In June 2009, the Obama Admin. established an Ocean Policy Task Force to develop a national ocean policy. On Sept. 10, 2009, the task force released an Interim Report which includes national ocean policy priorities, a governance structure for interagency coordination, and an implementation strategy. Most congressional activity has focused on specific topics, incl. ocean exploration, ocean and coastal mapping, ocean and coastal integrated observation, ocean acidification research and monitoring, and coastal and estuarine land conservation. Contents of this report: (1) Background: U.S. Comm. on Ocean Policy; Pew Oceans Comm.; Admin. Response; Joint Ocean Comm. Initiative; (2) Issues for Congress. Charts and tables.

Agenda for a Sustainable America is a comprehensive assessment of U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America. Packed with facts, figures, and the well-informed opinions of forty-one experts, it provides an illuminating "snapshot" of sustainability in the United States today. And each of the contributors suggests where we need to go next, recommending three to five specific actions that we should take during the next five to ten years. It thus offers a comprehensive agenda that citizens, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and government leaders and policymakers can use to make decisions today and to plan for the future.

The public trust doctrine. Role of the states. Managing coastal development. National environmental policy act ...