[West Coast Ocean Data Network] FW: Ocean funding update - Good news from Congress

[west_coast_data_network at listsmart.osl.state.or.us]

Hooray!

On 12/11/14, 4:55 PM, "Anne Merwin" <amerwin at oceanconservancy.org<mailto:amerwin at oceanconservancy.org>> wrote:

Dear Colleagues:


Earlier this year, you signed onto a letter(s) asking Congress to support funding for Regional Ocean Partnerships and smart ocean planning, and/or to oppose any legislative riders that would undermine the National Ocean Policy and ongoing ocean planning efforts.  As you may have heard, yesterday Congress released a final Fiscal Year 2015 spending bill that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year (September 2015).  This so-called "CROmnibus" bill is slated to be voted on today or tomorrow, and although it is not guaranteed to pass (leadership is still wrangling votes as we speak), I wanted to share some good news about what the bill contains.



1. Attempts to undermine the National Ocean Policy and ongoing ocean planning efforts failed.  While a requirement that the National Ocean Council report to Congress on its activities is included, there is no language in the deal that harms any of the important work going on under the NOP, including smart ocean planning.  This is a significant victory, since going into final negotiations there had been three different anti-NOP riders in the House versions of bills, and none of these made it through despite the final deal’s inclusion of a large number of other policy riders.



2. The bill includes the full $5 million for Regional Coastal Resilience Grants that was requested in the President’s Budget, and that hundreds of ocean users and supporters (including you) asked for earlier this year.  This is an important victory after a tough year in 2014, when we lost the grant money that had previously supported this work.  It is also worth noting that this is a rare funding increase in a world where most government programs have either just held even or decreased.



These are big wins, and it speaks volumes for the importance of the work going on in regions around the country, and for the breadth and depth of stakeholder support.

I also wanted to note that Ocean programs in general fared well throughout the CRomnibus:


·         NOAA’s $5.4 billion budget for FY15 includes an overall increase of $126 million

·         The National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service each received increases of $10 million

·         Ocean acidification research received $8.5 million, a $2.5 million increase over the current funding



A direct result of your support, these funding increases and policy rider victories will help support communities that depend on ocean resources, while ensuring that coordinated smart ocean planning processes move forward. Thank you again for all of your engagement and effort, and we look forward to continuing to work with you to support smart ocean management in the new year.



Best regards,

Anne


[http://www.oceanconservancy.org/assets/oc_logo_mailsignature.jpg]

Anne Merwin
Director
Coastal & Marine Spatial Planning
O: 202.280.6208
M: 240.498.3813
1300 19th Street NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC  20036
amerwin at oceanconservancy.org<mailto:amerwin at oceanconservancy.org>
Web<http://www.oceanconservancy.org> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/oceanconservancy> | Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/ourocean>


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