Media Coverage

The Coast Guard today announced that the National Towing Safety Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting in Jacksonville, FL on Wednesday, Apr. 12. The meeting will include remarks from Coast Guard leadership, reports on anticipated challenges for the towing vessel industry and challenges being faced due to the pandemic, recommendations for rulemaking improvements and crew member training and instruction, and […]

The White House Council on Environmental Quality today announced the members of the Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Federal Lands and Outer Continental Shelf Permitting Task Force.  The 35-member Task Force includes representatives from industry (9), NGOs (8), state/local/tribal governments (10), federal agencies (6), and academia (2). The Task Force, which will meet at least twice

Following the White House’s Mar. 21 announcement on President Biden’s direction for Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo to consider initiating a national marine sanctuary designation within 30 days that would expand protections around the Pacific Remote Islands in an action that would conserve 777,000 square miles (including the existing ~495,000 square mile Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument), the

NOAA today announced that its Science Advisory Board will hold a public meeting on Apr. 26-27 in Silver Spring, MD and July 26-27 in Costa Mesa, CA. The April meeting will include NOAA and NOAA science updates, presentations of the Climate Working Group’s Climate & Air Quality and Emerging Hazards & Vulnerabilities reports, presentations on NOAA’s response to the Leadership in Coastal

With the global theme for this year’s Earth Day (Apr. 22) being “Invest in Nature,” and emphasizing actions under the America the Beautiful initiative and Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has requested feedback by Thursday, Apr. 6 on actions being taken by leaders and organizations to invest in jobs, youth, and resilient cities and

In conjunction with President Biden’s remarks this afternoon at the White House Conservation in Action Summit being held today in Washington, DC, the White House today announced a series of conservation and restoration actions. In addition to the establishment of two onshore national monuments in Nevada and Texas, the following ocean-related actions are also being taken: President Biden is

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced that the Gulf of Mexico Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force will hold a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, Apr. 11. Agenda items include an update on offshore wind energy planning meetings and next steps in the leasing process, including with regard to the upcoming Gulf of Mexico lease sale. The Task

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced a finding that no competitive interest exists for a Gulf of Maine wind energy lease application received by the State of Maine in Oct. 2021.  BOEM noted that the finding “does not mean that the State of Maine will receive a research lease,” with next steps including initiation

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking comments by Wednesday, May 15 on its proposed listing of the sunflower sea star as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  Public hearing requests are due by Wednesday, May 1.  The documented range of the species covers the Northeastern Pacific Ocean, from the Aleutian Islands to Baja California.

The State Dept. today announced that it will hold a hybrid public/virtual meeting in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Apr. 11 in preparation for the 10th Session of the International Maritime Organization’s Pollution Prevention and Response Subcommittee, to be held in London on Apr. 24-28. Agenda topics include reduction of the impact on the Arctic of black carbon emissions from