| Total miles of U.S. coastline | Marine shoreline: 3,400 |
| Total spatial area under consideration | 3,600 square miles |
Activity lead contact information:
Jennifer Hennessey
Washington Department of Ecology
jennifer.hennessey@ecy.wa.gov
Activity implementation: In March 2010, the Washington State legislature enacted a new state law on marine spatial planning (MSP). Under the new law, the state was directed to recommend an approach to MSP through an interagency team, the State Ocean Caucus (SOC). In January 2011, the SOC delivered a final report to the Washington legislature that assesses existing state efforts and resources and recommends steps to undertake MSP. The legislature did not provide money necessary for the state to develop a coastal and marine spatial plan. Once federal and other non-state funds become available, the state will conduct planning. At that time, with planning funds, the state will further scope and refine the actual planning process.
Activity status: Planned
State(s) involved: Washington primarily. Oregon will be included when integrating planning with existing plans for the Lower Columbia River Estuary. Legislation also requires the state to explore the development of joint plans for shared waters with regional partners, including other West Coast states, federal agencies, and Canadian provinces.
Regional association involvement: The West Coast Governors’ Agreement partners are aware of and marginally engaged in the Washington MSP effort.
Partners: The State Ocean Caucus is chaired by the Governor’s Office, coordinated by the Washington Department of Ecology, and composed of representatives of each of the state agencies with management responsibilities for marine waters. Washington Sea Grant is also a member of the team, as are representatives from four county-based marine resource committees. Two representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)−one from the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) and one from the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary − were the designated federal liaisons for the SOC during the creation of the Marine Spatial Planning report. Tribes also participated in the development of the report and will continue to be partners in future MSP work.
Activity description: In March 2010, the state legislature enacted a law on MSP (Substitute Senate Bill 6350). The first task in this law was for an interagency team to provide recommendations to the legislature about how to effectively undertake MSP in Washington State. A key element was figuring out how to integrate MSP into existing state management plans and authorities, and to identify major gaps and needs in management and data. These gaps are important to understand how to undertake MSP in Washington and determine the necessary scope, cost, and process. Washington State chose to use an existing interagency team, the State Ocean Caucus, to conduct this assessment and submitted the final report to the legislature in January 2011.
The legislature did not provide money necessary for the state to develop a marine spatial plan. Once federal and other non-state funds become available, the state will conduct planning. At that time, with funds to do planning, the state will further scope and refine the planning process. The law also specifically requires the state to establish a framework for renewable energy as part of the plan.
Jurisdictions: Local (upstream), state, tribal, regional, federal, international
Objectives: Economic, environmental, social
Ocean uses to be managed: It is too early in the process to tell which anticipated uses will or will not be managed under the plan. At a minimum, the plan must address renewable ocean energy.
Ocean uses to be considered / analyzed: Aquaculture, dredging, fishing, marine transportation, oil and gas, pipelines and cables, ports, protected areas, recreation, renewable energy, sand and gravel mining, security (military), sewage
Management considerations:
Additional uses: To be determined
Enabling authority: New legislation
Priority legislation: Washington SSB 6350 – Marine Waters Planning and Management Act
Committed resources: No financial resources have been committed; this work is being conducted using existing staff time and budgets.
Public participation: There was an opportunity for the public to weigh in throughout the state’s effort to assess MSP. During summer and fall 2010, these opportunities included providing input via a survey and a public comment period on the draft report to the legislature. The state also conducted focused outreach to key stakeholders using a variety of forums.
Plan evaluation and adaptation process: Washington must establish a performance management system to monitor implementation of any new marine spatial plan. The Washington Department of Ecology must periodically review existing management plans for substantial inconsistencies with the plan and work to resolve inconsistencies. Four years after completing the plan, the Department of Ecology must report on provisions of existing management that are substantially inconsistent with the state plan.
Next steps: The State Ocean Caucus has finished the report to the legislature. The report includes an analysis of existing goals and objectives for relevant plans in the state and summarizes existing ecosystem indicators. The report provides recommended goals and objectives for marine spatial planning and a recommended process and schedule for ecosystem indicators. The team also investigated existing spatial data, data needs, and a unified approach to database management to assist in future MSP efforts. Finally, the team developed recommendations for how to proceed with MSP in the state should funding become available. If federal or non-state funds become available, then Washington State will proceed with planning.
Currently, the State Ocean Caucus is pursuing several next steps that will facilitate the actual planning phase once funding becomes available. First, several funding opportunities are being explored that could fulfill pre-planning needs such as critical research and data management tools. Second, the group has been examining options for establishing a stakeholder coordination body (as recommended in the final MSP report) to advise the state as the planning process unfolds. Finally, in addition to the State Ocean Caucus work, the state is engaging in government to government discussions with the coastal tribes to determine how tribes will engage in the state MSP process and the regional ocean partnership.