[Coral-List] Majuro video

[Dennis Hubbard]

Mark:

All excellent points. Thanks. It strikes me that, whatever legal control US
agencies might have in the murkiness of a "free association", they DO
control the purse strings if this is, as represented on the web (a
non-impeachable source), funded by them.

Dennis

On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 2:38 PM, mtupper <mtupper at coastal-resources.org>wrote:

> **
>  Good point, Alina. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a member of
> the US Coral Reef Task Force as a Freely Associated State (along with Palau
> and the FSM). However, what isn't clear is whether or not the Executive
> Order of 1998 or the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 are enforceable in
> the RMI. The mandate of the Coral Reef Conservation Act does appear to
> apply to the RMI, but consists mainly of technical assistance and funding,
> rather than enforcement measures. The Executive Order's international
> mandate seems to be directed at the trade in live or dead corals for the
> aquarium/curio industries.
>
>  The US government organizations that do have enforcement mandates related
> to coral reefs include the Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and
> perhaps most importantly, the EPA. Again, I am not sure of their ability to
> act in the Freely Associated States, although they certainly have
> management and enforcement roles in Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, CNMI
> and USVI.
>
>  I don't see this as a national security issue, since according to Dean,
> the runway could be constructed with fill from other locations that would
> not require reef mining. But speaking of national security, I note that
> both the US Dept. of Defense and the Dept. of Homeland Security are members
> of the Coral Reef Task Force.
>
>  Perhaps somebody from NOAA could give us a better idea of what (if any)
> environmental regulations could actually be enforced by the US government
> in the Marshall Islands, or whether any political pressure could be applied
> to prevent unnecessary coral destruction. Being Canadian, my knowledge of
> US laws and politics is limited.
>
>  Cheers,
>  Mark
>
>  Dr. Mark Tupper
> Coastal Resources Association
> 207-10822 City Parkway, Surrey, BC, Canada V3T 0C2
> www.coastal-resources.org
> Email: mtupper at coastal-resources.org
> Tel. 1-604-588-1674; Mobile: 1-604-961-2022
>
> Philippines Office:
> Poblacion, Sagay, Camiguin, Philippines 9103
> Tel. 63-927-921-9915
>
>



-- 
Dennis Hubbard
Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"