Ocean and Coastal Management Law in a Nutshell
Authors:
Christie, Donna R. / Telesetsky, Anastasia
Edition:
5th
Copyright Date:
2019
21 chapters
have results for Oil and Gas
Chapter V Ocean Energy and Marine Minerals Management 112 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Increased attention to minerals mining of the OCS during the 1980s brought an increased awareness of the lack of comprehensive legislation or policy in the area. The OCSLA includes comprehensive authority for leasing and development of OCS lands for oil, gas, and sulfur exploitation. But only one sentence in the entire Act, section 8(k), mentions the leasing of “any mineral other than oil, gas, and sulphur.” . The extensive statutory framework that is in place for OCS oil and gas development does not exist for hard minerals mining. The major 1978 amendments to the OCSLA that provide for environmental protections, state participation in the leasing process, and state coastal plan consistency are specifically applicable only to oil and gas leases.
- Because oil and gas development on the OCS can cause direct user conflicts with fishermen, as well as the potential for destruction of fisheries resources by pollution, lease sales have also been challenged for the potential effects on fisheries resources. As a general proposition, a majority of states have taken a policy position that renewable resource development, such as fisheries, should be favored over nonrenewable resource development. States and environmentalists have also argued that the express language of the OCSLA requires that oil and gas development may only be conducted if there is no harm to fisheries. The OCSLA provides that the Act be “construed in such a manner that the character of the waters above the Outer Continental Shelf as high seas and the right to navigation and fishing therein shall not be affected.” , the federal court of appeals rejected an interpretation of this section that imposed an absolute priority for fisheries over oil and gas development....
- In the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico planning areas, however, the high level of oil and gas development has led to a repetitive and duplicative process, prone to shortcuts, with little or no new review of impacts to the environment or endangered and threatened species. In 2002 and 2006–2007, the MMS (the predecessor of BOEM) engaged in ESA consultations with the NMFS on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities. In 2007, NMFS issued a biological opinion (BiOp) that the proposed activities would not jeopardize any listed species or adversely modify critical habitat. The BiOp required only two “reasonable and prudent alternatives,” both directed toward minimizing sea turtle strikes. Because of the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BOEM requested NMFS to reinitiate the ESA consultation in mid-2010. BOEM submitted a new biological assessment to NMFS in 2013. By the conclusion of ...because of unreasonable delay in issuing the BiOp), however, a new BiOp for Gulf of Mexico oil...
- The first “overhaul” of the OCSLA did not occur, however, until the 1978 amendments. Importantly, oil and gas leases became subject to subsequently-enacted OCSLA regulations. The amendments also established criteria for suspension and cancellation of leases, incorporated environmental safeguards, and created a role for coastal states in OCS planning and development.
- Oil and Gas Development on the Outer Continental Shelf
- Open Chapter
Chapter XII The Future of United States Ocean and Coastal Policy in a Changing Climate 47 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As earlier chapters of this book have discussed, the decades following World War II were a time of great change for the United States’ oceans and coasts. The promise of offshore oil and gas not only led to the Truman Proclamation and the creation of a new international doctrine concerning the continental shelf, but also to domestic federal conflicts over offshore resources. Development of oil and gas has also generated controversy due to its potential environmental and economic impacts. Large foreign fishing fleets and new technologies led to an overcapitalized and efficient world fishing industry capable of depleting the seemingly endless bounty of the seas. Largely uncontrolled land-based pollution led to numerous “dead zones” in coastal waters. Population in coastal areas grew at unprecedented rates.
- Ocean and coastal law has been for centuries a matter of allocating rights among competing users—ranging from riparian rights to fishing allocations to rights to exploit oil and gas on the continental shelf. Collectively in seeking wealth, we have taken for granted the health of the oceans.
- Severe weather events such as tropical cyclones are likely to exacerbate already gradual sea level rise. In some areas such as Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, there will be increasing saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. At present, approximately, 60,000 miles of U.S. roads and bridges in coastal floodplains are at risk of damage because of direct and indirect climate change impacts. Rising sea levels will affect oil and gas infrastructure including refineries as well as coastal seaports that supply 99% of overseas trade. Some cities such as Miami, Florida, have already installed additional pumping infrastructure to respond to increasing numbers of climate change driven coastal flooding events. Without climate change adaptation measures being implemented, researchers model between $92 billion USD and $3.6 trillion USD of damage to coastal properties from the combination of sea level rise and storm surge by 2100. The Atlantic and Gulf coasts face higher than average risks of...and
- , C17-289RSM (D. Wash. 2018), conservation groups and fishermen prevailed on their request for the EPA to take action to ensure that Columbia River salmon and steelhead are protected from increased river temperatures caused by the impact of climate change on dam water. Fishermen in California and Oregon filed a suit in November 2018 against private oil firms with a variety of claims based on nuisance, strict liability, and negligence related to domestic acid outbreaks caused by spikes in ocean temperature. See
- . . . to ensure the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, enhance the sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserve our maritime heritage, support sustainable uses and access, provide for adaptive management to enhance our understanding of and capacity to respond to climate change and ocean acidification, and coordinate with our national security and foreign policy interests.
- Open Chapter
Index 255 results (showing 5 best matches)
- See also Oil and Gas Development; Coastal Development and Regulation, and Trade and Protection of Marine Species
- Oil and gas lease sales and development and, 118–123
- Oil and gas lease suspensions and, 124–125
- See Endangered Species Act; Marine Mammal Protection Act; Oil and Gas Development
- See also Ocean Jurisdictional Zones; Submerged Lands Act; Oil and Gas Development
- Open Chapter
Chapter X Preserving the Biodiversity of the Seas 141 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The final exception authorizes the Secretary to permit, upon request, the unintentional taking of “small numbers of marine mammals” incidental to interactions with activities other than fishing, such as OCS oil and gas development. . Most LOAs and IHAs are issued for the incidental acoustic harassment of marine mammals and involve noise created by seismic airguns (for scientific research or for seabed oil and gas exploration), ship and aircraft noise, high energy sonar systems, and explosives.
- Id. § 1532(5)(C). To the “maximum extent prudent and determinable,” the Secretary must make critical habitat designations concurrently with the listing of a species. Id. § 1533(a)(3). See also
- Whales exist in every ocean of the world, and the whaling industry began as early as the eleventh or twelfth century. By the twentieth century, the excesses and waste of an unregulated whaling industry had decimated whale populations. Although the market for whale oil and products decreased with the increased availability of petroleum products, whaling continued to increase. At the turn of the twentieth century, fewer than 5,000 whales per year were taken; in 1931, over 40,000 whales were harvested.
- Unlike most international fishing agreements which are generally limited to activities on the high seas, the Whaling Convention extends to “all waters in which whaling is prosecuted.” Whaling Convention, art. I(2). This means that the Convention applies not only within 200-mile fishery and exclusive economic zones, but also within territorial seas and inland waters. The Convention does not define “whale,” but the treaty’s jurisdiction has been extended primarily to larger cetaceans. In fact, in the first two decades of treaty implementation, whales were not regulated by species, but in terms of “blue whale units,” a methodology that treated some species of large baleen whales as fungible depending on the amount of oil they contained.
- [M]arine mammals have proven . . . to be resources of great international significance, esthetic and recreational as well as economic, and . . . should be protected and encouraged to develop to the greatest extent feasible commensurate with sound policies of resource management and . . . the primary objective of their management should be to maintain the health and stability of the marine ecosystem. Whenever consistent with this primary objective, it should be the goal to obtain an optimum sustainable population keeping in mind the carrying capacity of the habitat.
- Open Chapter
Chapter III Management Framework for Ocean and Coastal Resources 90 results (showing 5 best matches)
- any authorization that an applicant is required by law to obtain in order to conduct activities affecting any land or water use or natural resource of the coastal zone and that any Federal agency is empowered to issue to an applicant. The term . . . does not include OCS plans, and federal license or permit activities described in detail in OCS plans . . . or leases issued pursuant to lease sales conducted by a Federal agency (e.g., outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sales conducted by the Minerals Management Service [now BOEM] or oil and gas lease sales conducted by the Bureau of Land Management). Lease sales conducted by a Federal agency are Federal agency activities under subpart C of [the CZMA].
- 43 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331–1356, divides the process for development of oil and gas OCS resources into four stages. A fifth stage, decommissioning, has been created by Interior Department regulations. Interior. Id. at § 1344. The second stage is the lease sale itself. Id. at § 1337. A lease purchaser acquires only the right to conduct limited preliminary activities on the OCS, such as geophysical and other surveys. The issue in was whether these preliminary activities “directly affect” the coastal zone. The third stage, exploration, and the fourth stage, development and production, cannot take place until after plans have been submitted for review and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. At these stages, the Outer , itself, as well as section 307(c)(3)(B) of the CZMA, refer to the CZMA consistency requirement, and a consistency determination is specifically required.
- In a five-four decision of the Supreme Court, Justice O’Connor delivered a majority opinion that left the consistency doctrine in a state of confusion. The Court rejected the state’s argument that “leasing sets in motion a chain of events that culminates in oil and gas development, and that leasing therefore ‘directly affects’ the coastal zone within the meaning of Section 307(c)(1).” The Court noted that the lease sale authorized only preliminary exploration “that has no significant effect on the coastal zone” and is only one “in a series of decisions that may culminate in activities directly affecting that zone.” The Court went on to suggest that only federal activities conducted “in” the coastal zone could have direct effects. “Section 307(c)(1)s ‘directly affecting’ language was aimed at activities conducted or supported by federal agencies on federal lands physically situated in the coastal zone but excluded from the zone as formally defined by the Act.” Ultimately, however,...and
- Courts have disagreed as to what kinds of effects will trigger consistency review by a federal agency. The primary controversy has arisen in considering the effects of offshore oil and gas exploration and development. In , the only significant effect of potential OCS development in the coastal zone was the financial burden on commercial fishermen that destruction or obstruction of an OCS fishery would have. There was no evidence that the development would have any environmental effects on resources in the coastal zone. The federal district court held that federal activities outside the coastal zone that affect only commercial activities in the coastal zone, and not the natural environment, do not directly affect the coastal zone and trigger the federal consistency requirement.
- point on the coastline. Through modern developments this method has been further enhanced. See William E. Ball and Albert J. Doughty, Three-Dimensional Coastline Projection Computational Techniques for Determining Offshore Boundaries (MMS 1999)
- Open Chapter
Outline 115 results (showing 5 best matches)
- A.Oil and Gas Development on the Outer Continental Shelf
- Oil Pollution, Oil Spill Liability and the Deepwater Horizon
- B.Oil Pollution and Oil Spills
- C.The International Regime for Oil Pollution and Oil Spills
- a.Prohibition of the Discharge of Oil in Navigable Waters of the United States
- Open Chapter
Chapter XI The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the United States 218 results (showing 5 best matches)
- For a coastal State, the continental shelf is an important jurisdictional zone, because the coastal State has control over exploration, exploitation, conservation, and management of both non-living resources (oil, gas, minerals) and sedentary living species (clams, crabs, corals, scallops, sponges, and mollusks). The coastal State also has authority over the construction, operation and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures located on the shelf as well as the course of pipelines across the shelf.
- : 1) Treaty to Resolve Pending Boundary Differences and Maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the International Boundary (1970) (established boundaries through the 12-mile territorial sea and contiguous zone); 2) Treaty on Maritime Boundaries between the United Mexican States and the United States of America (1978) Senate Treaty Document EX. F, 96–1; and 3) Treaty between the Government of the United Mexican States and the Government of the United States of America on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles (2000) UNTS Vol. 2143, I–37400 (dividing the continental shelf beyond the EEZs with an equidistance line and reserving a buffer zone on each side of the boundary to deal with possible transboundary oil and gas deposits).
- The First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I) in 1958 produced four treaties on the territorial sea and contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, and high seas fisheries. The U.S. acceded to all four treaties. The Convention on the Continental Shelf was a clear international sign that coastal States intended to control the oil and gas resources on their continental margins. Although these treaties were widely accepted as codifying international law, major issues, such as the allowable breadth of territorial sea and continental shelf claims, were not precisely addressed leading to concerns by parties, such as the U.S., over the protection of navigational freedoms. The treaties were also vague in how to address the growing stresses on fishery stocks and the environment. A second conference in 1960 failed to resolve these critical issues.
- While the Arctic Council is not a legislative body, it has served as a forum for the negotiation of three binding agreements: the Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic (2011), adopted in Nuuk, Greenland; the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic (2013) adopted at Kiruna, Sweden;, and the Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation (2017), adopted in Fairbanks, Alaska.
- Before the conclusion of the UNCLOS III negotiations, ninety nations had established 200-mile offshore jurisdictional zones. The UNCLOS III negotiations led to an early consensus concerning coastal nation jurisdiction over economic and resource exploitation to 200 miles offshore. This 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) represented a compromise that incorporated the breadth of the most extensive offshore claims, the protection of navigation, the right of developing countries to control offshore economic development, and the need for better conservation of marine living resources. The extension of EEZs to 200 miles places approximately ninety percent of the ocean’s fishery and oil resources within the jurisdiction of coastal countries.
- Open Chapter
Chapter VII Pollution and the Marine Environment 81 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The administrative framework of the CWA differs fundamentally from that provided in the ODA. The ODA is a federal program explicitly preempting state regulatory activity. With certain exceptions, the CWA envisions state’s developing pollution control programs that are reviewed and approved by EPA, . Beyond three nautical miles, EPA administers the discharge permit processes for outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas facilities (see, e.g.,
- The primary international agreement for prevention and control of oil discharges is now the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, done Nov. 2, 1973, S. Exec. Doc. E, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 1 (1979), 12 I.L.M. 1319, as modified by the 1978 Protocol, done Feb. 17, 1978, S. Exec. Doc. C, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 1 (1979), 17 I.L.M. 546 (MARPOL 73/78). MARPOL 73/78 supersedes the 1954 convention on oil pollution prevention and extends the scope of the international pollution prevention effort to discharges of any harmful substance and to virtually all vessels and oil platforms. As of 2019 the Convention has 158 parties, including all major shipping countries and covering 99% of the world’s shipping tonnage.
- The International Regime for Oil Pollution and Oil Spills
- [For a discussion of the U.S. domestic regime dealing with oil pollution and oil spills, see Chapter VI.]
- Incidents like the oil spills from the in 1989, and the rig in 2010 focused worldwide attention on the devastation caused by accidental discharges of large quantities of oil. They have served as catalysts for the development of law relating to oil spill cleanup and damage liability. Although these disasters highlight the environmental tragedy of marine pollution, such accidents are not the primary, most widespread, or even most devastating source of pollution of the seas. Operational discharges of oil from vessels, ocean dumping of wastes, and discharge of sewage and wastes from land-based sources have contributed much more to the present level of marine pollution than the well known “disasters.” Fortunately, both international and domestic regimes have been created to begin to deal more effectively with the prevention of marine pollution.
- Open Chapter
Chapter VI Oil Pollution, Oil Spill Liability and the Deepwater Horizon 121 results (showing 5 best matches)
- , the federal district court characterized the “oil spill from the as a classic maritime tort.” The location test clearly was met, and because maritime commerce is the primary focus of admiralty law, the maritime nexus test was also met. Likewise, the oil spill undoubtedly met the location test and had a disruptive impact on maritime commerce, and the operations of the
- OPA applies only to oil spills. “[O]il means oil of any kind or in any form, including, but not limited to, petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil, but does not include petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof, which is specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance under . . . [CERCLA] . . . and which is subject to the provisions of that Act[.]”
- ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons of crude oil. The oil spill provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) were woefully inadequate to deal with the cleanup, liability, natural resources restoration and other consequences of the spill. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) was passed to address the issues that the oil spill exposed. Many of the provisions of OPA had not been clarified or interpreted by the courts when, in April 2010, the blowout on the Macondo Prospect spilled over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. This time, much scrutiny focused on the inadequacies of technical, safety and environmental standards applicable to OCS oil development and production. The liability phase of the oil spill litigation was epic.
- Since 1972, section 311 of the CWA has been the primary mechanism for enforcing oil pollution control standards and establishing responsibility and liability for oil spill and hazardous substance clean up and damages. . Congress passed 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA), –761 after the Exxon Valdez oil spill “to streamline federal law so as to provide quick and efficient cleanup of oil spills, compensate victims of such spills, and internalize the costs of spills within the petroleum industry.” . However, section 311 of the CWA still provides the framework for civil and criminal enforcement by the federal government for oil spills and, along with admiralty law, is the basis for the potential liability of wrong-doers who are not defined as “responsible parties” in OPA. (Discussed infra). In general, the law that is not specifically displaced by OPA, e.g., cleanup, is still relevant to oil spills. Because many provisions of the OPA are similar to the prior law, cases interpreting section...and
- exercised due care with respect to the oil concerned, taking into consideration the characteristics of the oil and in light of all relevant facts and circumstances; and
- Open Chapter
Table of Cases 32 results (showing 5 best matches)
Chapter VIII Protection of Special Marine Areas and Marine Cultural Heritage 71 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The protections provided to the monument are unprecedented. Vessels must have permission to access the monument and are required to use vessel-monitoring systems. Even vessels merely passing through monument waters are required to give notice at least 72 hours before transiting the waters. Among the prohibited activities are: exploring for, developing, or producing oil, gas, or minerals; using or attempting to use poisons, electrical charges, or explosives in the collection or harvest of a monument resource; introducing or otherwise releasing an introduced species from within or into the monument; and anchoring on any living or dead coral. Commercial lobster fishing was terminated immediately by the proclamation, and commercial fishing for bottomfish and associated pelagic species was phased out within five years. Sustenance fishing outside of special preservation areas may, however, be permitted. Other uses of the monument are to be strictly regulated to assure the activities are “...
- NOAA and the Department of Interior created the National Marine Protected Areas Center and a 30-member MPA Federal Advisory Committee to develop a framework for a national MPA system and to work with agencies and stakeholders to develop regional systems of MPAs that can achieve ecosystem-wide goals and objectives. In 2008, NOAA and the Department of Interior published Framework for the National System of Marine Protected Areas of the United States of America (2008), identifying goals and conservation objections and providing guidance for the development of a national system of MPAs. The established eligibility criteria and created a nomination process for existing MPAs to be included in the national system. In addition, to creating a process for improving regional and ecosystem-based coordination of MPAs, the science-based processes for identifying natural and cultural resource conservation gaps in the national system.
- In the terrestrial context, the United States has for more than a century set aside or specially managed lands for to preserve their beauty, grandeur and inspirational attributes, their environmental sensitivity and special habitats, and their cultural and historic value. Only relatively recently, however, have the same kind of considerations led to extending protection and management to areas of the seas that provide the same kind of contributions to our society.
- The current generation of sanctuaries differs from those designated earlier in two ways: (1) their size, and (2) their management approach. The newest marine sanctuaries encompass extensive ocean areas of both federal and state jurisdiction. Designation of large ocean areas allows management of more of the activities that affect sanctuary resources and provides the opportunity to develop an ecosystem-based approach to resource management. Management plans can be developed that deal with direct and indirect, as well as primary and secondary, effects on sanctuary resources. Federal and state cooperative programs are encouraged, and advisory councils have become an integral part of both the plan development process and subsequent plan implementation. Because designation of such large areas affects numerous user groups, conflict management is an important part of plan development and implementation. See, e.g., ...and has provided a model for development of other marine protected...
- Exploration for shipwrecks and salvage operations can be destructive of more than just the historic value of the site and the artifacts that are discovered. Many shipwrecks have occurred on coral reefs and in productive, shallow water areas. A common exploration technique involves anchoring the boat and using the boat’s prop-wash deflectors to direct
- Open Chapter
Chapter I Public and Private Rights in the Coastal Zone 82 results (showing 5 best matches)
- attempted to use the act’s waiver of the federal government’s sovereign immunity to make a claim to an allegedly navigable river in which the United States had been issuing riverbed oil and gas leases to private entities. Although the U.S. Supreme Court held that the case was barred by the QTA’s statute of limitations, the Court also found that the act did not effectuate a transfer of title if the state actually had title to the land. Obviously sympathetic to the state’s claims, the Supreme Court intimated that the state should continue to press the claim until the United States was induced to file a quiet title action and settle the issue on the merits. Upon Congress’ amendment of the QTA in 1986 to exempt states from the statute of limitations, North Dakota again brought suit, but failed to establish that the waters of the Little Missouri River were navigable at the time of statehood.
- Many transfers of public trust lands have related to the improvement of commerce and navigation by building docks, wharves, navigation channels, or other harbor improvements and are generally characterized as within trust purposes. Courts have also upheld transfers of trust lands for uses less directly related to the public’s trust interests in navigable waters. In , the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that the transfer by the state of a portion of the submerged lands of Lake Monona to be filled to build a public auditorium was consistent with the public’s use of the land for recreation and did not impair the former uses of the lake. The California Supreme Court found in , that leasing ocean tidelands and submerged lands to oil prospectors furthered the public trust by promoting commerce. , however, that “to preserve meaning and vitality in the public trust doctrine,” the public interest served by the grant of state submerged land must not be “only incidental and remote.” ...and...
- Coastal States Gas Producing Co. v. State Mineral Bd., 199 So.2d 554 (La.App. 1967)
- The rule of construction in the case of such a grant from the sovereign is quite different from that which governs private grants. The familiar rule and its chief foundation were felicitously expressed by Sir William Scott: “All grants of the Crown are to be strictly construed against the grantee, contrary to the usual policy of the law in the consideration of grants; and upon this just ground, that the prerogatives and rights and emoluments of the Crown being conferred upon it for great purposes, and for the public use, it shall not be intended that such prerogatives, rights and emoluments are diminished by any grant, beyond what such grant by necessary and unavoidable construction shall take away.”
- Most states recognize recreational use as part of the public trust. State courts have also identified environmental and ecological protection and preservation of scenic beauty as within the trust. See, e.g., (One of the most important public uses of tidelands is preservation of land in its natural state for open space, habitat, scientific study, and its favorable effect on scenery and climate.); (The public trust doctrine protects “navigation, fish and wildlife habitat, aquatic life, recreation, [and] aesthetic beauty.”); provides that: “The scenic and visual qualities of coastal areas shall be considered and protected as a resource of public importance. Permitted development shall be sited and designed to protect views to and along the ocean and scenic coastal areas, to minimize the alteration of natural land forms, to be visually compatible with the character of surrounding areas, and where feasible, to restore and enhance visual quality in visually degraded areas. . . .” Cf.
- Open Chapter
Introduction 10 results (showing 5 best matches)
- More than thirty years later, domestic and international developments have brought more attention to the coastal zone’s “wet side.” Ocean fisheries have collapsed; dead zones have proliferated around the world; and global warming is leading to sea level rise and dangerous ocean acidification. Global warming has also led to melting of the Arctic icecap, exposing the potential for exploitation of Arctic’s continental shelf and leading to controversies over sovereignty over Arctic resources and access. The oil spill led to new questions about our management of ocean resources. The oceans are also seen as the sites and sources of renewable energy production, but as these uses intensify, more user conflicts and additional impacts on the ocean environment will develop.
- Ocean and coastal law and regulation are now at a point where major changes are needed to assure that marine and coastal ecosystems will retain their viability in this century. This book focuses on the special environmental and institutional concerns of the area where land and water meet. The user conflicts, the jurisdictional gaps and overlaps, and the clash of public and private, state and national, and national and international interests all contribute to a legal regime that continues to evolve to attempt to address the challenges of sustainability.
- Coastal and ocean management law focuses on a rather than on a generally recognized field of law. Coastal and ocean law comprises aspects of property, land use regulation, water law, natural resources law, constitutional law, federal and state statutory law, and international law in the special context of the coastal and ocean environment. Natural interrelations of land, water, and natural resources are complex and have equally intricate legal consequences that have resulted in ongoing conflicts over public and private rights, boundaries, jurisdictions, and management priorities.
- . . . to ensure the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, enhance the sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserve our maritime heritage, support sustainable uses and access, provide for adaptive management to enhance our understanding of and capacity to respond to climate change and ocean acidification, and coordinate with our national security and foreign policy interests.
- The Commission found, however, that the value of the coastal zone as a vital natural system and as a focal point for trade and recreation was threatened by increasing population concentration and commercial, recreational, and residential development.
- Open Chapter
Chapter IX Fisheries Management: State, National and Foreign waters 105 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Attention continues to be focused on ending IUU fishing. For example, the Division of Sustainable Development of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs identifies IUU fishing as a major issue for action in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all U.N. member states in 2015. Sustainable Development Goal 14 on conserving ocean resources includes Target 14.4 requiring States by 2020 to “effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans” to restore fisheries. Other non-governmental organizations have also invested in improving the availability of information about potential IUU fishing and oil spills. Collecting data from a variety of sources including satellites, vessel monitoring systems, and vessel automatic identification ...,000 commercial vessels. Several states including Indonesia, Peru, and Costa Rica have made its...
- Several of the RFMOs that the U.S. participates in use catch documentation and certification schemes to ensure compliance with and enforcement of their management programs. E.g., CCAMLR and the IATTC have adopted catch certification programs, and ICCAT has adopted statistical document programs for several species. The United States seeks to encourage RMFOs to increase their effectiveness through adoption and authorization of more market-based measures against IUU fishing, better identification and monitoring of IUU fishing vessels, and adoption of stronger port state controls. By working through these and other international organizations, the United States hopes to avoid unilateral action and take effective action against IUU fishing that is consistent with WTO obligations.
- FMPs are subject to NEPA. In consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Councils, and with public participation, the Secretary is expected to develop a uniform environmental review procedure for fishery management plans that integrates NEPA review, analysis and public input and conforms with time-lines for review and approval of FMPs under the MSA.
- Conservation and management measures shall take into account and allow for variations among, and contingencies in, fisheries, fishery resources, and catches.
- is based on an assessment of the benefits and impacts of the closure, including its size, in relation to other management measures (either alone or in combination with such measures), including the benefits and impacts of limiting access to: users of the area, overall fishing activity, fishery science, and fishery and marine conservation.
- Open Chapter
Chapter IV Management and Regulation of Coastal Development 100 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Intensive use and development of the nation’s coastlines have contributed to loss of land and other coastal resources. The most sensitive and dynamic areas of the coastline—beaches, dunes, and barrier islands—are also the most attractive areas for recreation and development. Climate change and sea level rise have added an additional dimension to coastal development regulation as communities attempt to adapt to the sea’s encroachment and more intense storm events.
- Indiscriminate development on the coastline has created a multitude of problems. Development on beaches, dunes and floodplains is more vulnerable to storms and flooding and has already caused serious erosion of these areas, resulting in loss of recreation areas, public facilities, and the storm protection the coastal features had provided. Such development even exacerbates these problems by damaging the beach and dune system, causing increased erosion and potentially damaging adjacent lands and public access. Structures not designed or built to withstand coastal hazards subject the owners to the threat of loss of life and property and create a hazard to others when parts of the structure are driven by wind or water. Poorly designed and located coastal construction leads to major expenditures of public funds for flood and disaster relief. Intense coastal
- Some state setback regulations still use fixed distances from a feature like the MHWL or dune ridge, but allow construction in parts of the zone if it meets strict requirements to protect or minimize harm to the structure and the environment, e.g., building codes with height requirements, wind standards and limits on impermeable surface. This kind of approach is often called “accommodation,” because it increases coastal resilience to flooding and storms and allows continued use of the property. There are engineering and design limits to this approach, however, and it impedes habitat migration.
- Coastal wetlands are among the world’s most productive ecosystems, comparable to coral reefs or rainforests. In addition to providing resting, feeding and nursery habitat for 75% the nation’s waterfowl and migratory birds, and breeding habitat for many marine species, wetlands are also vital for food chain production, water quality, aquifer protection and recharge, storm protection and flood control. See . As much as 45 percent of the endangered and threatened species in the U.S. depend on wetlands. But coastal wetlands have disappeared and continue to disappear, at staggering rates. The latest assessment found coastal wetland loss of over 80,000 acres per year—up 25% over the previous study period. US FWS and NOAA, Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous ...football fields every hour. Coastal development, silviculture and agriculture are responsible for most of the loss. Now wetlands are also in jeopardy by inundation as sea level rises, but...
- an analysis of, among other things, the degree of harm to public lands and resources, or adjacent private property, posed by the claimant’s proposed activities, the social value of the claimant’s activities and their suitability to the locality in question, and the relative ease with which the alleged harm can be avoided through measures taken by the claimant and the government (or adjacent landowner) alike.
- Open Chapter
Chapter II Public Access to Beaches and Shores 46 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational uses of the coasts create a wall of development along the ocean’s edge, the public not only loses the view of the beach and ocean, but also often loses the ability to access navigable waters, the publicly-owned beach seaward of the mean high tide line, and many dry sand beaches where the public may have gained rights. It takes only a brief Internet search to become aware of the increasing conflicts over access to and use of the nation’s beaches. Amazon and Ebay have thriving businesses selling “Private Beach” signs, and local conflicts and legal cases involving some aspect of beach access have multiplied. As the amount of undeveloped beachfront property has dwindled, developers have sought to maximize the value of coastal properties by creating “private” beaches; owners paying premium prices for beach property believe they have purchased the right to exclude the public as well. Conflict on some beaches is intensified by the...and
- The North Carolina legislature and the state’s courts have defined “public trust rights as including the ‘right to freely use and enjoy the State’s ocean and estuarine beaches and public access to the beaches’.” ; and see , the court noted, however, a potential ambiguity in the statutory definition of “ocean beaches,” because of its reliance on “common law as interpreted and applied by the courts of this State,” and the lack of any case holdings establishing the landward extent of state beaches. Acknowledging “both the long-standing customary right of access of the public to the dry sand beaches of North Carolina as well as current legislation mandating such,” the court defined the landward extent of the public trust beach area based on the legislation describing the “natural indicators” of the ocean beach—e.g., “the first line of stable, natural vegetation; the toe of the frontal dune; and the storm trash line.”
- Preserving the rights of the public as coastal populations continue to grow and beaches disappear is one on the most challenging problems faced by coastal communities and managers.
- Common law property and public trust principles continue to play an important role in balancing public and private interests in the dry sand beach, because few states have addressed the public access issue comprehensively in legislation.
- Acceptance of a dedication by the government can have consequences and costs related to maintenance of the easement. Acceptance can also be express or implied. In , the state no longer wanted to maintain a seawall used by the public and maintained by the state for “decades.” Citing those facts as evidence of acceptance of the dedication, the Hawai’i Supreme Court found that the state had “an easement over and across the Seawall by implied dedication.” Further, “[t]he State thus has ‘the right and the duty’ to maintain the surface of the Seawall over and across which it has an easement.”
- Open Chapter
Copyright Page 3 results
- and the Nutshell Logo are trademarks registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice, and this publication is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. If you require legal or other expert advice, you should seek the services of a competent attorney or other professional.
- West, West Academic Publishing, and West Academic are trademarks of West Publishing Corporation, used under license.
- Open Chapter
Dedication 2 results
- Publication Date: September 23rd, 2019
- ISBN: 9781642425550
- Subject: Ocean and Coastal Law
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
- Description: With an increase in fishing, energy extraction, and shipping activity, U.S. ocean and coastal areas are under increasing pressures from even more intensive use and development. This Nutshell, now in its 5th Edition, provides short summaries of state, national, and international law and policy relevant to practitioners and academics interested in the field of ocean and coastal law. The most recent edition, updating legal developments from previous editions, also offers new material on renewable energy, current beach access controversies, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, coastline adaptation to sea-level rise, climate change, marine litter, international law of the sea negotiations, and policy changes under President Trump’s administration.
