Public Comment Session
“Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan”

As the first step toward developing a comprehensive ocean management plan as required by the Ocean Act of 2008, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) is holding a series of public listening sessions across Massachusetts. Seventeen listening sessions are being held, many in local communities, to give citizens and stakeholders an opportunity to participate in this first-in-the-nation effort to craft a science-based plan to ensure the long-term protection and the sustainable use of ocean resources. Future development of offshore wind and other renewable energy resources represents one of several key areas to be addressed.

All local meetings begin at 7 pm, except for the Nantucket meeting, which starts at 6 pm:

10/14 - Oak Bluffs @ Martha’s Vineyard Commission, Stone Building, 33 New York Avenue

10/16 - Nantucket @ Nantucket High School, 10 Surfside Road

10/20 - West Barnstable @ Tilden Arts Center Main Theater, Cape Cod Community College, 2240 Iyannough Road

10/21 - Woods Hole @ Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, 53 Water Street

10/22 - Eastham @ Cape Cod National Seashore, National Park Service Salt Pond Visitor Center, Eastham

Informed by public input and aided by an Ocean Advisory Commission and a Science Advisory Council, EEA will produce a draft plan next summer, followed by another round of public comment. The Oceans Act sets a deadline of December 31, 2009 for final promulgation of an ocean plan that balances protection of marine resources with uses such as renewable energy development.

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