Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment 

 National Ocean Service 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 U.S. Department of Commerce 



The Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment (OMA) provides decisionmakers 

 comprehensive, scientific information on characteristics of the oceans, coastal areas, 

 and estuaries of the USA. The information ranges from strategic, national 

 assessments of coastal and estuarine environmental quality to real-time information 

 for navigation or hazardous materials spill response. For example, OMA monitors 

 the rise and fall of water levels at about 200 coastal locations of the USA (including 

 the Great Lakes); predicts the times and heights of high and low tides; and 

 provides information critical to national defense, safe navigation, marine boundary 

 determination, environmental management, and coastal engineering. Currently, 

 OMA is installing the Next Generation Water Level Measurement System that will 

 replace by 1992 exisiting water level measurement and data processing technologies. 

 Through its National Status and Trends Program, OMA uses uniform techniques to 

 monitor toxic chemical contamination of bottom-feeding fish, mussels and oysters, and 

 sediments at about 150 locations throughout the USA. A related OMA program of 

 directed research examines the relationships between contaminant exposure and 

 indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish. 



OMA uses computer-based circulation models and innovative measurement 

 technologies to develop new information products, including real-time circulation 

 data, circulation fore- casts under various meteorological conditions, and circulation 

 data atlases. OMA provides critical scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard 

 during spills of oil or hazardous materials into marine or estuarine environments. 

 This support includes spill trajectory predictions, chemical hazard analyses, and 

 assessments of the sensitivity of marine and estuarine environments to spills. The 

 program provides similar support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 

 Superfund Program during emergency responses at, and for the cleanup of, abandoned 

 hazardous waste sites in coastal areas. To fulfill the responsibilities of the 

 Secretary of Commerce as a trustee for living marine resources, OMA conducts 

 comprehensive assessments of damages to coastal and marine resources from 

 discharges of oil and hazardous materials. 



OMA collects, synthesizes, and distributes information on the use of the coastal and 

 oceanic resources of the USA to identify compatibilities and conflicts and to 

 determine research needs and priorities. It conducts comprehensive, strategic 

 assessments of multiple resource uses in coastal, estuarine, and oceanic areas for 

 decisionmaking by NOAA, other Federal agencies, state agencies, Congress, industry, 

 and public interest groups. It publishes a series of thematic data atlases on major 

 regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and on selected characteristics of major 

 U.S. estuaries. It also manages, for the U.S. Department of the Interior, a program 

 of environmental assessments of the effects of oil and gas devel- opment on the 

 Alaskan outer continental shelf. 



OMA implements NOAA responsibilities under Title II of the Marine Protection, J 



Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972; Section 6 of the National Ocean Pollution ^ 



Planning Act of 1978; and other Federal laws. It has three major line organizations: g__ 



The Physical Oceanography Division, the Ocean Assessments Division, and the ^^^n 

 Ocean Systems Division. g 



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