The Role of State Planning Law in The Regulation and Protection of Ocean Resources

Authors

Edward J. Sullivan

Document Type

Article

Abstract

While land use planning is pervasive in the United States, legal structures for the planning and management of ocean resources are less well known or studied. The passage of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972 provided federal funds for state planning and regulation of coastal areas, with the incentive of binding federal agencies to state and regulations plans certified by the Secretary of Commerce. Most of the focus of CZMA study has been on estuaries and coastal shorelands; much less focus has been on coastal waters. Regarding coastal waters, more attention is given to the three mile ocean area off the coastline and islands over which states have concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government than to the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) unilaterally declared by the Reagan Administration, over which states have no constitutional jurisdiction. This paper discusses how the State of Oregon deals with its offshore ocean planning and resource management. This state has had a comprehensive state planning and land use regulatory system for its non-federal lands since 1973. Under that system, a state agency adopts and assures implementation of 19 state policies (called "goals), including resource lands preservation, urbanization and coastal management. Under the Ocean Resources Goal, ocean policies based on science, consultation with ocean-based communities and public agency coordination, are examined and evaluated with regard to their effectiveness in meeting climate change, alternative energy proposals and dwindling marine resources.

First Page

136

Recommended Citation

Edward J. Sullivan, The Role of State Planning Law in The Regulation and Protection of Ocean Resources, 24 Ocean & Coastal L.J. 136 (2019).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol24/iss2/3