Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan; Public Comment Period; Webinar and Public Open House Sessions [46 Pa.B. 3880]
[Saturday, July 16, 2016]The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is publishing this notice on behalf of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RPB) regarding a draft Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan (Plan). MARCO and the RPB are conducting a variety of public participation opportunities for the draft Plan, which was prepared by the RPB. The RPB is a group of state and Federal agencies, Federally-recognized tribes and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council working collaboratively on ocean planning.
Authority for this planning process was set forth in 2010 by Presidential Executive Order 13547, Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, which established a National Ocean Policy (NOP) to guide the protection, maintenance and restoration of the United States' oceans and coasts. The NOP calls for the creation of RPBs to coordinate and implement regional ocean planning with state, Federal, tribal and fishery management council representatives. Accordingly, the Mid-Atlantic RPB was formally established in April 2013. The Commonwealth participates with Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York in this collaborative ocean-planning effort.
The public comment period for the Plan opened July 6, 2016, as published at 81 FR 44040 (July 6, 2016) and will remain open through September 6, 2016. It is important to note that the Department is not collecting comments on the Plan but is posting this notice on behalf of MARCO and the RPB. Stakeholders are encouraged to provide comments directly to the RPB by e-mail at MidAtlanticRPB@boem.gov.
In addition, MARCO and the RPB will conduct a series of open house sessions during summer 2016 to engage stakeholders in understanding how Mid-Atlantic ocean resources are currently being used, managed and conserved, and to establish a broad vision that will guide the actions that need to be taken to address shared regional priorities. Prior to the start of these sessions, the draft Plan will be available at http://www.boem.gov/MidA-New/. Dates and locations for these open house sessions can be found on MARCO's web site at http://midatlanticocean.org/event-calendar/action~month/exact_date~1467345600/request_format~html/.
For more information, contact Arlo Hemphill, MARCO Communications Director at (202) 746-3484.
At the completion of public participation, the Plan will be reviewed by all participating agencies with a goal of completing Plan review by mid-September 2016. If approved, the Plan will be submitted to the National Ocean Council for approval by December 31, 2016.
PATRICK McDONNELL,
Acting Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-1216. Filed for public inspection July 15, 2016, 9:00 a.m.]
