Legal Frameworks for MPA Enforcement in the Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities
Author
Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
February 2015

This study reviews MPA laws in the eight Caribbean nations based on the types of regulated activities allowed in MPAs and the enforcement authorities they include. Based on this country-by-country legal review, the study preliminarily identifies similarities and differences among enforcement authorities in the region and highlights model approaches that may assist enforcement reform in this area. We specifically analyzed a number of issues, including:

Maryland Offshore Energy Framework
Author
James McElfish, Daniel Schramm, and Adam Schempp
Date Released
September 2009
Maryland Offshore Energy Framework

ELI’s Oceans and Land & Biodiversity staff analyze the tools available to Maryland’s Coastal Zone Management Program to address new energy activities in state and federal coastal waters. The report assesses Maryland’s existing laws and policies, interstate agreements, and federal laws, and identifies potential measures that can help Maryland create an Offshore Energy Framework.

Gulf of Mexico Habitat Conservation & Restoration: A Look at the Five U.S. Gulf States' Legal and Institutional Frameworks
Author
Jordan Diamond, Kathryn Mengerink, and Sara Gersen
Date Released
September 2011
Gulf of Mexico Habitat Conservation and Restoration: A Look at the Five U.S. Gul

This report examines the legal and institutional frameworks for achieving habitat conservation and restoration of the five U.S. Gulf states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas). It provides an overarching assessment of the states’ approaches to managing different habitat types as well as several cross-cutting issues, including examples of particularly successful programs and recommendations for strengthening others. It also provides individual profiles of each of the five states.

Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters: An Assessment and Analysis of Existing Legal Mechanisms, Anticipated Barriers, and Future Opportunities
Author
Jordan Diamond, Adam Schempp, Kathryn Mengerink, and Jay Austin
Date Released
December 2009
Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters: An Assessment and Analysis of Existing Leg

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has gained increasing international attention as a tool for implementing ecosystem-based management, reducing user conflicts, and ensuring the sustainable use of ocean and coastal resources. While the President’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force developed recommendations for a federal MSP framework, the Environmental Law Institute and Ocean Conservancy have released a report, Marine Spatial Planning in US Waters, that reviews federal ocean and coastal laws, identifying the obstacles and opportunities they present for federal MSP.

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