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August
12, 2002
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an
online newsletter for and by NOAA employees
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by David Kaiser Photos by Bill Millhouser NOAA's National Ocean Service's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) has been holding regional workshops on the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) Federal Consistency requirement for coastal states, territories and federal agencies. Local government, industry, and environmental organization representatives have also participated. The workshops have been well attended and participants have noted how useful they are. The CZMA, enacted in 1972, is a unique and important program for the protection and development of the nation's coastal and ocean areas. The CZMA is administered by OCRM and is a key coastal and ocean management responsibility of NOAA. Under the CZMA, coastal states (including Great Lake States) and territories may develop comprehensive programs that manage the nation's coastal resources and balance the many uses of these resources. Of the 35 eligible coastal states and territories, 33 have coastal management programs approved by NOAA. Indiana will soon have an approved program and the last state, Illinois, is considering a program. Once a program is approved by NOAA, the state or territory receives annual implementing funds from NOAA and any activity proposed by a Federal agency that will affect any land or water use or natural resource of a state's or territory's coastal zone must be consistent to the maximum extent practicable with the state or territory program approved by NOAA. Non-federal applicants for federal approval or funding must be fully consistent with the NOAA-approved state or territory program. This requirement that federal actions be consistent with state and territory coastal management programs is called "Federal Consistency."  OCRM's David Kaiser discusses CZMA issues with state and federal agency staff from Hawaii and American Samoa.  Following the Guam workshop, coastal zone management issues were discussed with representatives from Guam, Navy and Army Corps of Engineers. NOAA's David Kaiser (far right) and Jonathan Kelsey (second from left), led the workshop. NOAA's Catherine Lewers (top, left) also participated. The purposes of the workshops are to help state, territory and federal agencies efficiently and effectively implement their programs by educating personnel on the CZMA and NOAA's Federal Consistency regulations (NOAA revised the regulations in December 2000), learning about each others' programs, and establishing new personal and professional relationships. So far, a total of 410 people have attended the workshops. The workshops have been conducted at: Bristol, Rhode Island (Northeast States), Silver Spring, Maryland (Mid Atlantic States), Minneapolis, Minnesota (Great Lakes States), Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska, Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii and American Samoa), and Guam (Guam and Northern Marianas Islands). Workshops are planned this fall for the Gulf & Caribbean (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), the Southeast States (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia), the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon), and California. During these trips, OCRM, the states and territories and the federal agencies also use the opportunity to discuss specific issues outside of the workshops. For example, after the Bristol workshop, NOAA met with the regional office of NOAA Fisheries to discuss several coordination issues with the states. In Anchorage, NOAA met with the state and the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service to discuss offshore oil and gas development. In Juneau, NOAA met with the state and U.S. Forest Service to discuss ways to improve the Memorandum of Understanding between the state and Forest Service. In Guam, the Navy, the Corps of Engineers, Guam and NOAA discussed proposed plans to dredge the Navy's channel. Feedback from participants on many levels has been excellent. For more details, please contact David Kaiser david.kaiser@noaa.gov. |
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