| Total miles of U.S. coastline | 7,863 |
| Total spatial area under consideration | Approximately 399,500 square miles (all state and federal marine waters off the U.S. West Coast) |
Activity lead contact information:
Lisa DeBruyckere
West Coast Governors Alliance on Ocean Health
Lisad@createstrat.com
Activity implementation: 2006 – ongoing
Activity status: Planned and ongoing
State(s) involved: California, Oregon, and Washington
Regional association involvement: The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington formed the West Coast Governors’ Agreement (WCGA) on Ocean Health in 2006 as a proactive, regional collaboration to protect and manage ocean and coastal resources along the entire West Coast. In response to NOAA’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 Regional Ocean Partnership federal funding opportunity (FFO), in November 2010 the WCGA held a workshop in each state to solicit proposals from the public for projects to support the technical aspects of a framework for a regional coastal and marine spatial plan. The WCGA expects to remain involved with the development of the regional coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) process and the formation of a regional planning body for the West Coast.
Partners: WCGA Executive Committee members include representatives from California, Oregon, and Washington (appointed by the governors), as well as federal representatives from the Department of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Department of the Interior (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM). The WCGA engages other strategic partners such as the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, regional ocean observing systems, the West Coast Coastal Atlas Network, the four Sea Grant programs on the West Coast, the Pacific States Ballast Water Group, the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force, the West Coast Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) Network, and others.
Activity description: On September 18, 2006, the Governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health. The agreement launched a new, proactive regional collaboration to protect and manage the ocean and coastal resources along the entire West Coast, as called for in the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission. The agreement directed staff members of the three governors to take certain immediate actions, and to develop a more extensive action plan within one year. In July 2008, the governors released the final action plan, containing 26 action items in ten topics of mutual interest. The Executive Committee established Action Coordination Teams (ACTs) for each topic to coordinate coast-wide implementation of the priorities identified under the action plan. Eight of the ten teams have completed work plans for accomplishing identified tasks, while the other two currently have draft plans undergoing public comment.
In November 2010, with funding from the Moore Foundation, the WCGA sponsored three workshops (one in each state) to solicit public input and ideas for a regional proposal in response to the NOAA FY 2011 Regional Ocean Partnership FFO. The workshops also helped build an understanding of technical, data, and community engagement needs to support future development of a regional framework for CMSP. The WCGA submitted two proposals to NOAA totaling approximately $4.5 million to support the technical tasks needed to create a regional CMSP framework and to provide technical and administrative support to the WCGA in working with stakeholders and action teams.
Jurisdictions: California, Oregon, and Washington; federal government
Objectives: Regional partnership to address ocean management issues of mutual interest
Ocean uses to be managed: None identified
Ocean uses to be considered/analyzed: No ocean use assessment has begun.
Management considerations: No ocean management assessment has begun.
Additional uses: N/A
Enabling authority: WCGA activities to date have resulted from a voluntary agreement made by the three West Coast governors and the secretaries of three federal agencies.
Priority legislation:
Committed resources: The WCGA members and ACT members provide in-kind support through staff time supported by state and federal funds. The Moore Foundation in late 2010 awarded the WCGA approximately $250,000 to support the state workshops and other technical steps to prepare for a regional framework for CMSP. Congress appropriated almost $500,000 in the fiscal year 2010 NOAA budget to support the actions of the ACTs; in September 2010, WCGA awarded just under $500,000 through a competitive process to projects proposed by eight of the ACTs to implement work plans that fulfill tasks identified in the WCGA Action Plan. The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development is the fiscal agent for the NOAA grant and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission is administering the grant funds and monitoring project progress.
Public participation: The WCGA solicited public comments on the WCGA Action Plan in public meetings and on subsequent ACT work plans through the WCGA website. The public was also invited to attend the three state workshops and to submit comments and project ideas online to help the WCGA draft its proposals to NOAA for the FY 2011 Regional Ocean Partnership FFO. Approximately 60 comments and project ideas were submitted through the website to support the WCGA’s applications to NOAA for this funding opportunity.
Plan evaluation and adaptation process: The WCGA is currently in the process of drafting a biennial report evaluating the 2008 Action Plan. There is currently no coastal and marine spatial plan for the West Coast to review or revise.
Next Steps: WCGA is assessing its recommendations on the best way to structure the regional planning body directed by the National Ocean Policy and to begin the process of creating a regional framework for CMSP on the West Coast.
Additional information: The project proposals received from the public in late 2010 for the NOAA FY 2011 Regional Ocean Partnership FFO helped the WCGA understand the critical need for a regional system for managing and sharing data that provides relevant and timely information necessary for comprehensive ocean planning. Through the work of the ACTs and local partners such as the West Coast Coastal Atlas Network, the WCGA hopes to craft a useful approach to regional data sharing as well as incorporating decision-support tools to aid in developing a regional framework for CMSP.