About OCRM
	What's Happening
	Coastal Resource and Policy Issues
	Resources, Publications and Outreach
	Coastal Zone Management Act
	Coastal Zone Management Program
	National Estuarine Research Reserve System
	Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology
	Site Map / Site Index

About OCRM

The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) is an office within the National Ocean Service (NOS). NOS is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

OCRM's address is:

Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management

N/ORM 10th floor SSMC4

1305 East-West Highway

Silver Spring, MD 20910

OCRM is responsible for implementing the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA). The CZMA created two national programs:

1. The National Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program. The CZMP is a unique federal-state partnership for protecting, restoring, and responsibly developing the nation's important and diverse coastal communities and resources. This is the mission of the National CZM Program and its 33 state and territory-based Coastal Management Programs. Through NOAA's responsibilities under the CZMA, the OCRM works with the coastal and Great Lakes states and U.S. island territories to develop and implement these Coastal Management Programs. Under these Programs, states and territories agree to work toward balancing the conservation and development of coastal resources using state and territorial management authorities, thereby providing for the sustainable development of the nation's coasts.

2. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Estuaries - the fragile fringe along the coasts where fresh and saltwater mix - are some of our most important coastal resources. Keeping estuaries healthy is vital for keeping our coasts healthy, but this requires an understanding of how estuaries function. Through the reserve system, OCRM works with the coastal states and territories to set aside representative estuaries for long-term research, education and stewardship. Twenty-five National Estuarine Research Reserves have been designated in coastal states. The NERRS provides data and information to Coastal Management Program managers so that they can make better decisions about how to balance coastal conservation and development in their states and territories.

To carry out NOAA's responsibilities under the Coastal Zone Management Act, the OCRM works directly with coastal states and territories to support the development of new Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves, provide technical and financial assistance to coastal program and reserve operations, undertake projects with program-wide or system-wide benefits, integrate information from all of the Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves to support activities at the national level, and promote coastal stewardship on a variety of critical coastal issues. Such issues include: coastal habitat protection and restoration; coastal hazards; public access to the shore for recreation; sustainable development of coastal communities, including urban waterfronts; and polluted runoff (also known as nonpoint source pollution or runoff pollution).

OCRM Management is composed of the following staff:

Eldon Hout, Director

Doug Brown, Deputy Director

John King, Chief, Coastal Programs Division

Laurie McGilvray, Chief, Estuarine Reserves Division

Ralph Cantral, Chief, National Policy and Evaluation Division

Barbara MacNeill, Chief, Business Management Division

Joe Uravitch, Chief, National Marine Protected Areas Center

For more information, contact Chris.Stevens@noaa.gov