THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, POWER AND OCEANS OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION Tuesday, May 17, 2016 Serial No. 114–43 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov or Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 20–220 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:54 Oct 27, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 J:\114TH CONGRESS\WATER, POWER & OCEANS\05-17-16\20220.TXT DARLEN COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES ROB BISHOP, UT, Chairman RAU´ L M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Democratic Member Don Young, AK Grace F. Napolitano, CA Louie Gohmert, TX Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU Doug Lamborn, CO Jim Costa, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI John Fleming, LA Niki Tsongas, MA Tom McClintock, CA Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR Glenn Thompson, PA Jared Huffman, CA Cynthia M. Lummis, WY Raul Ruiz, CA Dan Benishek, MI Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Jeff Duncan, SC Matt Cartwright, PA Paul A. Gosar, AZ Donald S. Beyer, Jr., VA Rau´ l R. Labrador, ID Norma J. Torres, CA Doug LaMalfa, CA Debbie Dingell, MI Jeff Denham, CA Ruben Gallego, AZ Paul Cook, CA Lois Capps, CA Bruce Westerman, AR Jared Polis, CO Garret Graves, LA Wm. Lacy Clay, MO Dan Newhouse, WA Ryan K. Zinke, MT Jody B. Hice, GA Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS Thomas MacArthur, NJ Alexander X. Mooney, WV Cresent Hardy, NV Darin LaHood, IL Jason Knox, Chief of Staff Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel David Watkins, Democratic Staff Director Sarah Lim, Democratic Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, POWER AND OCEANS JOHN FLEMING, LA, Chairman JARED HUFFMAN, CA, Ranking Democratic Member Don Young, AK Grace F. Napolitano, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA Jim Costa, CA Tom McClintock, CA Ruben Gallego, AZ Cynthia M. Lummis, WY Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU Jeff Duncan, SC Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI Paul A. Gosar, AZ Raul Ruiz, CA Doug LaMalfa, CA Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Jeff Denham, CA Norma J. Torres, CA Garret Graves, LA Debbie Dingell, MI Dan Newhouse, WA Rau´ l M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio Thomas MacArthur, NJ Rob Bishop, UT, ex officio (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:54 Oct 27, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 J:\114TH CONGRESS\WATER, POWER & OCEANS\05-17-16\20220.TXT DARLEN CONTENTS Page Hearing held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 ............................................................... 1 Statement of Members: Fleming, Hon. John, a Representative in Congress from the State of Louisiana ....................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 2 Gosar, Hon. Paul A., a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona ........................................................................................................... 6 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 7 Huffman, Hon. Jared, a Representative in Congress from the State of California ....................................................................................................... 3 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 5 Statement of Witnesses: Keppen, Dan, Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance, Klamath Falls, Oregon ............................................................................................................ 21 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 22 Lanard, Jim, Chief Executive Officer, Magellan Wind, Collingswood, New Jersey ............................................................................................................. 16 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 17 Lapp, Meghan, Fisheries Liaison, Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown, Rhode Island .................................................................................................. 12 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 14 Zales, Bob, President, National Association of Charterboat Operators, Hurley, Mississippi ....................................................................................... 8 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 10 Additional Materials Submitted for the Record: Farr, Hon. Sam, a Representative in Congress from the State of California, prepared statement of ................................................................ 44 National Ocean Policy Coalition, May 31, 2016 Letter to Chairman Fleming .......................................................................................................... 45 Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, May 13, 2016 Letter to Chairman Fleming ............................................... 46 (III) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:54 Oct 27, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 J:\114TH CONGRESS\WATER, POWER & OCEANS\05-17-16\20220.TXT DARLEN VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:54 Oct 27, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 J:\114TH CONGRESS\WATER, POWER & OCEANS\05-17-16\20220.TXT DARLEN OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY Tuesday, May 17, 2016 U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans Committee on Natural Resources Washington, DC The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John Fleming [Chair- man of the Subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Fleming, McClintock, Duncan, Gosar, LaMalfa, Graves, Newhouse, Bishop; Huffman, Costa, Lowenthal, and Torres. Also present: Representative Beyer. Dr. FLEMING. The Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will come to order. The subcommittee meets today to hear testi- mony on an oversight hearing entitled, ‘‘The Implications of President Obama’s National Ocean Policy.’’ We will begin with opening statements, starting with myself. STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOHN FLEMING, A REPRESENTA- TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA Dr. FLEMING. Today’s hearing is about shining some sunlight on what has become a non-transparent Administration agenda aimed at curtailing multiple-use access in our oceans and lands. The Administration’s so-called National Ocean Policy (NOP) is not new to this committee, as this is the sixth oversight hearing on this subject. What is also not new is that the Administration continues to hide its actions on its questionable policy. Many questions remain unanswered. For example: Under what authority is the President acting to implement this policy? Who is funding activities of the National Ocean Council and the Regional Planning Bodies? How will this affect Federal and state fisheries management and offshore energy development, two industries that are vital to Louisiana’s economy? How far inland does this policy actually reach? The first Regional Planning Body will release its plan for the Northeastern United States later this month. Yet, scarce informa- tion has been provided. It will undoubtedly become a blueprint for other regional plans that really won’t be regional, but will be straight out of Soviet-style command-and-control casting since these bodies consist primarily of Federal agencies. The Administration was invited to answer our concerns and questions related to this hearing. Indeed, the other side of the aisle has insisted that we invite more Federal agencies to our hearings. In this case, inviting the Director of the National Ocean Council (1) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:54 Oct 27, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 J:\114TH CONGRESS\WATER, POWER & OCEANS\05-17-16\20220.TXT DARLEN 2 was warranted. So, we did just that. If you follow the television screen, Majority staff for this committee sent an email to Ms. Beth Kerttula on May 5, followed by a formal invitation on May 9, and then with another email on May 11. There were also a number of phone calls made to Ms. Kerttula’s office and cell phones in be- tween this correspondence. There was no response from the Administration until late last week. At the end of the day, the Administration is a no-show, and I have little doubt that is by design. What is the Administration hiding? Their absence is telling and indicative of this whole effort: share as little information as possible, even though their stated goal is ‘‘Federal coordination and transparency.’’ We will hear today that coastal and marine spatial planning, or what some call Federal zoning, is necessary to combat competing uses among the traditional marine industries, recreational activity, and offshore development. That is a false choice. If you go out into the Gulf of Mexico—and a witness here with us today can attest to this—some of our best fishing takes place right off of our off- shore oil rigs. These different uses are not conflicting, but can be complementary of each other in some cases. The Administration is aloof of what is going