INTRODUCTION

Background

In response to the increasing degradation of water quality in the nation's waterways and oceans, the United States Congress in 2000 mandated the first comprehensive review of ocean policy in over 30 years. That review resulted in the 1969 Stratton Commission report and led to the establishment of a legal and regulatory framework for ocean policy. Since then, the growing coastal population and ad hoc governmental approach to environmental problems compelled Congress to create the United States Commission on Ocean Policy (Commission) to make recommendations for a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy. Although the final report was delayed, it was released in September 2004. The report is a result of multiple regional public meetings held by the Commission with input from various federal and state governments, industry, interest groups, the academic community, the international community, and interested citizens. Notably in November 2001, just as the Commission was beginning its public meetings, it unanimously passed a one-sentence resolution urging the United States to accede immediately to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

As discussed in this chapter, the Commission's overall recommendation was to move quickly toward an ecosystem-based management approach to water quality. Achievement of this goal requires the creation of a National Ocean Council (NOC), composed of all cabinet secretaries and directors of federal agencies with ocean and coastal responsibilities, to advise the President regarding the national coordination of ocean policies.