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NOAA has proposed revisions to the regulations for managing the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The Final Rulemaking may include changes to the sanctuary boundary, changes to the size, location, and restrictions of specially managed areas within the sanctuary, and changes to sanctuary-wide management regulations.

Statement of Need:

To ensure long-term resource viability and ecosystem function, NOAA is updating the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) management framework to address current and future threats to sanctuary resources, such as diminished water quality, significant decrease in coral cover, and habitat degradation from vessel impacts including anchor damage, propeller-scarring, and groundings. Each of these threats has major implications for FKNMS. Since 2011, sanctuary resources have been degraded by Hurricane Irma (2017), a serious and widespread coral disease outbreak, a seagrass die-off, and warming ocean temperatures as evident during the summer 2023 marine heat wave, among other threats. 

Furthermore, during the comment phase on the draft documents for this action, the public emphasized the need for a more ecosystem-based management approach to better protect the region’s marine resources. There was strong public support for sanctuary expansion and updated marine zones. As a result, the final rule would extend national marine sanctuary management actions to areas that have demonstrated biological and ecological connectivity with existing sanctuary resources and includes adaptive management strategies to better respond to changing conditions, use patterns, and emerging threats to resources. 

Summary of the Legal Basis:

ONMS is implementing this rule pursuant to its rulemaking authority under the National Marine Sanctuary Act (NMSA, 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).

Alternatives:

Through this final rulemaking, NOAA would implement the Final Preferred Alternative, which is analyzed in the final environmental impact statement (EIS). Under the Final Preferred Alternative, NOAA would expand the sanctuary boundary, update sanctuary-wide regulations, update the individual marine zones and their associated regulations, revise the sanctuary’s terms of designation, and revise the sanctuary’s management plan. This Final Preferred Alternative makes minor modifications to the 2022 proposed rule based on public and agency comments received on the proposed rule. Like the proposed rule, the Final Preferred Alternative combines individual aspects of each of the four alternatives presented in the 2019 draft EIS.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

This action is primarily intended to further conserve and protect sanctuary resources and therefore result in overall socioeconomic benefits. The benefits of this action are primarily maintaining the flow of ecosystem services that are facilitated by a healthy marine ecosystem, including productive fisheries, tourism, and recreational opportunities. However, due to the proposed marine zones and associated regulations that may impact various access, including general access and commercial and recreational fishing access, the analysis also shows potential costs. Costs to the fishing sector assume the maximum potential loss and that there is no replacement value (i.e., moving activities to a different location). Overall costs were estimated to be less than 1 percent of annual revenue for all fisheries except the spiny lobster fishery, where an approximate 2 percent annual loss was estimated. Even at maximum potential loss, NOAA’s action is well below the $100 million threshold.

Risks:

This action is critical for NOAA’s work to improve the condition of resources in FKNMS through a series of regulatory measures designed to reduce threats and, where appropriate, restore coral reefs, seagrasses, and other important habitats. The intended effect of this action is to manage and protect the living and heritage resources of FKNMS for the benefit of the public.  While this action would not be nationally controversial, considering the large geographic area of the Florida Keys and its wide-ranging human uses, this action may be of high interest.