National Organizations
AMERICAN LITTORAL SOCIETY

AMERICAN OCEANS CAMPAIGN

BIODIVERSITY LEGAL FOUNDATION

CORAL -
CORAL REEF ALLIANCE

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE

FISH FOREVER

GLOBAL CORAL REEF ALLIANCE

INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

OCEAN FUTURES

OCEAN LAW & POLICY INSTITUTE

OCEANWATCH

REEF -
REEF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION

REEF CHECK

REEFKEEPER INTERNATIONAL

SIERRA CLUB

Regional Organizations
Abalone & Marine Resources Council

Admiralty Divers

Alianza Ambiental Puertorriqueña

Aquatica Underwater Adventures

Asian Aquatic Adventures

Asociacion Oceanica de Panama

Association of Diving Program Administrators

Cape Arago Audubon Society

Coalición Ecologica del Este

Coastal Research & Education

Coastal Waters Project

Coastal Zone

Comite Profondo Desecheo

Cry of the Water

Dive Gals

Dive Training Magazine

Diver's Supply Group

Earthtrust of Hawaii

EcoVitality

Environment Tobago

Florida Marine Life Association

Greenpeace Foundation

Gulf Restoration Network

Hawaii Audubon Society

Hawaii Fishermen's Foundation

IsoMer Laboratory Students Association

Jack's Diving Locker Club

Kapalua Divers

Kauai Scuba Divers

Kissimmee Pro Divers

Kohala Divers

Liga Ecologica del Noreste

Lost Fish Coalition

Maui Divers

Micronesian Divers Association

Mobjack Baykeeper Program

Nature Foundation of Sint Maarten

Northwest Environmental Advocates

Ocean Watch Foundation

Oceanic Resource Foundation

Oceanographic Expeditions

Offshore Adventures

Pacific Divers

Paradise Divers

Planetary Coral Reef Foundation

Pro Scuba Association

Real World Divers

ReefCare Curaçao

Reefwatch

Save Our Seas

Sea Sport Divers

Sea Wonders Association

Seaing Eye Society

Southeastern Marine Aquarium Society

Star Thrower Foundation

Univ. of Miami Marine Science Program

University of Rhode Island Scuba Club

Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service

West Hawaii Reefwatchers

February 22, 2000

Hon. Bruce Babbitt
Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

Hon. Robert Mallet
Deputy Secretary of Commerce
Dept. of Commerce - Rm 5128
14th and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230

RE: U.S. Coral Reef Task
Force Oversight

Dear Secretary Babbitt
and Deputy Secretary Mallet:

We, the 77 undersigned conservation, diving, fishing, and science organizations representing over 2.3 million individuals from every American coral reef area and throughout the nation, respectfully request that the final action plan developed by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) fulfill the USCRTF's mandate to protect U.S. coral reefs from damaging federal agency actions by:

a) clearly specifying the USCRTF's role as an enforcer of Executive Order 13089, and

b) including a staffed oversight process for the USCRTF to evaluate pending agency actions and prohibit those actions which would degrade coral reef ecosystems.

Executive Order 13089
Executive Order 13089, signed by President Clinton on June 11, 1998, established the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and its obligations to

"oversee implementation of the policy and Federal agency responsibilities set forth in this order" (Section 4);

"develop, recommend, and seek or secure implementation of measures necessary to reduce and mitigate coral reef ecosystem degradation and to restore damaged coral reefs" (Section 5).

Section 2 of the Executive Order states:
"(a) All Federal agencies whose actions may affects U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall ... (b) utilize their programs and authorities to protect and enhance the conditions of such ecosystems; and (c) to the extent permitted by law, ensure that any actions they authorize, fund, or carry out will not degrade the conditions of such ecosystems."

These two sections clearly outline the goals of the Executive Order as well as the responsibility of the Task Force to oversee the implementation of the Executive Order, including Section 2's requirement for non-degradation of coral reef ecosystems by any Federal agency actions.

Oversight Process
In order to fulfill the obligations of the Executive Order, an oversight process must be developed to ensure that Sections 2, 4, and 5 are met. This process must include personnel with direct responsibility for this oversight.

All Federal agencies should be required to designate personnel who are responsible for reviewing all agency actions for compliance with the Executive Order. In addition, the USCRTF, as the enforcer of the Executive Order, should have a staffed process for enforcing the Executive Order. This staffed process would include reviews of proposed Federal agency actions as well as a mechanism whereby the USCRTF could halt any proposed Federal agency actions that would violate the Executive Order.

Only with an effective oversight process can we be assured that the intent and obligations set forth in Executive Order 13089 are met.

We look forward to your support for and early response to our request.

Respectfully submitted,

(authorizations on file)

Gene Kramer Abalone & Marine Resources Council 297 Juanita Ave. Pacifica, CA 94044 Ms. Portia Martinez Admiralty Dive Center P.O. Box 907065 St. Thomas, USVI 00803 Evelyn Moreno Alianza Ambiental Puertorriqueña Urb. Las Cubres Ave. E. Pol 497 Box 230 San Juan, PR 00926 D.W. Bennett American Littoral Society Sandy Hook Highlands, New Jersey Phil Kline American Oceans Campaign 600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE Suite 210 Washington, DC 20005 Aquatica Underwater Adventures c/o Jose E. Rafols Sallaberry P.O. Box 250350 Ramey, Puerto Rico 00604-0350 Mr. Mark Black Asian Aquatic Adventures JI. Bung Hatta 28 Mataram Lombok Indonesia Prof. Richard Peralta Asociacion Oceanica De Panama Apodo 6-3998 El Dorado Panama, Republica de Panama Jim Hart Association of Diving Program Administrators 4418 Saint Ann St. New Orleans, LA 70119 Jasper Carlton, Executive Director Biodiversity Legal Foundation POB 278 Louisville, CO 80027 Leslie Farnel, President Dive Maui, Inc., 900 Front Street Lahaina, HI 96761 Jose M. (Pico) Castello Dive Paradise P. O. Box 222 Cozumel, Q Roo 77600 MEXICO Alex Brylske Dive Training Magazine 5215 Crooker Road Parkville, MO 64152 Leo Kisrow Diver's Supply 9701 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32216 Sue White Earthtrust 25 Kaneohe Bay Drive #205 Kailua, HI 96734 Howard A. Latin, President EcoVitality, Inc. 224 Centre Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10013 Kamau Akili, President/General Manager Environment TOBAGO P.O. Box 503 Scarborough Tobago Rod Fujita Environmental Defense 5655 College Ave. Oakland, CA 94618 Dave Allison, President Fish Forever 1271 Quaker Hill Drive Alexandria, VA 22314 Ken Nedimyer Florida Marine Life Association P. O. Box 712 Tavernier, FL 33070 Dr. Thomas J. Goreau, President Global Coral Reef Alliance 324 Bedford Rd. Chappaqua, NY 10514 Kathy Hall La Liga Ecologica Puertorriqueña del Noroeste P.O. Box 250021 Ramey, PR 00604 Bob Owens Lost Fish Coalition P.O. Box 390508 Kailua-Kona, HI 96739 Micronesian Divers Association, Inc. P.O. Box 24991 GMF, Guam 92921-4991 Bob Richter Mobjack Baykeeper Program P.O. Box 39 Gloucester, VA 23061 Thomas J. Kiernan National Parks Conservation Association 1300 19th Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20036 Sarah Chasis Natural Resources Defense Council 40 W. 20th Street, 11th Floor New York, New York 10011 Andy Caballero Nature Foundation of Sint Maarten P.O. Box 863 Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Neth. Antilles Nina Bell Northwest Environmental Advocates 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 302 Portland, OR 97204-3526 Barbara La Piana Ocean Futures 325 Chapala Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Linda Paul Ocean Law & Policy Institute 1088 Bishop St. Suite 808 Honolulu, HI Alexander Stone ReefKeeper International 2829 Bird Avenue - Suite 5, PMB 162 Miami, FL 33133-4668 Philip Pepe ReefWatch P.O. Box 615 Cave Creek, AZ 85327 Carl Stepath Save Our Seas P.O. Box 598 Hanalei, HI 96714 Marvin Otsuji Sea Sport Divers P.O. Box 639 Kaloa, HI 96756 Patricia Sullivan Lynch Sea Wonders 125 Oscaleta Road South Salem, NY 10590 Les Kaufman Seaing Eye 5 Cummington Street Boston, MA 02215 Dave Raney Sierra Club 85 2nd Street, 2nd floor San Francisco, CA 94105-3459 Brian Todd Southeastern Marine Aquarium Society 2932 Lone Star Trail Atlanta, GA 30340 Joe Strykowski Star Thrower Foundation P.O. Box 2200 Crystal River, FL 34423 Daniel DiResta, Ph.D. University of Miami Marine and Atmospheric Science Program Coral Gables, FL 33124

Dr., Ray Nolan, President Cape Arago Audubon Society North Bend , Oregon Sally Tully-Figueroa Coalición Ecologica del Este, Inc. P O Box 70005, Suite 399 Fajardo, PR 00738-7005 Ken Lindeman, Ph.D. Coastal Research & Education, Inc. 14630 SW 144 Terr. Miami, FL 33186 Ron Huber, Director Coastal Waters Project 418 Main Street Rockland, ME 04841 Thorne E. Abbott Coastal Zone.Org 2003 Clark PlAce Alexandria, VA 22308 Comite Profondo de Desecheo c/o Jose E. Rafols Sallaberry P.O. Box 250350 Ramey, Puerto Rico 00604-0350 Stephen Colwell, Executive Director CORAL--The Coral Reef Alliance 64 Sattuck Sq #220 Berkeley, CA 94704 c/o Dan Clark Cry of the Water 10772 La Placida Dr. Coral Springs, FL 33065 Carroll Muffett Defenders of Wildlife 1101 14th St., NW Ste 1400 Washington, DC 20005 Amber Knight Dive Gal Enterprises P.O. Box 452 Papaikou, HI 96781 Michael Gough Dive Kauai Scuba Center 976 Kuhio Highway #C Kapaa, Kauai, HI 96746 Sue White Greenpeace Foundation 1118 Maunawili Road Kailua, HI 96734 Cyn Sarthou Gulf Restoration Network P.O. Box 2245 New Orleans, LA 70176 Scarlett Watts Hal Watt's Pro Scuba Association 2219 E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL 32803 Linda Paul Hawaii Audubon Society 1088 Bishop St. Suite 808 Honolulu, HI Linda Paul Hawaii Fishermen's Foundation 1088 Bishop St. Suite 808 Honolulu, HI Michael Leech International Game Fish Association 300 Gulf Streamway Dania Beach, FL 33004 Peter Beninger IsoMer, Faculte des Sciences Universite de Nantes 44322 Nantes Cedex France Andrea Leicher Jack's Diving Locker 75-5819 Alii Dr Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Eden McAfee Kapalua Dive Co. P.O. Box 11161 Lahaina, HI 96761 Ron Menke Kissimmee Pro Dive Club/Shop 406 East Vine Street Kissimmee, FL 34744 Turner Lett, President Kohala Divers Ltd P. O. Box 44940 Kawaihae, HI 96743 Lisa Wetherington Ocean Watch Foundation P.O. Box 462 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33302 Greg Carter, President Oceanic Resource Foundation 1700 Montgomery Street #111 San Francisco, CA 94111 Jim Hart Oceanographic Expeditions 4418 Saint Ann St. New Orleans, LA 70119 Cliff McCreedy Oceanwatch 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 900 Arlington, VA 22201 Leslie Farnel, President Offshore Adventures P.O. 1656 Lahaina, HI 96767 Bruce Malmberg Pacific Dive 150 Dickenson St. Lahaina, Maui, HI 96761 Abigail Alling Planetary Coral Reef Foundation 7 Silver Hills Road Santa Fe, NM 87505-4488 Real World Diving P.O. Box 2800 Hagatna, Guam 96932 Laddie Atkins Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) P.O. Box 246 Key Largo, FL 33037-0246 Gregor Hodgson, Ph.D. Reef Check Global Survey Program GPO BOx 12375 Hong Kong Menno van der Velde Reef Care Curaçao P.O. Box 676 Curaçao, Neth. Antilles Jennifer M. Lally University of Rhode Island Scuba Club 50 Lower College Road, Unit #1689 Kingston, RI 02881 Paige Rothenberger University of the Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service RR #2, Box 10,000 Kingshill, St. Croix, VI 00850 Sara Peck West Hawaii Reefwatchers P.O. Box 56 Holualoa, HI 96725