Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources invites the community to review and comment on the USVI Coastal Zone Management Program’s (CZM) Draft Section 309 Assessment and Strategy for the period 2023-2025, as required by the Office of Coastal Management, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Section 309 of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).
Section 309 of the CZMA establishes a program to encourage states and territories to improve their coastal management programs in the following nine enhancement areas: 1) wetlands, 2) coastal hazards, 3) public access, 4) marine debris, 5) cumulative and secondary impacts, 6) special area management planning, 7) ocean resources, 8) energy and government facility siting and 9) aquaculture.
States and territories are encouraged to conduct assessments of their coastal programs in these nine areas every five years and to develop strategies to address priority program needs that are identified in the assessment. This draft document has been prepared for the 2021-2025 program cycle.
A digital copy of the draft document is available at www.dpnr.vi.gov/czm and is also linked on the Department’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/VIDPNR. Hard copies of the draft will be available for review at the CZM offices.
The public is invited to submit written comments on the draft, preferably using the linked comment form https://forms.office.com/r/rYCQjrB4Z3. Alternatively, comments may be submitted via email to czm@dpnr.vi.gov or by mail to:
Department of Planning and Natural Resources c/o Coastal Zone Management
4611 Tutu Park Mall Ste 300
St. Thomas, VI 00802
Comments should clearly indicate the enhancement area, document section, page and/or line number that the comment refers to. Comments must be received on or before Nov. 26.
A summary of all relevant public comments will be included in the final document.
