Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 95 



PART THREE: ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING 

 THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE 



To evaluate the proposal for designating 

 Stellwagen Bank as a National Marine Sanctuary, 

 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration (NOAA) has analyzed institutional, 

 boundary, management, cmd regulatory options for 

 achieving optimum protection for the overall 

 Stellwagen Bank system; for increasing scientific 

 knowledge of the area; and for promoting pubUc 

 understanding of the value and sensitivity of 

 Stellwagen Bank resources. Part Three discusses 

 the alternatives considered during this evaluation 

 process. Part Four, following, describes the 

 environmental consequences of the alternatives 

 discussed in this Part. 



Note to Reviewers : On October 7, 1992, Congress 

 passed legislation reauthorizing and amending Title 

 III of the MPRSA, and this legislation was signed 

 into law on November 4, 1992 (P.L. 102-587). As 

 amended, Title III designates the Stellwagen Bank 

 National Marine Sanctuary (P.L. 102-587, §2202). 

 Thus, the Status Quo (or No Action) alternative, as 

 described in Section I, below, is precluded as an 

 institutional alternative. P.L. 102-587 additionally 

 mjuidates specific actions by the Secretary of 

 Commerce affecting the Sanctuary boundary and 

 human activities in the Sanctuary. These mandates 

 are discussed in the sections following related to 

 boundary alternatives and regulatory alternatives. 



The institutional alternative of Sanctuary designation 

 is general is discussed as a complementary measure 

 to existing authorities and programs. Within this 

 context, various individual management and 

 regulatory alternatives are presented below. 



Section I: Status Quo Alternative (No Action) 



The status quo alternative proposes no action, 

 and reUes on existing State and Federal authorities 

 and programs operating in the Stellwagen Bank 

 area for long-term protection and management of 

 the Stellwagen Bank system. The nature and extent 

 of these existing authorities is summarized in 

 Appendix B. 



Several Federal and State government agencies 



and programs are charged with responsibility for 

 regulation and management of both individual 

 resources and/or human activities in the Stellwagen 

 Bank area. With regard to certain resources or 

 activities, these responsibihties are shared via inter- 

 agency agreements and programs. While these 

 arrangements — most often aimed at single resource 

 management or at environmenteilly-safe conduct of 

 human activities - are generally satisfactory, there 

 remain significant gaps in the protection of the 

 overall Stellwagen Bank system. No existing 

 authority or program has either the mandate or the 

 ability to provide for long-term protection and 

 management of this system, which attracts an 

 increasing number and variety of human users to its 

 resources. The gaps have become more apparent as 

 real or potential results of human activities are 

 identified. Faced with the realistic prospect of 

 increased human uses in the Stellwagen Bank area, 

 existing authorities are likely to lose their ability to 

 function effectively or fully. Deficiencies in 

 personnel, equipment, and enforcement funding 

 have aheady been identified as serious problems in 

 ensuring resource protection under existing 

 mandates in the Bank area. 



Additionally, in spite of good intentions, 

 individual agency or program missions are often 

 defined narrowly, without consideration of the 

 larger ecosystem within which they operate. As the 

 level of uses increases in this area, the potential also 

 increases for confusing and overlapping 

 jurisdictional authorities. At present, there is no 

 single institutional entity with the ability to facilitate 

 conflict resolution; and to provide a focal point to 

 the pubUc for understanding both the resources and 

 the management of the Stellwagen Bank system. 

 Given the variety and level of resources and uses, 

 the presence of such an entity is critical to overall 

 system protection. Appendix B identifies existing 

 Federal and State management authorities related 

 to resources and activities in the Stellwagen Bank 

 area. Appendix C identifies the abbreviations used 

 in this document. 



Federal agencies with existing primary 

 responsibilities in the area of Stellwagen Bank are: 

 NOAAS National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (NMFS), of the U.S. Department of Commerce; the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), of the U.S. 



