US President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing an interagency Ocean Policy Committee, which will replace the National Ocean Council and nine regional planning bodies that President Barack Obama established in 2010. The June 19 action will establish more-streamlined federal coordination and empower states by eliminating duplicative federal bureaucracy, the White House said.
Seven US House Natural Resources Committee Democrats immediately asked Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) for a hearing on what Ranking Minority Member Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said was a destructive cancellation of many portions in a successful program.
“President Trump is unilaterally throwing out many components of the [National Ocean Policy] and the decades of work and input from Congress, two previous administrations, policy experts, and the American public that went into its creation,” Grijalva and the six other committee Democrats told Bishop in their June 19 letter.
Reps. Nanette Barragan, Jim Costa, Jared Huffman, and Alan Lowenthal, all from California; Rep. Don Beyer (Va.); and Del. Madeleine Bordallo (Guam) also signed the letter.
National Ocean Industries Association Pres. Randall B. Luthi welcomed Trump’s action, which he said addressed both Obama’s NOP and its associated Marine Spatial Planning Initiative “which caused consternation, uncertainty, and concern for the offshore energy industry and other ocean stakeholders.”
The offshore oil and gas industry and many others largely viewed the MSP initiative as an uber-bureaucratic “solution” to a government-imposed problem, Luthi said. In addition, not all stakeholders and activities were treated equally in the zoning process, he said.
Luthi noted, “This renewed broad vision will hopefully encourage productive partnerships, recognizing a wide variety of ocean uses, all leading to increased economic, environmental, and energy security for America through job creation, economic activity, and energy development.
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