The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through its Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) funding supports ocean and coastal management for 34 state and territory state coastal zones through several programs, including
…zero match Coastal Zone Enhancement Program funds to state coastal zone management programs to enhance their programs in one or more areas of national significance.
There are compliance restrictions to maintaining coastal zone status and funding agencies overseeing the coasts and estuaries are monitored.
The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) performs regular evaluations of state Coastal Zone Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves, as required by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. The public is encouraged to participate and provide comments. The evaluations ensure that states are effectively implementing their programs.
OCRM has further developed a number of Performance Measures and Contextual Indicators, to determine the overall success of the Coastal Zone Management Act. By partnering with the coastal management programs and reserves, OCRM has outlined a Coastal Zone Management Act Performance Measurement System that allows for flexibility in accommodating different management structures and coastal priorities nationwide.
When a big industry looks to locate within a coastal zone, like The Mill Casino for example or Oregon Resources, a heavy permitting process is required and must meet federal consistency. To assist in maintaining federal consistency (and therefore federal funding) the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development has produced a list of goals Goal 1 is ‘Citizen Involvement’. Evidently, DOGAMI or DEQ or ODLC or some combination failed to properly notify concerned parties about the storm water permit comment period and possibly others thereby failing Goal 1.
There may be some other conditions during the multi-agency permitting period that have not been applied here. For example, there should be a traffic impact statement, (particularly near Bunker Hill School), a fiscal impact statement and a needs assessment. There should also be a greenhouse gas emissions report done as a consequence of all the truck hauling. Public comment periods should accompany every statement.
Somewhere, someone along the line has failed to demand some or all of these requirements and if some of what I have read regarding 16 U.S.C. § 1452. Congressional declaration of policy (Section 303) is not adhered to we could jeopardize our coastal zone status because the permitting agencies have failed enforce the applicant’s requirements. Here are a few
The Congress finds and declares that it is the national policy–
(1) to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance, the resources of the Nation’s coastal zone for this and succeeding generations;
(2) to encourage and assist the states to exercise effectively their responsibilities in the coastal zone through the development and implementation of management programs to achieve wise use of the land and water resources of the coastal zone, giving full consideration to ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values as well as the needs for compatible economic development, which programs should at least provide for–(A) the protection of natural resources, including wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, barrier islands, coral reefs, and fish and wildlife and their habitat, within the coastal zone,
(B) the management of coastal development to minimize the loss of life and property caused by improper development in flood-prone, storm surge, geological hazard, and erosion-prone areas and in areas likely to be affected by or vulnerable to sea level rise, land subsidence, and saltwater intrusion, and by the destruction of natural protective features such as beaches, dunes, wetlands, and barrier islands,
(C) the management of coastal development to improve, safeguard, and restore the quality of coastal waters, and to protect natural resources and existing uses of those waters,
(D) priority consideration being given to coastal-dependent uses and orderly processes for siting major facilities related to national defense, energy, fisheries development, recreation, ports and transportation, and the location, to the maximum extent practicable, of new commercial and industrial developments in or adjacent to areas where such development already exists,
(E) public access to the coasts for recreation purposes,
(F) assistance in the redevelopment of deteriorating urban waterfronts and ports, and sensitive preservation and restoration of historic, cultural, and esthetic coastal features,
(G) the coordination and simplification of procedures in order to ensure expedited governmental decisionmaking for the management of coastal resources,
(H) continued consultation and coordination with, and the giving of adequate consideration to the views of, affected Federal agencies,
(I) the giving of timely and effective notification of, and opportunities for public and local government participation in, coastal management decision making,
It was a failure to notify the public about the storm water permit that has Vaughn Balzer, Stormwater/Reclamation Specialist DOGAMI-MLRR and Bill Mason, Oregon DEQ Project Manager/Senior Groundwater Hydrologist working to correct this matter.
ORC must show that it can meet these and other requirements and the people may have to demand the permitting agencies do their job correctly. There is a bigger story here and it will be interesting to trace back and find out how and why the ball has been dropped and who is responsible. Obviously, more to come over the next few days on this topic.
Coastal zone boundaries are listed here and Oregon is as follows
Oregon’s coastal zone extends inland to the crest of the coastal range, except for the following: along the Umpqua River, where it extends upstream to Scottsburg;
along the Rogue River, where it extends upstream to Agness; and except in the Columbia River Basin, where it extends upstream to the downstream end of Puget Island.
