National Ocean Council Principals Hold Inaugural Meeting

Tuesday marked an historic occasion for our stewardship of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources as 25 Cabinet Secretaries and senior officials from across the Federal Government gathered in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for the inaugural meeting of the National Ocean Council’s (NOC) Principal-level Committee. 

The Committee is charged with implementing the National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and Great Lakes, including coastal and marine spatial planning. Key functions of the Committee include setting national priority objectives, and providing direction for implementing the National Policy based in part on recommendations from the Deputy-level Committee, which had its first meeting earlier this year.

During the meeting, the Council:

• Reviewed the role of the NOC and the work ahead;
• Approved the NOC Charter;
• Approved operational items for establishing the Governance Coordinating Committee to formally engage state, tribal, and local authorities;
• Approved the charter for the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) task force for it to continue to coordinate the collection of information to establish the full extent of the continental shelf of the United States in accordance with international law; and
• Established Interagency Working Groups to address topics including information management, and communications and public and stakeholder engagement.

The first Principals meeting of the NOC reiterated the Administration’s commitment to providing senior-level engagement in the implementation of the National Policy.  It also was a significant step toward making good on the President’s vision of ensuring the sustainability, resilience, health, security, and productivity of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources for the benefit of all Americans.