On July 1, under the authority of the Oceans Act of 2008, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) unveiled a blueprint for managing the Commonwealth’s ocean waters – a Draft Ocean Management Plan.

This fall, EEA will take comment from the public before finalizing a plan that extends new protections to two-thirds of Massachusetts state waters and identifies two areas for commercial-scale wind energy development.

As in so many things, the nation’s eyes are upon us. Under President Obama, the federal government has initiated its own ocean planning process, gaining stakeholder input on the responsible management of the nation’s waters. But Massachusetts is leading the way, tackling the hard questions of preserving natural resources and balancing new and traditional uses of the ocean.

Our public input process is well under way – drawing on the expertise of an Ocean Advisory Commission appointed by Governor Patrick and an Ocean Science Advisory Council appointed by Secretary Bowles, and profiting from ideas and comments expressed during 18 public meetings in every region of the Commonwealth; 90 meetings with stakeholders such as fishermen, environmental organizations and academic experts; and five public workshops. In this same spirit, EEA has announced public hearings in five coastal communities during September. Meanwhile, the public comment period on the Draft Management Plan runs through 5:00 pm, November 23, 2009.

EEA fully expects that an already robust plan will improve through this next round of public comment, after which EEA will make revisions in time to meet the December 31, 2009 statutory deadline for delivering a Final Ocean Management Plan to Governor Patrick and the Legislature.

EEA encourages citizens, organizations and businesses to submit comments, helping contribute to the state’s understanding of the many issues at stake.

In particular, EEA seeks public comment on the draft plan’s Science Framework – a section that describes the scientific research that will be needed to inform future ocean plan management and policy decisions. While the draft plan incorporates the best science now available, understanding of the marine environment is constantly growing. A key strength of the Ocean Management Plan lies in its ability to adapt in the face of evolving knowledge and understanding of the ocean environment. And the key to that is the Science Framework, which provides a vehicle for mapping out and incorporating the future scientific research that enables the Commonwealth to manage development and address new and emerging issues.

In the weeks ahead, the Patrick Administration looks forward to engaging the public on this critical area of public policy, in order to ensure that, as the Obama administration prepares to release a framework for national marine planning by the end of 2009, the Commonwealth’s first-in-the-nation Ocean Management Plan stands as a model for the nation

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