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Additional Links
Coral 312 Program
The Coral 312 Program is a collaborative effort that involves many different
government entities. Those involved in the program include:
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Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FFWCC)
.
Whenever a grounding occurs in the Florida
Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), FFWCC officers (who are
cross-deputized to enforce NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program regulations)
are usually the first to respond. If the grounding takes place on a coral reef
and more than 10 square meters of coral are injured, officers will notify a
restoration biologist of the need for an injury assessment.
Coral groundings that cause less than 10 square meters of damage are handled
directly by FFWCC officers under the civil penalty provisions of the
National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) .
-
NOAA Office of Response and Restoration,
Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP). A
DARRP economist is responsible for completing the habitat
equivalency analysis and estimating the costs of primary and
compensatory restoration, monitoring,
and oversight.
-
NOAA
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Fisheries and
Habitat Research (CCFHR). CCFHR is developing a coral recovery model
that predicts how quickly coral injuries will recover to pregrounding
conditions, which is vital information for the habitat
equivalency analysis.
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NOAA Office of the General
Counsel for Natural Resources (GCNR). GCNR is responsible for providing
legal representation for NOAA claims under NMSA in settlement negotiations and
preparing all legal documents. Although obtaining out-of-court settlements is
preferable, GCNR also participates in cases that require litigation.
- Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
(FKNMS). The Coral 312 Program addresses only groundings that occur
within FKNMS. Stretching 220 miles, the sanctuary protects a subtropical
archipelago known worldwide for its extensive offshore coral reefs. It also
sustains many other interdependent habitats, including fringing mangroves and
seagrass meadows. Designated in 1990, the purposes of FKNMS are protection and
management of the sanctuary resources. NOAA and the state of Florida comanage
FKNMS, and FKNMS biologists implement coral restoration
and monitoring.
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NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program
(NMSP). Administered by NOAA's National Ocean Service, NMSP protects
and manages the habitats, ecological value, threatened and endangered species,
historic and archeological resources, and recreational and aesthetic resources
of specially designated areas of the nation's oceans and Great Lakes. NMSP is
the federal trustee for natural resources in the 13 national marine
sanctuaries. The authority to seek damages for injury to sanctuary resources is
mandated in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act
,
and the responsibility to pursue such damages is delegated to NMSP. NMSP
oversees the Coral 312 Program and ensures consistency with other program
policies and with the mandates and regulations of other federal agencies.
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State of Florida Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP)
.
DEP is the state trustee for all natural resources in FKNMS and is responsible
for overseeing the Coral 312 Program and ensuring consistency with other state
agencies.
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