The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body are now accepting public comments on a draft Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan. (formal notice)

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 to guide the protection, maintenance and restoration of the United States' oceans and coasts.

The NOP calls for the creation of regional planning bodies 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.

Pennsylvania participates with Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York in this collaborative ocean-planning effort.

Comments on the draft Plan are being accepted through September 6.  A series of open house listening sessions are being held to engage stakeholders in the planning process, although none are being held in Pennsylvania.

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.

For more information visit the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan webpage or contact Arlo Hemphill, MARCO Communications Director at 202-746-3484.

7/18/2016