[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 64699-64701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25618]
[[Page 64697]]
Vol. 84
Friday,
No. 226
November 22, 2019
Part IV
The President
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Memorandum of November 19, 2019--Ocean Mapping of the United States
Exclusive Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 226 / Friday, November 22, 2019 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 64699]]
Memorandum of November 19, 2019
Ocean Mapping of the United States Exclusive
Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska
Memorandum for the Secretary of State[,] the Secretary
of Defense[,] the Attorney General[,] the Secretary of
the Interior[,] the Secretary of Agriculture[,] the
Secretary of Commerce[,] the Secretary of
Transportation[,] the Secretary of Energy[,] the
Secretary of Homeland Security[,] the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency[,] the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget[,] the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration[,] the Director of the National Science
Foundation[,] the Director of National Intelligence[,]
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[,] the
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration[,] the Assistant Secretary of the Army
for Civil Works[,] the Commandant of the Coast Guard[,]
the Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs[,] the Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy[,] the Assistant to the President for Economic
Policy[,] the Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy[,] the Chairman of the Council on
Environmental Quality[, and] the Deputy Assistant to
the President for Homeland Security and
Counterterrorism
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, I hereby direct the following:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United
States to act boldly to safeguard our future
prosperity, health, and national security through ocean
mapping, exploration, and characterization. Data and
information about the ocean help to advance maritime
commerce, domestic seafood production, healthy and
sustainable fisheries, coastal resilience, energy
production, tourism and recreation, environmental
protection, national and homeland security, and other
interests. Such activities contribute more than $300
billion per year of economic activity, 3 million jobs,
and $129 billion in wages.
On March 10, 1983, President Reagan issued Proclamation
5030 (Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States of
America), which established the United States Exclusive
Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ) to advance the development of
ocean resources and promote the protection of the
marine environment. With more than 13,000 miles of
coastline and 3.4 million square nautical miles of
ocean within our territorial jurisdiction, our
country's EEZ is among the largest in the world and is
larger than the combined land area of all 50 States.
The U.S. EEZ contains a vast array of underutilized,
and likely many undiscovered, natural resources,
including critical minerals, marine-derived
pharmaceuticals, energy, and areas of significant
ecological and conservation value. However, only about
40 percent of the U.S. EEZ has been mapped and
significantly less of the area has natural resources
and ocean systems that have been characterized,
including identification and evaluation, by executive
departments and agencies (agencies).
The Nation is poised to harness cutting-edge science,
new technologies, and partnerships to unlock the
potential of our oceans through increased ocean
mapping.
Maps and charts that present accurate and contemporary
coastal elevation data support economic growth,
resource management, and the safety and security of
coastal residents. Completed mapping is especially
lacking for
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Alaska and for the Alaskan Arctic, which lack the
comprehensive shoreline and nearshore maps available
for much of the rest of the Nation.
To improve our Nation's understanding of our vast ocean
resources and to advance the economic, security, and
environmental interests of the United States, it is the
policy of the United States to support the
conservation, management, and balanced use of America's
oceans by exploring, mapping, and characterizing the
U.S. EEZ, including mapping the Arctic and Sub-Arctic
shoreline and nearshore of Alaska. Further, to ensure
that these activities produce the broadest possible
benefits and provide the greatest return on investment
of Federal resources, it is the policy of the United
States to support these activities, when appropriate,
in collaboration with non-United States Government
entities.
Sec. 2. National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and
Characterizing the U.S. EEZ. Mapping, exploring, and
characterizing the U.S. EEZ is necessary for a
systematic and efficient approach to understanding our
resources. Mapping will reveal the terrain of the ocean
floor and identify areas of particular interest;
exploration and characterization will identify and
evaluate natural and cultural resources within these
areas. This knowledge will inform conservation,
management, and balanced use of the U.S. EEZ.
To advance these objectives, the Director of the Office
of Science and Technology Policy (Director) and the
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality
(Chairman), who serve as co-chairs of the Ocean Policy
Committee established by Executive Order 13840 of June
19, 2018 (Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic,
Security, and Environmental Interests of the United
States), shall coordinate the development of a national
strategy for mapping, exploring, and characterizing the
U.S. EEZ, and for enhancing opportunities for
collaboration among interagency and non-United States
Government entities with respect to those activities.
Specifically, within 180 days of the date of this
memorandum, the Ocean Policy Committee, working through
its Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee and in
coordination with the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall develop a
proposed strategy to map the U.S. EEZ, to identify
priority areas within the U.S. EEZ, and to explore and
characterize the priority areas, and shall submit it to
the Director and the Chairman.
Sec. 3. Strategy for Mapping the Arctic and Sub-Arctic
Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska. Within 180 days of
the date of this memorandum, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in
coordination, as appropriate, with the State of Alaska
and the Alaska Mapping Executive Committee, shall
develop a proposed strategy to map the shoreline and
nearshore of Alaska and shall submit it to the Director
and the Chairman to inform actions of the Ocean Policy
Committee and relevant agencies.
Sec. 4. Efficient Permitting of Mapping, Exploration,
and Characterization Activities. The United States
Government, in coordination with non-United States
Government entities, conducts hundreds of ocean
exploration, mapping, and research activities every
year across the U.S. EEZ. These activities improve our
understanding of our oceans, including by identifying
potential new sources of critical minerals,
biopharmaceuticals, energy, and other resources. These
activities frequently require multiple environmental
reviews, consultations, permits, and other
authorizations under Federal laws and regulations that
protect resources such as maritime heritage sites and
sensitive or protected marine natural resources. In
order to reduce duplication and promote efficiency
across agencies, within 180 days of the date of this
memorandum, the Ocean Policy Committee, working through
its Ocean Resource Management Subcommittee, shall
identify opportunities and recommend actions to the
Director and the Chairman to increase the efficiency of
the permitting and authorization processes for ocean
research, mapping, and characterization activities
across agencies.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this
memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect:
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(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.
(d) The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized
and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, November 19, 2019
[FR Doc. 2019-25618
Filed 11-21-19; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3510-07-P