Download A ADAMS

KOHL
Mr. Barry Kohl, Geologist
New Orleans, LA, Mar-07-2002
Public Comment
Key Points:
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Louisiana has issued 19 mercury-in-fish health advisories to date. There is concern about mercury in the Gulf.
Recommendations:
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Additional sediment contamination research is recommended to document mercury and other heavy
metal occurrences around oil and gas platforms.
KOLIAN
Steve Kolian, Eco Rigs
New Orleans, LA, Mar-08-2002
Public Comment
Key Points:
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U.S. could be a world leader in sustainable fisheries and marine eco-technologies if there existed a regulatory framework to redeploy retired oil and gas platforms into sustainable fishery platforms.
Platforms are “essential fish habitat.”
Commission should review laws to promote effective redeployment of oil rigs into eco-rigs.
KONING
Colonel Thomas Koning, Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District
Boston, MA, Jul-24-2002, Regional Coordination of Ocean Policy Panel
Invited Testimony
Key Points:
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The New England District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified six priority issues that
require a national policy review, they include:
1. A national port and harbor 'vision' is needed that coordinates a national strategy for future port deepening and that establishes regional alliances.
2. The two existing laws regulating dredged material disposal create inconsistencies and do not adequately accommodate implementation of new technical advances. [Further description provided.]
3. There is presently no policy framework to address the licensing, leasing, or permitting of non-extraction energy facilities (such as wind or wave turbines) in waters of the U.S.
4. Numerous Federal agencies have ecological restoration programs and numerous states have restoration priorities. Regional ecological restoration priorities of Federal interest are seldom defined.
5. Our nation lacks a policy and the mandate to develop long-term regional plans to address shoreline
protection and sea level rise mitigation needs.
6. There is a nation-wide problem of contaminated sediments in urban rivers and estuaries, resulting in
the degradation of aquatic productivity, threats to human health, and long-term economic liability.
Recommendations:
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Establish a state champion for navigation issues and have them compare efforts with neighboring states
and then at a regional (e.g., eastern seaboard) and international level.
Replace the existing statues regarding dredged material management with a single statute that addresses
the regulation of dredged material placement in both inland and ocean waters of the United States.
Incorporate flexibility in the evaluation approach and include the ability to incorporate the full range of
management techniques and future technical advances.
Define a national policy for non-extraction energy projects in ocean and coastal waters.
Provide a metric to quantify goals and accomplishments of ecological restoration for resources of national
interest (e.g., wetlands, anadromous fisheries migratory corridors, submerged aquatic vegetation, etc.)
that is shared and coordinated across all Federal programs.
Create a Federal 2050 and 3000-shoreline profile and institute management plans accordingly.
Establish a dedicated fund and program authority for the evaluation and remediation of contaminated
sediments in our coastal watersheds.
Responses to Questions:
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108
If there was a national policy that addressed the regional transportation issue and encouraged that there
were some benefits to regional cooperation, then it would be more likely to occur and the benefits would
be received down the line.