ELI’s Oceans and Land & Biodiversity staff analyze the tools available to Maryland’s Coastal Zone Management Program to address new energy activities in state and federal coastal waters. The report assesses Maryland’s existing laws and policies, interstate agreements, and federal laws, and identifies potential measures that can help Maryland create an Offshore Energy Framework. Among its recommendations are that Maryland form an interagency council to develop policy on offshore energy activities, and that it launch an offshore alternative energy task force under the 2009 federal Minerals Management Service rules to guide research and decisionmaking that may affect leasing of Outer...
