MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1995 



The strategy notes specific problems and priorities 

 with regard to persistent organic contaminants, oil 

 pollution, heavy metals, noise, radioactivity, and 

 acidifying substances from various sources. Working 

 groups have been established to develop and oversee 

 implementation of four program areas: Arctic moni- 

 toring and assessment; protection of the Arctic marine 

 environment; emergency prevention, preparedness, 

 and response; and conservation of Arctic flora and 

 fauna. A task force was created in 1994 to identify 

 and initiate cooperative actions to promote sustainable 

 development and utilization of Arctic resources. 



The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy 

 contains no legally binding obligations. However, the 

 eight signatory nations have committed themselves to 

 implementing it. Senior Arctic officials from the 

 eight nations meet at least once a year to review work 

 being done by the various working groups and to 

 identify additional measures that might be taken. 

 Ministerial-level meetings are held approximately 

 every other year to provide overall guidance. Repre- 

 sentatives of three international Arctic indigenous 

 peoples organizations have been granted permanent 

 participant status and are entitled to attend all working 

 group, senior Arctic officials, and ministerial meet- 

 ings. The organizations are the Inuit Circumpolar 

 Conference, the SAAMI Council, and the Association 

 of Indigenous Minorities of the North, Siberia and the 

 Far East of the Russian Federation. As noted in the 

 Marine Mammal Commission's previous annual 

 report, the Commission and the Department of State 

 cooperatively provided funding to the Inuit Circumpo- 

 lar Conference in 1994 to ensure that Alaska Natives 

 could participate in key meetings. 



The Department of State has lead responsibility for 

 developing and overseeing general U.S. policy regard- 

 ing implementation of the strategy. The Department 

 of State also has lead responsibility for formulating 

 and implementing U.S. policy regarding the Task 

 Force on Sustainable Development and Utilization. 

 Other agencies have lead responsibility for the remain- 

 ing program areas: the National Science Foundation 

 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 

 tration share lead responsibility for coordinating U.S. 

 policy and activities regarding Arctic monitoring and 

 assessment; the Fish and Wildlife Service has lead 

 responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy and activi- 



ties concerning conservation of Arctic flora and fauna; 

 the Coast Guard has lead responsibility for U.S. 

 activities regarding emergency prevention, prepared- 

 ness, and response; and the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration has lead responsibility for 

 U.S. activities regarding protection of the Arctic 

 marine environment. 



General policy formulation is coordinated through 

 an interagency working group chaired by the Depart- 

 ment of State. This group includes representatives of 

 the Marine Mammal Commission, the Arctic Research 

 Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, 

 the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of 

 Defense, and the National Park Service, as well as the 

 previously mentioned agencies. 



Proposed Formation of an 

 Intergovernmental Arctic Council 



Many of the Arctic nations believe a more formal, 

 intergovernmental organization is necessary to effec- 

 tively implement the Arctic Environmental Protection 

 Strategy and to address other matters of mutual 

 regional concern. At a meeting of senior Arctic 

 officials in Iqaluit, Canada, on 15-17 March 1995, 

 Canadian officials proposed that an informal meeting 

 be held in June 1995 to draft an agreement establish- 

 ing an intergovernmental Arctic council that could be 

 concluded at the ministerial meeting expected to be 

 held in March 1996. 



The drafting meeting was held in Ottawa on 6-7 

 June 1995. In preparation, the Department of State 

 conveyed to the other Arctic nations a set of points 

 outlining the United States' general approach to the 

 formation of the proposed council. The communique 

 indicated the U.S. view that the proposed Arctic 

 council should have two primary functions: (1) over- 

 sight and coordination of efforts to implement the 

 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, and (2) 

 provision of a forum for addressing issues regarding 

 sustainable development in the Arctic. 



With regard to the second point, it noted that a 

 number of the issues raised within the Task Force on 

 Sustainable Development and Utilization had ad- 

 dressed domestic legislative prerogatives and interna- 



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