The Northeast Regional Ocean Council today held its Fall 2019 meeting in Portsmouth, NH.
The agenda included updates on NROC’s funding status, tribal engagement, activities and opportunities for collaboration from representatives of NROC’s Committees on Ocean Planning, Coastal Hazards Resilience, and Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem Health, highlights and opportunities for collaboration from representatives of the Northeast Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, Northeast Sea Grant Consortium, Gulf of Maine Council, and New England federal partners, an update on the recently-held Gulf of Maine 2050 International Symposium, and updates and requests for NROC direction regarding offshore wind energy and ocean acidification.
During the discussion, among other things NROC members specifically noted movement on congressional legislation to authorize and fund regional ocean partnerships including NROC and a recent gathering of ~15 federal agencies (“New England Federal Partners”), a group which was established in the mid-2000’s and that has been less active in recent years due to all of the activity taking place on ocean planning. During the recent gathering, federal partners discussed drought coordination, National Park Service protocol for climate vulnerability assessments, a General Accounting Office update on climate work, and recent activity related to federal ocean policy including the new OceanReports tool.
Ocean Planning Committee representatives noted a recent Committee call, tentative plans for an in-person meeting on April 2 that will focus on one or two topics, and the potential to host Construction and Operations Plan data on the portal, and ongoing efforts to improve fisheries data in collaboration with the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (including an upcoming kickoff webinar in January).
As to the recent Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, NROC members noted that it well very well-attended (~250), and noting that different advisory groups are being formed by states, asked how the various state groups could be coordinated and what datasets should be presented for such discussions. Others noted the importance of finding ways to link the region’s natural resource agencies and energy agencies to address transmission, integrating the various work groups with broader regional staff, and better understanding what the states do and do not want to coordinate on.
Some noted that the group should look to the Northeast Ocean Plan and the best management practices contained within it to guide future discussions about wind energy in the region.
Separately, representatives from Rhode Island discussed actions being taken in the state to address offshore wind and climate change, including development of regulations applicable to wind-related pre-construction surveys and a new permit process that covers required analysis of coastal hazards and climate construction project applicants, while Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management are working to fund projects focused on fisheries and wind, with 19 proposals under review and an announcement on awardees expected in January.
NROC is a regional ocean partnership formed in 2005 by the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to provide a voluntary forum for states and federal partners to coordinate and collaborate on the development of goals and priorities and address regional coastal and ocean management challenges with creative solutions that support balanced uses and conservation of the Northeast’s ocean and coastal resources.
