas where coordinati<strong>on</strong> could be improved.• transfer new technologies into management programs that protect human health andthe health of ocean and coastal ecosystems.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 23–5The Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong>ic and Atmospheric Administrati<strong>on</strong>, Envir<strong>on</strong>mental Protecti<strong>on</strong> Agency,and Food and Drug Administrati<strong>on</strong>, working with state and local managers, should fullyimplement all existing programs to protect human health from c<strong>on</strong>taminated seafood andcoastal waters.Particularly, the federal agencies should:• incorporate new findings and technologies, especially those developed within the <strong>Ocean</strong>sand Human Health <strong>Initiative</strong>, into m<strong>on</strong>itoring and preventi<strong>on</strong> programs.• coordinate and increase interagency public educati<strong>on</strong> and outreach efforts in this area.Chapter 24: Managing Offshore Energy and Other Mineral ResourcesRecommendati<strong>on</strong> 24–1C<strong>on</strong>gress should use a porti<strong>on</strong> of the revenues the federal government receives from theleasing and extracti<strong>on</strong> of outer C<strong>on</strong>tinental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas to provide grants to allcoastal states that can be invested in the c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> and sustainable development ofrenewable ocean and coastal resources. States off whose coasts OCS oil and gas is producedshould receive a larger share of such revenue to compensate them for the costs of addressingthe envir<strong>on</strong>mental and socioec<strong>on</strong>omic impacts of energy activity in adjacent federal waters.N<strong>on</strong>e of the programs that currently receive revenues from OCS oil and gas activities shouldbe adversely affected by this new allocati<strong>on</strong>.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 24–2The U.S. Department of the Interior should expand the Minerals Management Service’sEnvir<strong>on</strong>mental Studies Program.Priorities for the enhanced Envir<strong>on</strong>mental Studies Program should include:• c<strong>on</strong>ducting l<strong>on</strong>g-term envir<strong>on</strong>mental research and m<strong>on</strong>itoring at appropriate outerC<strong>on</strong>tinental Shelf (OCS) sites to better understand cumulative, low-level, and chr<strong>on</strong>icimpacts of OCS oil and gas activities <strong>on</strong> the natural and human envir<strong>on</strong>ments.• working with state envir<strong>on</strong>mental agencies and industry to evaluate the risks to themarine envir<strong>on</strong>ment posed by aging offshore and <strong>on</strong>shore pipelines, particularly in theGulf of Mexico.Recommendati<strong>on</strong> 24–3<strong>Ocean</strong>.US, working with the Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Ocean</strong>ic and Atmospheric Administrati<strong>on</strong> (NOAA) andMinerals Management Service (MMS), should include the offshore oil and gas industry as anintegral partner in the design, implementati<strong>on</strong>, and operati<strong>on</strong> of the Integrated <strong>Ocean</strong>Observing System (IOOS), especially in areas where offshore oil and gas activities occur.Specifically, <strong>Ocean</strong>.US, NOAA, and MMS should work with the oil and gas industry to:• employ industry resources, such as pipelines, platforms, and vessels as part of the IOOS.• incorporate n<strong>on</strong>proprietary data into IOOS informati<strong>on</strong>al products and larger envir<strong>on</strong>mentaldatabases, while protecting the security of proprietary data and meeting othersafety, envir<strong>on</strong>mental, and ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>cerns.CHAPTER 31: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS513

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