August 6, 2014 — The Northeast Regional Planning Body (NRPB) met June 25-26 for a Natural Resources Workshop and goal-setting meeting in Cambridge, Mass. The workshop focused on how marine science could be included in NRPB goals. Setting baseline marine habitat conditions in the northeast has been listed as an important goal for the Planning Body and its role within a National Ocean Policy.
Attending the workshop were about 150 individuals – federal employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) the Northeast Science Center (NSC), representatives of the five coastal New England states’ marine resources departments, environmental non-governmental organization interest groups, member university marine studies departments, governors’ appointees from the six New England states and two fishermen. The official membership of the Northeast Regional Planning Body is made up of 11 federal, 11 state and 7 Tribal representatives. There are two additional inactive Tribal representatives.
The White House Executive Order that called for the establishment of a National Ocean Policy did not come with funding. Congress, reportedly under pressure related to the budget, denied funding. Private funding of much of what the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and the Northeast Regional Planning Body have been doing comes from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (http://www.moore.org/programs/environmental-conservation/marine-conservation-initiative) and two grants NROC through NOAA. Gordon and Betty Moore were founders and owners of the Intel Corporation, best known for the development of microchip technology that fueled the rapid increase in the power of personal computers over the last several decades. NRPB and government employees are attending these meetings as a part of their regular workday, said NROC Director John Weber.
Weber said the meetings are a part of the work necessary to take the NRPB goals into action. “The charge given to any of the efforts is to work within the existing laws and regulations to make progress”, he said. Weber said, the NRPB is developing information on species for developers of projects or for those who want to comment on proposed projects. The planning Body has a self imposed deadline of the end of 2015 or early 2016.
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