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Oceans Act of 2000

US law to establish policy on the oceans

  • 4 min read
  • 9 chapters

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Through President of the United States and United States Senate

The objective of the report is to promote the following:

  1. Protection of life and property;
  2. Stewardship of ocean and coastal resources;
  3. Protection of marine environment and prevention of marine pollution;
  4. Enhancement of maritime commerce;
  5. Expansion of human knowledge of the marine environment;
  6. Investments in technologies to promote energy and food security;
  7. Close cooperation among government agencies; and
  8. U.S. leadership in ocean and coastal activities.

Responses from the executive branch to the commission's report are listed in a National Ocean Policy, sent to the legislative branch.

The act was passed by the United States Congress on July 25, 2000 and signed by the President a fortnight later.

The Commission

  • Has 16 members
  • U.S. House and U.S. Senate Majority nominate 8 people each and the U.S. President appoints 4 from each list
  • U.S. House and U.S. Senate Minority nominates four people each and the U.S. President appoints two from each
  • 4 people self-determined by U.S. President

Chair: supervises commission staff and regulates funding.

Members must be "balanced by area of expertise and balanced geographically".

To be eligible, members must be "Representatives, knowledgeable in ocean and coastal activities, from state and local governments, ocean-related industries, academic and technical institutions, and public interest organizations involved with scientific, regulatory, economic, and environmental ocean and coastal activities." (https://web.archive.org/web/20060207190735/http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/oceanact.html)

The Commission's report is required to include the following, as relevant to U.S. ocean and coastal activities:

  1. an assessment of facilities (people, vessels, computers, satellites)
  2. a review of federal activities
  3. a review of the cumulative effect of federal laws
  4. a review of the supply and demand for ocean and coastal resources
  5. a review of the relationships between federal, state, and local governments, and the private sector
  6. a review of the opportunities for the investment in new products and technologies
  7. recommendations for modifications to federal laws and/or the structure of federal agencies
  8. a review of the effectiveness of existing federal interagency policy coordination

The Commission is to give equal consideration to environmental, technical feasibility, economic, and scientific factors. In addition, the recommendations may not be specific to the lands or waters within a single state.

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