Gulf of Mexico Habitat Conservation & Restoration: Comparing the Mexican & United States Legal & Institutional Frameworks
Author
Jordan Diamond, Kathryn Mengerink, Sara Gersen, Alejandra Serrano Pavon, and Anaid Velasco Ramirez
Date Released
July 2011
Gulf of Mexico Habitat Conservation and Restoration: Comparing the Mexican and

Completed in partnership with the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA), this report compares Mexican and U.S. laws, policies, and institutions related to Gulf of Mexico habitat conservation and restoration. The main report provides an overview of the domestic and bilateral mechanisms for sustaining Gulf habitat, identifies opportunities for increasing coordination and collaboration between the two countries, and discusses lessons learned from other regions. The appendices provide more detailed information on each of the topics covered.

Siting Wind Facilities on State-Owned Lands and Waters
Author
James M. McElfish, Jr. and Catherine McLinn
Date Released
April 2011
Siting Wind Facilities on State-Owned Lands and Waters

Siting Wind Facilities on State-Owned Lands and Waters examines opportunities that states have explored for siting commercial-scale wind facilities on lands and waters that are government-owned. State trust lands and forests and the beds of rivers and the Great Lakes offer potential opportunities for wind power that can help advance state renewable energy goals. States own large parcels that may facilitate siting commercial-scale facilities; they also control lands that may be intermingled with private or federal lands suitable for wind development.

Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters: An Assessment and Analysis of Existing Legal Mechanisms, Anticipated Barriers, and Future Opportunities
Author
Jordan Diamond, Adam Schempp, Kathryn Mengerink, and Jay Austin
Date Released
December 2009
Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters: An Assessment and Analysis of Existing Leg

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has gained increasing international attention as a tool for implementing ecosystem-based management, reducing user conflicts, and ensuring the sustainable use of ocean and coastal resources. While the President’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force developed recommendations for a federal MSP framework, the Environmental Law Institute and Ocean Conservancy have released a report, Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters, that reviews federal ocean and coastal laws, identifying the obstacles and opportunities they present for federal MSP.

Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management: Implementation Handbook
Author
Kathryn Mengerink, Adam Schempp, and Jay Austin
Date Released
December 2009
Ocean and Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management: Implementation Handbook

With support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and input from many ocean and coastal management experts, the Environmental Law Institute produced this Handbook to identify successful approaches to implementing marine ecosystem-based management (EBM), describe their limitations, and highlight opportunities to apply them in the future. This Handbook provides a spectrum of examples that take steps toward EBM. It is designed to share a variety of approaches that may be useful in different settings depending upon regional needs and opportunities.

Expanding the Use of Ecosystem-Based Management in the Coastal Zone Management Act
Author
Adam Schempp, Kathryn Mengerink, Jay Austin
Date Released
January 2009
Expanding the Use of Ecosystem-Based Management in the Coastal Zone Management A

This ELI research report focuses on expanding the role of ecosystem-based management (EBM) in the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), which arguably is the most influential federal law on marine and coastal resources in the U.S., but with few provisions that reflect EBM. This paper identifies sections of the Act poised to adopt EBM and suggests language that could be added to the CZMA. As reauthorization of the CZMA has raised interest in its structure and objectives, this simple idea could have far-reaching effects on the health of this country’s marine and coastal areas.

Virginia Offshore Energy Development Law and Policy Review and Recommendations
Date Released
December 2008
Virginia Offshore Energy Development Law and Policy Review and Recommendations

Virginia is facing various forms of energy development activities offshore and in the territorial waters of the Commonwealth. These include possible proposals for wind and wave energy, liquefied natural gas transport, and natural gas drilling on the outer continental shelf, among others. State laws and policies must deal with these activities and their anticipated impacts. Virginia’s Coastal Zone Management Program has provided support for this project by the Environmental Law Institute to examine the law and policy framework in place to deal with potential activities.

Ocean Program Editorial

Ocean Program Editorial

Seven

July 8, 2013

I’ve been working on ocean issues for, not seven, but 20 years. While working on my degree in zoology, I dove into ocean research at a marine field station in Florida, studying molecular evolution in jellyfish. Hooked on the fabulous biodiversity of life at sea, I spent the next several years earning a PhD in marine biology.

Ocean Seminar Series

The Environmental Law Institute's annual Ocean Seminar Series seeks to bring together ocean law, policy, and science experts to discuss emerging and persistent challenges to the ocean and coasts. Since 2006 the goal has been to expand awareness about the importance of marine conservation and preservation and understanding of key issues. Each seminar features a panel of experts from government, nongovernmental organizations, industry, the scientific community, and/or private practice, who provide a diversity of viewpoints and identify the complexities of the challenges faced.

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