Presidential Documents

28591 

Federal Register 

Vol. 74, No. 115 

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 

Title 3— 

The President 

Memorandum of June 12, 2009 

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments And 

Agencies 

National Policy for the Oceans, Our Coasts, And the Great Lakes 

The oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide jobs, food, energy 

resources, ecological services, recreation, and tourism opportunities, and 

play critical roles in our Nation’s transportation, economy, and trade, as 

well as the global mobility of our Armed Forces and the maintenance of 

international peace and security. We have a stewardship responsibility to 

maintain healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes 

resources for the benefit of this and future generations. 

Yet, the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are subject to substantial pressures 

and face significant environmental challenges. Challenges include water pollution and degraded coastal water quality caused by industrial and commercial activities both onshore and offshore, habitat loss, fishing impacts, 

invasive species, disease, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification. Oceans 

both influence and are affected by climate change. They not only affect 

climate processes but they are also under stress from the impacts of climate 

change. Renewable energy, shipping, and aquaculture are also expected to 

place growing demands on ocean and Great Lakes resources. These resources 

therefore require protection through the numerous Federal, State, and local 

authorities with responsibility and jurisdiction over the oceans, coasts, and 

Great Lakes. 

To succeed in protecting the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes, the United 

States needs to act within a unifying framework under a clear national 

policy, including a comprehensive, ecosystem-based framework for the 

longterm conservation and use of our resources. 

In order to better meet our Nation’s stewardship responsibilities for the 

oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes, there is established an Interagency Ocean 

Policy Task Force (Task Force), to be led by the Chair of the Council 

on Environmental Quality. The Task Force shall be composed of senior 

policy-level officials from the executive departments, agencies, and offices 

represented on the Committee on Ocean Policy established by section 3 

of Executive Order 13366 of December 17, 2004. This Task Force is not 

meant to duplicate that structure, but rather is intended to be a temporary 

entity with the following responsibilities: 

1. Within 90 days from the date of this memorandum, the Task Force 

shall develop recommendations that include: 

a. A national policy that ensures the protection, maintenance, and restoration 

of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, 

enhances the sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserves our 

maritime heritage, provides for adaptive management to enhance our understanding of and capacity to respond to climate change, and is coordinated 

with our national security and foreign policy interests. The recommendations 

should prioritize upholding our stewardship responsibilities and ensuring 

accountability for all of our actions affecting ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes 

resources, and be consistent with international law, including customary 

international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on 

the Law of the Sea. 


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28592 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 115 / Wednesday, June 17, 2009 / Presidential Documents 

b. A United States framework for policy coordination of efforts to improve 

stewardship of the oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. The Task Force 

should review the Federal Government’s existing policy coordination framework to ensure integration and collaboration across jurisdictional lines in 

meeting the objectives of a national policy for the oceans, our coasts, and 

the Great Lakes. This will include coordination with the work of the National 

Security Council and Homeland Security Council as they formulate and 

coordinate policy involving national and homeland security, including maritime security. The framework should also address specific recommendations 

to improve coordination and collaboration among Federal, State, tribal, and 

local authorities, including regional governance structures. 

c. An implementation strategy that identifies and prioritizes a set of objectives 

the United States should pursue to meet the objectives of a national policy 

for the oceans, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. 

2. Within 180 days from the date of this memorandum, the Task Force 

shall develop, with appropriate public input, a recommended framework 

for effective coastal and marine spatial planning. This framework should 

be a comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based approach that addresses 

conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of ocean, 

coastal, and Great Lakes resources consistent with international law, including customary international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations 

Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

3. The Task Force shall terminate upon the completion of its duties. 

The Task Force’s recommendations and frameworks should be cost effective 

and improve coordination across Federal agencies. 

This memorandum covers matters involving the oceans, the Great Lakes, 

the coasts of the United States (including its territories and possessions), 

and related seabed, subsoil, and living and non-living resources. 

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 

party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of 

the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, 

administrative, regulatory, and legislative proposals. 

The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality is hereby authorized 

and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

[FR Doc. E9–14338 

Filed 6–16–09; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3125–W9–P 


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