Senate Looks to Create Ocean Conservation Trust Fund

OCEANS: Senators eye trust fund for conservation (06/11/2010)
Allison Winter, E&E reporter

A bipartisan Senate duo is vying to create a "National Endowment for the Oceans" that would pay for conservation efforts on U.S. coasts and ocean waters -- a longstanding request from marine advocates that could gain new traction in the wake of the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) are preparing legislation that would set aside some of the money collected from oil and gas taxes for a fund dedicated to conservation of oceans and coastlines.

The bill would join a flurry of legislative efforts attempting to respond to the oil spill or highlight gaps in federal funding and policy. The bills have the potential to become part of an energy package the Senate is expected to take up this summer.

Lawmakers are also eyeing the oil-spill response package as a possible vehicle for other oceans legislation that has struggled to find time for debate on the House and Senate floor, according to congressional aides.

Staff from the Senate Commerce Committee and House Science and Technology Committee said they are looking for opportunities to contribute to the bill -- which could end up being a vehicle even for broader legislation like reauthorization of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the aides said. The CZMA governs activities in state waters from the shoreline out to about 3 miles offshore.

Whitehouse told oceans advocates at the Capitol Hill Oceans Week conference yesterday that he and Snowe are still working on the legislation but expect to introduce it in the next few weeks. Oceans advocates and federal marine experts applauded the announcement.

At first, the fund would rely on the interest from the oil spill trust fund, Whitehouse said. A five-cent-per-barrel tax is the main funding for the oil spill liability trust fund, which would pay for federal coordinators to respond to a spill, damage claims or appropriations for research and development. The oceans endowment would likely start small and seek more money as it develops, Whitehouse added.

"To a certain extent it will have to earn its stripes," Whitehouse said.

Oceans experts have advocated for years for an ocean trust fund. The Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on the Oceans both recommended the creation of a special, dedicated ocean trust fund as part of sweeping reports they issued more than five years ago.

"We need permanent and dedicated funding for ocean conservation and management using a portion of the [outer continental shelf] revenue," Chris Mann of Pew Environment Group said in an interview yesterday. "The spill so greatly highlights that the true cost of offshore oil and gas drilling is not just to the environment but the economy. It seems like a golden opportunity to lock in an approach that reinvests a reasonable portion of that revenue."