We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
"UN-DESIGNATING" MARINE SANCTUARIES?: ASSESSING PRESIDENT TRUMP'S AMERICA-FIRST OFFSHORE ENERGY STRATEGY.
- Authors
LESKE, KEVIN O.
- Abstract
On April 28, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order No. 13795 to implement his vision of an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy. The order is primarily designed to facilitate the Secretary of Interior's efforts to maximize oil and gas lease sales in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, Arctic waters, and mid- and south Atlantic Ocean. And one intent of the executive order is an attempt to nullify former President Barack Obama's withdrawal of approximately 119 million acres of submerged land on the outer continental shelf from oil and gas drilling, which was made under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 ("OCSLA"). But of equal concern is the executive order's pronouncement that the Trump administration would "refrain from designating or expanding any National Marine Sanctuary" absent a "full accounting from the Department of the Interior ("DOI") of any energy or mineral resource potential." And even more troubling, the order calls for a review of various past designations and expansions of National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments within the past ten years. Congress originally enacted the national marine sanctuaries provisions as part of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 ("MPRSA"). It "provide[s] authority for comprehensive and coordinated conservation and management" of "areas of the marine environment which are of special national significance." Based on the Trump Administration's new energy policy, however, some of these protected areas are now in jeopardy. But how significant is this threat? And what if the new administration proposes to "un-designate" or to modify the terms of one of the marine sanctuaries under review. This Article examines these key questions. It introduces the importance of marine ecosystems and explores the national sanctuary provisions in the MPRSA. Next, it explains both President Trump's Executive Order as it relates to national marine areas and the related Department of Commerce action implementing the order. Finally, it assesses the potential impact of Executive Order 13795 on national marine sanctuaries and analyzes the potential success of a proposal to eliminate or alter a sanctuary under review. The Article concludes that the executive order's review of marine sanctuaries is surprisingly limited. Moreover (and ironically), much of the criticisms of the MPRSA levied by environmental advocates will help counter future attempts to "un-designate" a sanctuary.
- Subjects
MARINE parks &; reserves; TRUMP, Donald, 1946-; CONTINENTAL shelf; OFFSHORE oil well drilling; MARINE Protection, Research, &; Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (U.S.); UNITED States. Dept. of the Interior
- Publication
William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review, 2018, Vol 42, Issue 3, p693
- ISSN
1091-9724
- Publication type
Article