State Ocean Plan Receives First Update

The public is encouraged to comment on this five-year update to the Commonwealth’s comprehensive plan to manage development in state ocean waters.

Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Maeve Vallely Bartlett released the first update to the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan on Wednesday. The original plan, released in 2009, was a nation-leading first comprehensive plan for state ocean waters. It was signed by Governor Patrick in May 2008.

The Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan protects critical marine habitat and important water-dependent uses and sets standards for ocean-based development. The Oceans Act also requires that the plan be updated at least every five years.

“We’ve gained significant real-world experience in implementing the ocean plan,” Secretary Bartlett said for a recent press release. “That know-how is the foundation for this update, which is the culmination of more than a year and a half of work assessing the original plan and assembling expert and public input on how to improve on the framework it established.”

In January 2013, EEA initiated the review and update of the ocean plan, which was led by EEA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). These efforts were guided by input and advice from a 17-member Ocean Advisory Commission and nine-member Ocean Science Advisory Council.

The 2014 ocean plan draft includes the following revisions:

Science and Data- The draft identifies trends in and new data for ocean habitats and ecosystem components, human uses, economics, cultural and archeological aspects and climate change, as well as a series of 10 science and data priorities for the next five years of ocean plan implementation.

Offshore Sand for Beach Nourishment- Recognizing that areas of many coastal communities are experiencing severe erosion, flooding and storm damage, and that beach nourishment and dune restoration can offer an important alternative for shoreline protection that works with the natural system, the draft identifies preliminary offshore sand resource areas for further investigation with the goal of advancing up to three pilot projects in next five years to evaluate the future use of offshore sand for shoreline protection.

The 60-day public comment period closes on Tuesday, Nov. 25 and the following public hearings have been scheduled: October 8 in Ipswich, October 14 in Hyannis, October 20 in New Bedford, October 22 in Martha’s Vineyard and October 27 in Boston.

Read the 2014 Draft Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan here.

Commenting instructions, information on the review and update process and links to ocean plan data and documents can be found here.

Image courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

What do you think of the new draft? Leave a comment below.