Sanctuary Advisory Council Hosts Public Comment Period for Draft Management Plan

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) will have its Advisory Council meeting in Ocean Shores on Friday, March 18, at the Homeport Restaurant (857 Point Brown Avenue). The Advisory Council meeting is open to the public and begins at 9:50 am; the agenda can be viewed at http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/AboutUs/sac/sac_meetschedule.html.

At this March 18 meeting, the Advisory Council and sanctuary staff will host a public comment period from 2:45 pm to 3:30 pm to hear public comment on the Draft Management Plan and Proposed Rule (proposed changes to sanctuary regulations). If everyone present has not had opportunity to speak, sanctuary staff will remain to receive comments after 3:30 pm.

On January 14, 2011, OCNMS released a Draft Management Plan (DMP) that is largely based on recommendations developed by its Advisory Council through an intensive working group and workshop process (see http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/AboutUs/sac/sac_actions.html). When finalized, this management plan will serve as a guide to OCNMS management on its activities for the next 5 to 10 years.

Proposed revisions to OCNMS regulations (referred to as the Proposed Rule) also were developed while reviewing our existing management plan and regulations. The DMP and proposed regulatory changes formed a framework around which OCNMS staff wrote a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) document that accompanies the DMP and Proposed Rule and includes all of the federal compliance documentation to accompany the DMP. A January 14th Federal Register notice announced availability of the DMP, DEA and Proposed Rule for public comment (Regulation Identification Number RIN 0648-BA20).

We encourage interested members of the public to comment on the Proposed Rule and DMP/DEA. These documents and updated information on the management plan review process is available at our web site http://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/protection/mpr/welcome.html

All comments on the Proposed Rule and DMP/DEA be received or postmarked by March 25, 2011.

In addition to commenting at this meeting, individuals can submit comments in the following ways:

•  Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. 
•  Fax: 360-457-8496, Attn: George Galasso
• Mail: George Galasso, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, 115 East Railroad Avenue, Suite 301, Port Angeles, WA 98362

For more information, email us at ocnmsmanagementplan@noaa.gov or call 360-457-6622 ext. 28.