CRMC’s GLD approved for Ocean SAMP

PROVIDENCE, December 6, 2011 – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has approved the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council’s (CRMC) Geographic Location Description (GLD) as part of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan. This gives the Council an extended federal consistency review over federal waters.

The GLD will allow the CRMC to review any federal activity or project out to 30 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, including activities like offshore wind energy development, underwater transmission cables, or LNG pipelines or terminals. The Geographic Location Description, a tool unique to Rhode Island and the Ocean SAMP, will enable the CRMC to apply the policies of the SAMP to waters beyond the state’s 3-nautical mile jurisdictional boundary, within the Ocean SAMP area, through the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) Federal Consistency Provision..

Much like standard federal consistency, the GLD describes how federal actions, permits or activities in the federal waters off Rhode Island may have a reasonably foreseeable impact on the state’s coastal resources or uses. The information used to show the link between Rhode Island’s coastal zone and federal waters was principally based on the findings of the Ocean SAMP. Because of this, the CRMC is automatically afforded the opportunity to review federal projects out to 30 miles. Prior to the GLD, the Council would have had to request a review for these types of projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also recently approved the GLD, another first for Rhode Island and the nation.

“The GLD is the first of its kind in the state and the nation, and allows the CRMC to have a voice in what kind of offshore development takes place in the federal waters off Rhode Island’s coast,” said CRMC Executive Director Grover Fugate. “This tool will work as a major component of the Ocean SAMP, and both will help further Rhode Island’s role as a model for other states in marine spatial planning.”

For more information on Ocean SAMP, go to http://www.crmc.ri.gov/samp_ocean.html.