Bill Provides Time-Out In Implementation Of New Policy
HOUSTON, TX – The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved the Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill (H.R. 5326). The bill includes a provision under Sec. 553 that prohibits the use of funds appropriated under this bill to implement the new National Ocean Policy. This provision was added through an amendment to the underlying bill that was offered by Rep. Bill Flores (TX). The amendment passed the House on Wednesday in a bipartisan 246-174 vote.
Following passage of the underlying bill, National Ocean Policy Coalition Executive Director Brent Greenfield issued the following statement:
“By including a time-out in implementation of the National Ocean Policy, this bill provides an important opportunity to address the many concerns expressed by citizens, businesses, and communities across the country regarding the development and implementation of this new initiative. The National Ocean Policy Coalition has long maintained that further policy development and implementation should be suspended until Congress, user groups, and the public have been fully engaged and all potential impacts have been assessed and are understood.”
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The National Ocean Policy Coalition (NOPC) is an organization of diverse interests united to ensure that the new National Ocean Policy is implemented in a manner that best benefits the national interest, including protection of the commercial and recreational value of the nation’s oceans, coasts, Great Lakes, and terrestrial lands, and the natural resources associated with them. NOPC’s members represent entities and sectors that support tens of millions of jobs and contribute trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy.
