OCEANS
Obama to back council to coordinate marine regs, activities
The Obama administration set a new policy in motion today intended to improve coordination among federal and state agencies on the use of the Great Lakes and coastal and deep ocean waters for activities ranging from recreation, fishing to energy development. The final recommendations from a task force of federal agencies officials call for a National Ocean Council that would seek to make sense of the hundreds of different laws affecting the oceans and unify the diverse federal agencies that can have some effect on the Great Lakes and marine waters.