NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently announced its clarification of procedures for how it treats national marine sanctuary nominations that have been accepted to the inventory of sites for potential designation and have been on the inventory for 5 years. The clarified procedures are effective immediately.
Under the procedures established in 2014, nominations expire after 5 years from the time it is accepted to the inventory, in the absence of a designation action within that time period. Now, and in support of NOAA’s belief that it may be appropriate to allow nominations to remain on the inventory for an additional 5 years even if a designation action has not been taken, as a nomination nears the 5-year expiration date, NOAA will send a letter to the original nominator to provide an opportunity for updates and will update any relevant information on the nomination.
Special attention will be given to new information about the national significance of natural or cultural resources and changes in the threats to the resources originally proposed for protection and changes to management frameworks in the area. NOAA will also assess community-level support and whether it has changed since the site was first nominated. Information gathering could occur through a public workshop or a formal request for written public comments.
NOAA will review the updated nomination to determine if the nomination is still accurate and relevant, and ONMS staff will provide the Director with a recommendation to maintain or remove the nomination from the inventory. The final decision will be communicated through a letter to the nominator and a formal public notice.
