The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental
Affairs (EOEEA) recently released for public review and comment a draft
update to the Ocean Management Plan for the
Commonwealth. The Oceans Act, signed by Governor Patrick in
2008, required the Secretary of EOEEA to develop a comprehensive
ocean management plan to be reviewed every five years. The first
plan was released in 2009, and the recently released update is a
result of this five year review. The plan addresses the areas of
habitat, fisheries, sediment resources, recreational and cultural
services, transportation and navigation, and energy and
infrastructure.
As I wrote about last spring, the state's Office of Coastal
Zone Management drafted regulations designed to implement the 2009
Ocean Management Plan. The final regulations, promulgated in August of
2013, required that projects within the act's jurisdiction pay
an Ocean Development Mitigation Fee, but left a placeholder for the
development of
