Governor Deval Patrick yesterday signed the nation's first comprehensive ocean planning law to guide where pipelines should be laid, areas should be protected, and energy projects built.A 17-member advisory commission will help state officials craft a management plan by the end of 2009, and all development within 3 miles of the state's coastline will have to abide by its rules. The law is designed to help reduce tensions among maritime users and guide energy development, and also could impose stricter safety measures to help prevent accidents such as the 2003 oil spill in Buzzards Bay.
"If we neglect or abuse our ocean resources we do so at our peril," Patrick said as he stood outside the New England Aquarium yesterday morning before signing the Oceans Act. "This law will help protect our vital natural resources and balance traditional with new ones, such as renewable energy, that are also important to our future."
Public attention in New England has been riveted in recent years on a 130-turbine wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound. But there is increasing demand for the state's offshore resources, with a variety of lower-profile proposals that collectively could have far more impact on the region, environmentalists and state officials say.
The plan will not affect the Nantucket wind farm, nor the new liquefied natural gas port off Gloucester, both of which are in federal waters.
There are many competing needs for state waters, which help drive a $117 billion coastal economy. Dozens of pipelines, gas lines, sewage pipes, and electrical cables already crisscross coastal waters. A handful of companies have announced plans to build wind farms, liquefied natural gas terminals, and projects designed to capture energy from the tides. Businesses and communities also regularly propose aquaculture projects and sand mining along prime fishing areas to shore up beaches.
Authority for regulating such projects is now spread among numerous state agencies that do not share the same vision for the coastline - frustrating both environmentalists and business leaders.
UPDATE: More from the New York Times and the Herald.
SECOND UPDATE: From the AP.
