• PROPOSAL •

of the University of Mississippi for the National Sea Grant Law Center

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

I. Introduction
   In 1998, seafood processors in the coastal communities of Alabama found themselves in a confusing situation when their seafood processing plans met federal and state regulations but conflicted with new FDA guidelines. Unsure about which set of rules they were to comply with, they relied on Sea Grant services for answers and contacted an agent at the Alabama Sea Grant Extension Service. Recognizing the potential legal ramifications for the processors, the agent contacted the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program and received legal analysis distinguishing between processors' responsibilities under the federal regulations and the new guidelines.
     In 1999, a Knauss Fellow from Senator Ron Wyden's office contacted the Legal Program to find out if constituents from the Oregon coast injured by the oil spills of the New Carissa could recover for private property and business damages such as the loss of profits that year under the Oil Pollution Act. The Legal Program provided an analysis for recovery under the federal statute which allows for clean-up costs, natural resource damages, and private claims. Earlier this year, oyster growers recovered a jury award of $1.4 million under the statute.
     In 2000, after a presentation on legal methods to control nonindigenous species at the International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species, a Legal Program attorney was approached by a communicator from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant who had been searching for information on state laws that regulated nonindigenous species. Attorneys from the Legal Program provided information on how state statutes can supplement regional and national efforts and this information was forwarded to Sea Grant constituents. Later, this information was requested from the Gulf of Mexico Marine Fisheries Commission and the EPA Gulf of Mexico Program in order to catalyze a regional management plan with the five Gulf states.
     The National Sea Grant College Program is based on the concept that by providing unbiased research and outreach to coastal constituents, it can best advance the sustainable use of marine resources. In the instances described above and hundreds others, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program has provided this service to the Sea Grant community and its constituents for over thirty years. During that time, Legal Program attorneys have conducted research on topics ranging from state-specific projects such as public access disputes on Alabama beaches, to international issues such as the World Trade Organization's response to U.S. efforts to protect sea turtles in oceans far from our coasts.
     The Program provides these services not only to members of the Sea Grant community but also to policy makers and members of the legal community. These individuals have become the constituents of the Legal Program and consistently turn to its attorneys for both scholarly research results and advisory responses to specific questions. The diversity of the Program's constituency is evidenced by the diversity of its subscriber list to Water Log, the Program's quarterly legal reporter. Subscribers number over 1,000 and hail from 43 states and territories and 13 different countries. The Program cultivates a diverse group of Ocean and Coastal lawyers as well, serving as a training ground for law students. With two attorneys holding advanced legal degrees in natural resources and ocean and coastal law, the Legal Program is well-equipped to provide legal analysis, advisory services, and education.
     It is with this arsenal of expertise in research, outreach, and education in ocean and coastal law and policy developed during the last three decades that the University of Mississippi and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program offer this proposal to establish the nation's first Sea Grant Law Center. The focus of the Legal Program during the last thirty years has been service in marine law and policy. This will serve as the primary objective of the Sea Grant Law Center, as well.
     This proposal advocates the establishment of a Sea Grant Law Center to be operated in conjunction with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program including both a physical and virtual center to integrate the efforts of ocean and coastal law research centers nationwide and provide outreach and advisory services to the National Sea Grant College Program and its constituents. The Law Center will accomplish the following tasks:
     • enable existing Sea Grant Legal Programs, Sea Grant-funded marine policy researchers, and marine law institutes across the country to coordinate and combine research and outreach efforts;
     • establish a digest, legal reporter, and Internet site;
     • conduct research on legal issues affecting the nation's oceans and coasts and disseminate research results through publications, presentations, and on-line resources; and,
     • answer law and policy questions of the National Sea Grant Office, OAR, NOAA, and the State Sea Grant College Programs.
     With its demonstrated commitment to providing research and outreach to Sea Grant and the ocean and coastal law community and the stability that its history and institutional strength offers, The University of Mississippi and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program are the ideal venues for the operation of a Sea Grant Law Center.

II. The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program

A. Our History
     The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium began funding ocean and coastal law research in 1972 through the University of Mississippi School of Law and a state law research institute established by state statute as the Mississippi Law Research Institute and made an academic department of the School of Law. Ocean and coastal law and policy has been a research and outreach priority at the Law Research Institute from the beginning and this arm of the Institute was soon named the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program, dedicating its efforts to research and advisory service pertaining to Mississippi and Alabama coastal issues, as well as issues affecting the Gulf of Mexico region. The Law Research Institute, established to provide research and analysis to the Mississippi Legislature, has proven to be an excellent home for the MASGLP as investigators have access to proven leadership and experts in many areas of law.
     This federal and state partnership, along with the dedication of investigators over the course of its thirty year history, has enabled the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program to become a national authority in research, analysis, outreach, and education in the marine law field. The Program not only dedicated efforts to the coastal areas of its sponsoring Sea Grant college program, but also developed a knowledge and resource base which provided the foundation for growth on a global scale. This growth allows Legal Program attorneys to address both national and international issues, publishing legal analysis in leading environmental law journals, presenting research results at national and international conferences, and serving as leaders in the field.
     During the course of its history, the Legal Program has served as a springboard for many of today's marine law and policy leaders, including two attorneys who were co-sponsored by the Legal Program as Fulbright Scholars during their tenure (Richard McLaughlin to Japan and John Duff to Canada). Casey Jarman, currently Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii School of Law, served as Director of the Legal Program from 1984 to 1987. Jarman is viewed as a expert in the areas of ocean and coastal, environmental, and land use law and participates in the annual University of Mississippi-University of Hawaii Summer Study Program which offers the Coastal and Ocean Law class to law students from schools across the country. Ellen Peel, currently the Executive Director of the Billfish Foundation, worked as a law student Research Associate with the Legal Program from 1990 to 1992. Peel now serves as Executive Director of The Billfish Foundation, a national non-profit organization that acts to conserve and enhance billfish populations through scientific research, education, and advocacy. John Duff, currently co-Director of the Marine Law Institute at the University of Maine School of Law, was Associate Director and Director from 1996 to 2000. Duff was co-sponsored by the Mississippi Law Research Institute as the only Fulbright Scholar to Canada in 1998 in order to research issues associated with the United States - Canada negotiation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Continuing relationships with these and other similarly situated colleagues provide a valuable link to experts in many different regions of the country and world.

B. Our Team
     The Program continues to cultivate experts in the ocean and coastal law field. Richard McLaughlin, who served as Director of the Program from 1987 to 1999, is a Co-Principal Investigator, dedicating his time between the Legal Program and the Law School as a Professor of Law. McLaughlin serves as one of 31 members on the nation's Ocean Governance Study Group, which is a national effort to conduct analyses to improve ocean and coastal governance in the US and the world, and as Chair of the Maritime Law Section of the American Association of Law Schools. He was specifically requested by the Japanese government to participate in an international panel of experts convened to provide advice on Japan's participation in whaling. Similarly, McLaughlin has been asked to offer his expertise to developing ocean and coastal policies in both Belize and Thailand and continues to be at the forefront of research and legal issues in marine law. His recent research projects include analysis of the World Trade Organization's decisions limiting the United States' efforts to apply marine laws abroad, proposing a new structure for future decisions and guidance for nations such as the U.S. that wishes to enjoin harmful marine resource destruction in foreign waters. The research and writing stemming from his Fulbright Scholar experience in Japan in 1991-92 lends valuable credence to his international findings and proposals for policy changes.
     McLaughlin also provides a wealth of experience in law school education, having taught at the University of Mississippi School of Law since 1991 and serving as Director of the University of Mississippi-University of Hawaii Summer Study Program. In 2001, he spent his summer teaching International Environmental Law to a class of U.S. and international law students at England's Cambridge University. McLaughlin's courses include Environmental Law, Coastal and Ocean Law, International Environmental Law, Land Use Law, Property Law, and Admiralty Law.
William Hooper, the Director of the Mississippi Law Research Institute, oversees the research and outreach of the Law Research Institute which provides valuable research and recommendations to the Mississippi legislature and state and local governmental agencies on matters of law reform and revision including providing advisory research to the presidents of Mississippi colleges and universities on intellectual property laws. Hooper has been affiliated with the Legal Program for over twenty years, providing executive leadership to the Legal Program and guiding the Program through its development into a national and international resource.
     The current Legal Program director and proposed director for the Sea Grant Law Center, Kristen Fletcher, joined the Legal Program in 1997 and quickly became known in the field through her publications and participation in national marine law and policy efforts. In 1999, she was chosen as a Rotary Fellow to travel to Argentina to exchange information about U.S. marine law and policy. Her research has focused on notable issues in the field, including efforts to create marine protected areas, to regulate activities in essential fish habitat, and legal issues in fisheries and offshore aquaculture. Fletcher also served as Editor of the Legal Program's Reporter, Water Log, for three years, during which she contributed dozens of articles and trained law students in legal writing and research. Her results are provided to constituents through summaries offered in conference proceedings, articles in legal reporters and journals, and the Legal Program web site.
     During her tenure at the Legal Program, she has made over 25 presentations at various conferences, symposia, and academic institutions. As a result of being approached after one of these presentations regarding the potential for a Sea Grant law effort on a national level, she has been instrumental in the development of the concept of a Sea Grant Law Center. She is a leading voice in the national Sea Grant network for the promotion of Sea Grant's efforts in marine law and policy. Fletcher represents the field and The University of Mississippi in the Sea Grant Association and has proposed the creation of a Marine Law and Policy Theme Team, in order to identify the priority areas in the law and policy field in which Sea Grant research, education, and outreach can provide guidance for the creation of sound policies and laws.
     The Program also employs upper level law students to assist on Program projects. Under the supervision of the Principal Investigators, students are involved in major research projects, advisory outreach efforts, and researching and writing articles for Water Log. Training law students for legal research, writing, and analysis will be a valuable product that the Sea Grant Law Center can offer the coastal and ocean management community.

C. Our Mission
    Based on the Sea Grant College Program's three tenets of research, outreach, and education, the Legal Program has grown into a well-respected marine law and policy resource for lawyers, scientists, and policymakers. The Program has been the cornerstone of the Ocean and Coastal Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law and has enabled Program attorneys to draw on the expertise of law faculty, the law school's law library, and the growing research centers housed at the School of Law. As a result, the investigators continue to develop special capabilities to analyze the law and propose solutions to problems confronting managers and users in the Sea Grant constituency as well as state, regional, and national policy-makers. These developments have led to an ever-increasing capacity to respond to the growing number of advisory, education and training requests related to coastal and marine resource issues from academic, governmental and other Sea Grant-affiliated agencies and institutions.

 

 

i. Scholarly Research and Publications
     Legal Program attorneys conduct research on peer-reviewed topics that are significant in the ocean and coastal law field. Research results are presented to constituents in paper and on-line publications, presentations, and on-line slide shows. Major publications are in the form of journal articles published in national law reviews such as the Environmental Law Review (Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College), Georgetown Environmental Law Review (Georgetown University Law School), the Ocean and Coastal Law Journal (University of Maine School of Law), Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, Journal of Ocean Development and International Law. In general, law journal articles are written for the law community with in-depth legal analysis; however, many of the articles published by the Legal Program have become "best-sellers" in the nonlegal community as well. Two articles that have been widely requested by federal and state agencies and members of the Sea Grant network are The Law, Policy and Politics of Gillnet Restrictions in State Waters of the Gulf of Mexico published in the St. Thomas Law Review in 1997 and Essential Fish Habitat: Does Calling it Essential Make it So? published in the Environmental Law Review in 2000. Often, research results are also offered in other formats such as articles in reporters or digests or in monograph format. The Program has two upcoming articles in the Environmental Law Reporter (Environmental Law Institute) and the Ocean & Coastal Policy Network News (University of Delaware) on recent fisheries law decisions and offshore aquaculture zoning.
     In addition to law journal articles, Legal Program attorneys have contributed useful books, book chapters, handouts, and pamphlets to the coastal community. In 1990, the Mississippi Governor's Office and Department of Marine Resources requested that the Legal Program provide an analysis of the laws and policies that apply on the Mississippi coast. This work resulted in the Mississippi Ocean Policy Study which is used by coastal users and state agencies in Mississippi to understand its coastal policies and laws. This year, Fletcher co-authored Understanding Fisheries Management, the second edition of the popular Fisheries Management for Fishermen, with Richard Wallace of the Alabama Sea Grant Extension Service. This book explains both the science and law behind fisheries management, including information about the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act and the important additions this Act made to fisheries law. The book received more than 1,700 pre-orders from 12 Sea Grant College Programs. Both of these publications have been included in the packets for review.
     Attorneys have also been requested to contribute book chapters to publications on a variety of issues. Most recently, Fletcher published The International Whaling Regime and U.S. Foreign Policy in The Environment, International Relations, and U.S. Foreign Policy, a book that presents analysis of how U.S. foreign policy affects and is affected by global environmental change. Fletcher has submitted a chapter on wetlands laws and policies for a 2002 publication by Island Press. In recent years, attorneys have submitted chapters to the well-known Ocean Yearbook including McLaughlin's 1994 submission U.S. Ratification of UNCLOS and the Loss of Unilateral Trade Sanctions to Protect Marine Living Resources and Duff's 1998 submission U.S. Royalty Relief Act Spurs Oil and Gas Exploration in Gulf of Mexico. In 1997, the Legal Program was approached by the Coastal States Organization to write an update to their popular book Putting the Public Trust Doctrine to Work to explain recent changes in Mississippi public trust doctrine caselaw.
     Finally, Program attorneys offer pamphlets such as "Citizen's Guide to the Public Trust Doctrine," "Citizen's Guide to Beach Access" and other coastal management issues for dissemination to citizens at Sea Grant or agency meetings.

ii. Water Log Legal Reporter
     When I received the latest issue of Water Log, I realized that Water Log is the one publication that never is placed in the "to read" stack but rather is scanned immediately for all those kernels of information you pack into the issue. – A Letter to the Editor from Dr. W.M. von Zharen, Texas Institute of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 2000

The Program's legal reporter, Water Log, is probably the Program's best-known publication and is in its 21st year. Water Log reports on legal and policy issues regarding the ocean and coast such as case law, legislation, and administrative decisions affecting coastal and marine resources. Subscribers include federal and state legislators, analysts and decision-makers, educators, conservation organizations, and the public.
     Water Log was added to the Program web site in 1998 in electronic format to allow subscribers to view articles on line or download the reporter. As a result of increasing coastal and ocean activities at the national and regional level, Water Log has included interviews with officers of federal agencies and includes an upcoming interview series with members of the Ocean Commission. The most recent four issues of Water Log are available in the Publications enclosure. Recent articles include analysis of:

 

 

• Federal court treatment of wetlands including the Supreme Court ruling regarding the jurisdiction over wetlands and the rejection of the "Tulloch Rule" by the D.C. Circuit Court;
• the Supreme Court's recent takings analysis of coastal wetlands in Palazzolo;
• the Bush Administration's National Energy Plan and its implications for offshore;
• Federal court decision regarding the adequacy of essential fish habitat amendments;
• the Intertanko decision rejecting the Washington's maritime laws as preempted by federal statutes;
• Review of cases limiting longlining fisheries in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico;
• Connecticut decision regarding the town of Greenwich's ability to restrict beach access to residents of town in potential violation of the Public Trust Doctrine;
• California decision upholding federal authority to regulate nonpoint source pollution;
• Analysis of Executive Order creating a National System of Marine Protected Areas;
• Review of the Oceans Act of 2000 and the creation of the federal Oceans Commission;
• Review of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles;
the Columbia River Basin Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan; and,
Review of laws passed during Mississippi legislative sessions, Alabama legislative sessions and Federal legislative sessions.

iii. Presentations and On-Line Resources
     In addition to paper and on-line publications, Program attorneys regularly present their findings at national and international conferences including the biannual Coastal Zone Conference, the biannual Coastal Society Conference, the annual Land, Air, Water Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon School of Law, Submerged Lands Conference, American Bar Association and Environmental Law Institute sponsored symposia and other marine policy conferences. These presentations lead to increased contacts with user groups and policy makers and often yield many requests for research in the form of collaborative work between researchers and in the form of requests for advisory services from the Program. A central goal of the Legal Program is to present its findings to multiple audiences including scientists, lawyers, and policy makers and make difficult legal concepts clear to the non-legal community.
     Abstracts and powerpoint slide shows presented at conferences are made available on the Legal Program's WEB SITE. The web site has become an integral part of the Legal Program as a tool to make information available worldwide. On the site, users can access publications including Water Log and law journal articles, and the full Understanding Fisheries Management in PDF format. In addition, weekly updates are made to a "Coastal News" page which highlights the latest news in the marine law and policy field from all regions. The "Web Resources" section of the site has proven particularly useful to our constituents not only for its comprehensive list of links to other web sites but also for its page of slide shows on fisheries management, the public trust doctrine, marine protected areas, and essential fish habitat. These shows are regularly downloaded by our constituents for use in presentations to the public or classes.

iv. Advisory Service
     The Advisory Service of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program has been one of its greatest contributions to the Sea Grant community since its inception. Over the years, the Legal Program has responded to hundreds of advisory requests and has expanded its outreach and advisory efforts to reach a greater number of state and regional policy-makers than ever before. The number of advisory requests from traditional sources (such as Marine Extension Agents) remains consistent while requests from state agencies, local land planning agencies, and regional and national policy makers are increasing. These requests have facilitated better-informed policy decisions regarding marine resources. Legislative and regulatory bodies, as well as the analysts who serve them, have often turned to the Legal Program for critical analysis on marine policy issues.
     The Advisory Service is performed in a number of ways. Often, members of Sea Grant College Programs or Sea Grant Extension Agents directly contact attorneys to pose a question that requires legal research or analysis. Requests for information spans a large number of topics from U.S. Customs and FDA regulations for seafood labeling to a review of state efforts to use conservation easements and create land trusts. Often, following a publication, presentation, or meeting, Program attorneys are contacted by state and federal agencies to take part in a research project such as gathering laws or summarizing proposed legislation for discussion or to review draft environmental impact statements for the creation of federal projects such as a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
     For several years, Legal Program attorneys have contributed analysis and review of marine issues to the Congressional Research Service which passes that research on to Congress for use in creating and amending marine related legislation. Reviews for the Congressional Research Service have included marine protected area issues, necessary considerations for the Coastal Zone Management Act Reauthorization, proposed amendments for the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, and issues of international trade and the marine environment. With a proven track record of advising Sea Grant programs and public agencies, combined with the technological advances proposed in the next section, the Legal Program looks forward to creating a coordinated national effort under the Sea Grant Law Center.

D. Our Efforts to Create a National Network
     Legal Program attorneys have taken an active role in the marine law and policy community and in several efforts to create a more cohesive and collaboration-based network. "Sea Net" was created by the Legal Program in the mid-1980s as an informal group of marine law and policy researchers who received Sea Grant funding. As law and policy funding through Sea Grant declined, Sea Net relied upon its National Chairperson to maintain the annual Sea Net directory, along with planning an annual gathering, usually scheduled with a conference such as the biannual Coastal Zone or The Coastal Society conferences. While at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program, McLaughlin and Fletcher served as national chairs in an effort to maintain Sea Net through the 1980s and 1990s.
     In the early 1990s, Richard McLaughlin joined other marine policy researchers in the creation of the Marine Affairs and Policy Association, known as "MAPA" to advance education and research in marine affairs and policy. MAPA, to some extent, suffered from the same handicap as Sea Net; it lacked an institution with the stability and support necessary to maintain and energize the network. These efforts will be essential to the engagement of law and policy researchers with the Sea Grant Law Center.
The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program is also a leader in the national Sea Grant network. In 2001, The University of Mississippi became a full member of the Sea Grant Association with Fletcher serving as the University's delegate. By participating in the SGA, the Legal Program and University have become contributors to Sea Grant's development nationwide. The Sea Grant Law Center should have representation in the SGA in order to represent the law and policy element of the Sea Grant community. As a member of the SGA and in order to advance the vital part that law and policy research and outreach play in the Sea Grant community and the nation's coastal policies, Fletcher has submitted a proposal to create a Marine Law and Policy Theme Team. Through discourse with representatives from each of the 30 Sea Grant Programs, the Legal Program has identified those issues that are priorities to the Sea Grant community. By taking a leadership role in the integration of law and policy into the Sea Grant College Program, Legal Program attorneys have set the stage for a successful and service-oriented Sea Grant Law Center.

III. Objectives of the Sea Grant Law Center
     Many researchers and coastal resource managers, even within the Sea Grant community, are unaware that Sea Grant sponsors legal research and how to acquire necessary information. The Sea Grant Law Center will fill this gap, providing information to other Sea Grant programs as well as the National Office, OAR, and NOAA. The Law Center will conduct the necessary research to enhance the ocean and coastal law field, while activating the Sea Grant Law and Policy Network to provide specific answers to constituent questions.

A. The Virtual Center: The "Focal Point" of Sea Grant's Legal Issues
     The Law Center web site is an essential tool in the fulfillment of the Center's goals. To give the Review Team a better idea of its components, the proposed web site is on-line for review. Please visit theWEB SITE
      The site will be the method of activating the network of law and policy researchers, disseminating research results, answering questions from Sea Grant constituents, and compiling archives of legal analysis. The web site will be the Virtual Center that will provide users with access to information, resources, and Network expertise. To meet these objectives, the site has been designed with the following key elements.

 

 

• About Us - This page gives the background on the Sea Grant Law Center, our mission, Center news, and links to Sea Grant programs and marine law and policy institutes.

• Advisory Service - This page allows Sea Grant constituents to submit an inquiry to a Sea Grant Law Center staff member, join a listserve to receive notice of advisory responses, access archived research results in marine law and policy topic areas, and on-line conferences.

• Law & Policy Network - This page serves the need of members of the Sea Grant Law and Policy Network and Sea Grant constituents. For Network Members, the page provides information on upcoming events, current research and outreach activities of members, and opportunities to contact the Network through e-mails or listserve. For Sea Grant Constituents, this page informs researchers, extension agents, and communicators of the activities of the network and provide access to individual researchers identified by their areas of expertise.

• This Week on the Coasts - This page houses weekly updates of news in the field as well as archives to allow users to access articles from previous postings.

• Quarterly Reporter - The Quarterly Reporter can be accessed on this page. It will be issued in both paper and electronic format four times a year. The Reporter offers in-depth analysis of changes in laws and regulations, new statutes or regulations, judicial decisions and interpretations, and governmental policies that affect coastal users.

• Research & Publications - This page houses on-line research results of the Sea Grant Law Center, as well as on-line access to research results of the Law and Policy Network members. Designed by topic, the page provides links to an abstract of research results, names of researchers to contact, and links to publications in html format or to an on-line order form. In addition, this page will have an important link to, and continuous collaboration with, the University of Oregon Ocean and Coastal Law Library which provides updates on new books and articles, an on-line search mechanism, and on-line access to publications.

• Web Resources - This section will provide links to relevant marine law and policy sites, including all partners of the Sea Grant Law and Policy Network, the thirty Sea Grant College Programs, and sites that provide current information on law and policy such as current legislation before Congress and judicial opinions of courts throughout the nation. In addition, this page will allow for access to web-based resources available for download such as Powerpoint presentations, teaching modules, and explanatory pamphlets.

     While the Sea Grant Law Center web site will be a source of critical information about marine law and policy, the site will be a tool for the integration of marine law and policy into the National Sea Grant Network. Through collaboration with the Nova Southeastern University Law Center, which has expertise in the development of Internet-based techniques of information sharing and education, the web site will integrate the efforts of marine law and policy researchers nationwide and create an on-line dialogue regarding marine law and policy among the Sea Grant Network. Nova has agreed to apply the skills of a Law Reference and Electronic Services Librarian and a Legal Education Specialist, and the NSU Law Center's web personnel to assist with all aspects of the National Center, including use of the distance learning courses to enhance the research, conference and seminar aspects that the National Center sponsors and assistance with research content , on-line discussions and chat functions, webcasting of special events, and real-time web meetings.

B. Development of the Sea Grant Marine Law and Policy Network
     Following commencement of the web site, the next priority for the Sea Grant Law Center staff is to engage the marine law and policy researchers across the country. Because the researchers have been part of loosely organized networks or groups, such as Sea Net and the Marine Affairs and Policy Association, these arrangements will need a more defined structure, rather than a full re-creation.
     To begin, the Sea Grant Law Center will hold a Network Caucus in order to gather researchers, commence Network activities, and introduce the Center and its goals. The Law Center staff will present its ideas for activating and maintaining the network and request ideas from members for how the Network can best assist their research. In addition, the Caucus will allow researchers to group themselves into "intellectual regions" according to areas of active research and expertise. Members will prioritize areas of research that the participants deem necessary to present to the Ocean Commission in 2002 for its recommendations for a National Ocean Policy. This initial effort will be followed by the implementation of the web site listserve, Network directory, and on-line conferencing. Through the web site, the Law Center staff can maintain the energy built at the caucus and begin to create the Network's Submission to the Ocean Commission. Following the Caucus, the Network will take advantage of national conferences and symposia to hold future events.

C. Research
     Like the state-level legal programs, the National Law Center will conduct legal research on timely issues of ocean and coastal law that have a national reach such as new statutes or amendments to coastal laws, case law and how it affects coastal resources, and trends in marine resource use and conservation. The research results will be offered as articles for a broad audience in the Sea Grant Law Center Quarterly Reporter, papers for use by federal agencies or coastal resource managers, and as scholarly articles in law journals for dissemination to the national legal community. In addition, the Sea Grant Law Center can provide marine law institutes an avenue to get research into the hands of coastal resource managers and law-makers.
     Based on the research expertise developed at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program, research methods of the Law Center will involve at least four major tasks:

 

 

1. Program attorneys gain a thorough understanding of the factual elements;
2. Attorneys locate and analyze relevant federal and state statutes authorizing or requiring regulation of activities under review to determine legislative intent and to assess the authority and responsibilities of the government agencies involved;
3. Attorneys analyze the administrative regulations issued under authority of the legislative mandate; and,
4. Attorneys review judicial decisions interpreting the statute and the regulations for their effect on the development of law and policy decisions.

     Through extensive analysis of laws, regulations, legislative history, court decisions, and executive orders as well as personal interaction with law faculty and coastal resource managers, attorneys are able to assist Sea Grant personnel, citizens, and government officials while providing valuable scholarly research to the legal community.
The topics that will confront the Sea Grant Law Center are limitless. Law Center attorneys, with the help of the Advisory Board, will tailor Center research projects to the issues facing Sea Grant constituents today. These include coastal economic development and sustainability in coastal communities, state and federal statutes addressing coastal ecosystem health, fisheries laws and regulations, the development of the offshore aquaculture industry, law of the sea, coastal zone management, and many trends emerging in the marine law and policy field. Efforts will focus on timely issues and will also be driven by requests for advisory research that reveals a network-wide need for information on a particular topic.

D. Information-Sharing: Publications, Presentations and the Virtual Center
     The education and information-sharing component of the Sea Grant Law Center will focus on providing legal information to federal agencies through informal presentations and an annual panel presentation, offering research results at national conferences and symposia, and providing information and teaching materials on the web site. The Law Center will also have a presence at Sea Grant Week, offering presentations on current issues, and at national interdisciplinary conferences such as Coastal Zone.
     Law Center researchers will be available to agencies to make presentations outlining statutes, the implications of recent judicial decisions, or other requested law and policy topics at agency meetings on a regional or national scale. In addition, through the Sea Grant Law and Policy Network, the Law Center can serve as a facilitator to put members of agencies or the Sea Grant community in contact with an expert in a particular area. It is anticipated that the future regional centers will attend area agency meetings, providing region-specific information. The regional centers and Law and Policy Network will be important in the dissemination of information at national conferences, as well. Annual Sea Grant Law and Policy Network panel presentations will be organized for national conferences each year. Network members will be polled to determine what conferences and topics should be considered and panels that can be put together. A panel presentation or workshop will be suggested for each Sea Grant Week and major interdisciplinary conferences. Finally, the web site will provide opportunities for on-line discussions or "chats" and conferencing.
     The Law Center will also actively support new conferences. During its first year, it will assist in highlighting international marine issues at a symposium co-sponsored by the Rusk Center for International, Comparative, and Graduate Legal Studies at The University of Georgia, the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and the Croft Institute for International Studies at The University of Mississippi. These research institutes have committed funding to co-sponsor a symposia with the Sea Grant Law Center to feature international ocean and coastal issues from a multi-disciplinary approach. With the support of the Mississippi-Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Sea Grant College Programs, this conference will be a major tool in the advancement of international ocean policy.
     This conference is slated for 2002-3, the first year of the Center, and will provide an excellent opportunity to accentuate the international aspects of the Sea Grant network. Proposed topics include coastal zone policy development and advancement of Law of the Sea principles although the collaborators remain open to other focuses dependent upon Sea Grant network needs.
     Finally, the National Law Center will issue two publications: the Sea Grant Law and Policy Digest and the Sea Grant Legal Reporter. These publications will be essential tools for outreach to agencies, Sea Grant researchers, and other stakeholders. However, these publications will fulfill a necessary function in the marine law and policy community. They are intended to compliment, rather than replace or duplicate, existing publications. For example, the Ocean & Coastal Policy Network News of the Center for Marine Studies at the University of Delaware provides brief synopses of current policy news while the Ocean and Coastal Management Journal of the University of Washington presents this policy news in the form of more detailed multidisciplinary analyses. In addition, the Ocean and Coastal Law Journal of the Marine Law Institute at the University of Maine contributes journal articles of detailed legal analysis. Based on the MASGLP Legal Reporter Water Log, the Sea Grant Legal Reporter will be used to disseminate information on current marine law and policy issues, offering the legal perspective (rather than strictly policy) but in a concise way, clarifying legal issues for a nonlegal audience.
     While it will provide an open forum for law and policy researchers nationwide to contribute case notes and reports, its articles will be concise summaries of timely events. The Reporter will be available in both paper and on-line format. This format continuously receives praise from the marine law and policy community as well as from the scientific, academic, and governmental communities. A bi-annual Sea Grant Law and Policy Digest will be available on the Internet. The Digest will offer abridged versions of research papers from marine law institutes, Sea Grant legal researchers, and the researchers at the Sea Grant Law Center on timely legal issues with a more analytical approach than the Reporter. The papers will be those that will not appear in another publication such as the journals mentioned above.
     In order to make the Sea Grant Network and federal agencies aware of publications in these journals and others, the Law Center will provide a valuable link to, and collaboration with, the Ocean and Coastal Law Center Library at the University of Oregon School of Law which houses the premier collection of books, reports, and government documents in ocean and coastal law. The Library provides critical public information services in library reference and literature searching through the issuance of two current awareness products, the library's "Recent Acquisitions List" (frequency varies) and "Recent Articles in Marine Legal Affairs" (quarterly), for distribution and posting on the library's web site. The recent articles bibliography is a particularly valuable service to the marine affairs community; there are few other such compilations that are done on a regular basis or distributed free of charge. The librarian, Andrea Coffman, is 1 of only 2 members (out of 262 members) of the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers to work in a law library setting, and she plays a critical role in the marine community. To view the on-line searching and information service, visit http://oceanlaw.uoregon.edu/library/library.html .
     The Library currently makes its services available to users based in academic institutions, government agencies, Sea Grant programs, and private law firms across the country. It will provide these services to the Sea Grant Law and Policy Network regardless of the Sea Grant Law Center location but through discussions with Coffman, The University of Mississippi deems this to be a critical link for the Sea Grant Law Center and will strive to provide support in future years for the advancement of the Library and its efforts.

E. Outreach and Advisory Service
     The purpose of the Sea Grant Law Center Advisory Service is to answer specific law and policy questions of Sea Grant constituents, to direct them to the appropriate researcher or institute for information, and to interpret law and policy information for them. The Law and Policy Network will be especially important for this aspect of the Law Center as the researchers at the Law Center will be able to put users in contact with authorities in particular topics when they do not have expertise in that area.
     The thirty years of Advisory Service experience at the Legal Program gives the researchers a unique capability to create a nationwide effort. The Outreach and Advisory Service component of the Sea Grant Law Center will draw upon its Network, research and information-sharing elements. The Law and Policy Network will be utilized in responding to requests from the Sea Grant community, federal agencies, and Sea Grant constituents using direct contact with researchers, web-based information and dialogue services, and publications. Research results will be provided to Advisory Service constituents and constituents questions will serve as a basis for future collaborative research efforts. Constituents will also be contacted via e-mail to inform them of Network presentations at conferences, symposia, and workshops.
     The MASGLP Advisory Service has provided outreach to Sea Grant programs across the nation, federal agencies, and international researchers. The services provided at the Legal Program make it clear that the information derived from the Advisory Service is useful not only to the initial requestor but also to the Sea Grant Network at large. In order to circulate the results of Advisory Service Requests, and with the assistance of technical experts at Nova Southeastern Law Center, a web-based system will be created to allow for the following elements:
     • On-line requests for information or research;
     • Electronic circulation of requests to members of the Law and Policy Network;
     • Circulation of research results (information from researchers at the Sea Grant Law Center or within the Network) to constituents via the Advisory e-mail service; and,
     • Cataloguing and archiving of results on the Sea Grant Law Center web site for access to the public with a searchable database.
Through the web-based system, the Sea Grant Law Center Advisory Service will be the on-line center of information and access to researchers and law and policy information.

IV. Venue: The University of Mississippi

A. Responsible Entity with Institutional Support
     For many years, researchers in the field of marine law and policy have voiced the need for better coordination between programs and efforts to allow more collaboration and outreach. Unfortunately, because there has never been an institutional entity to serve as a coordinating body, the researchers have remained fragmented. The members and officers of these organizations have found it challenging to advance the organization's goals without institutional support; this type of support offers the stability necessary for the organization to provide consistent leadership in the field. By housing the Sea Grant Law Center in one institution that offers support on and off campus, the Center can achieve the goals of Sea Net and MAPA - to integrate marine law and policy researchers nationwide.
     The institutional needs of the National Law Center can best be met by locating it at The University of Mississippi and coordinating it with the Mississippi-Alabama Legal Program which contributes three decades of expertise and stability in the three Sea Grant areas: Research, Outreach and Education. The work proposed for the Sea Grant Law Center will be conducted by the Director, Research Counsel, a Publications Assistant and Web Designer, and law student researchers. Additional staff assistance will be offered by the Mississippi Law Research Institute and institutional support from the Law School, Office of Research, and research institutes across campus.
In its first year, the Sea Grant Law Center will develop a strategic plan, mapping out its concrete goals for its first four years. In the establishment of the plan, staff will consult with experts in the field for assistance such as members from the ocean and coastal law field, as well as leaders from the National Sea Grant Office, National Review Panel, Sea Grant Association, Sea Grant Extension, and Sea Grant Communicators.
     The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program is currently housed in the Law Center but in order to provide adequate space for the Sea Grant Law Center, the offices will be moved to Kinard Hall with six offices reserved for attorneys, law students and administrative staff. The staff will also have access to several conference rooms in the building, as well as meeting space throughout campus. Kinard Hall is conveniently located near the main University of Mississippi Library and central campus and a ten-minute walk from the Law Center. Thus, the Sea Grant Law Center will have access to not only the law library but also government documents and other resources of the main library, on-line legal resources, and the legal expertise of faculty. This includes professors of intellectual property law who can offer support regarding scientific research ownership issues, international law who can provide expertise in treaties and negotiations and research entities that are described below. As confirmed throughout the history of the Mississippi-Alabama Legal Program, the presence of law faculty expertise in areas outside of ocean and coastal law will be essential to fulfilling the mission of the Sea Grant Law Center.
     To prepare for the creation of the Law Center, Fletcher and members of The University of Mississippi Administration have approached the Mississippi congressional delegation to request their assistance in the procurement of future support for the Law Center. While funding of this nature can never be guaranteed, the Legal Program staff have received highly favorable responses and will continue these efforts in order to provide funds for the creation of regional offices and funds for competitive proposals from Sea Grant marine law and policy researchers nationwide. In the future, the anticipated regional offices shall use the existing structure of the law research institute or Sea Grant College Program in which they are located.

B. National Center and Regional Centers
     The Sea Grant Law Center office will be designed to provide analysis on issues that are national in scope such as information on policies of Federal agencies, new regulations or statutes, proposed legislation, and legal issues. The Director of the National Law Center and a staff attorney will conduct research and provide outreach to the National Sea Grant Office, Sea Grant College Programs, and Federal agencies.
     The University of Mississippi proposes to develop the Sea Grant Law Center model into one national office which will coordinate the activities of several Regional Offices, to be housed in marine law institutes or Sea Grant College Programs capable of providing legal research, analysis, and outreach. While many ocean and coastal legal issues are national in scope, certain topics and issues are region-specific. For example, Sea Grant programs in the Northeast will have different advisory requests than those on the West coast focusing on complexities unique to particular coastlines or species. In order to provide expertise that is region-specific, Regional Sea Grant Law Center offices will act as support offices to the National Law Center to conduct research, outreach, and coordination of regional legal experts.

V. Institutional Commitment to the Sea Grant Law Center

A. Institutional Strengths
     The University of Mississippi was designated as a Sea Grant College in 1982; before and since that time, it has been an active member of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. The Consortium has funded University projects in the Departments of Biology and the Natural Products Center, with a proposal pending for a Marine Natural Products Center. During its membership, the University of Mississippi has served as a host for the Sea Grant Legal Program and promoted its goals, including becoming a member of the Sea Grant Association in 2001.
     The University of Mississippi is a substantial research and academic institution. Working with colleagues from around the world, University of Mississippi researchers are solving problems in nearly every field imaginable, including health, national defense, pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy, physics, chemistry, business, remote sensing, the environment, biotechnology, transportation, education, cultural preservation, and the arts. Since the 1960s when the first heart transplant was conducted at the University Medical Center, doctors at the University have shown great leadership in their fields. The School of Pharmacy, the department of Medicinal Chemistry and the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry are engaged in cutting-edge cancer research, developing techniques to detect and prevent many types of disease. In another area of research with the same goal of saving lives, researchers at the National Physical Acoustics Center have developed a land mine detector that is proven to be remarkably accurate in U.S. Army tests. If verification tests continue to produce positive indicators, it could represent a major breakthrough in humanitarian de-mining in battle-weary countries.
     UM faculty and researchers are also hard at work developing products that will benefit most of us on a daily basis. One faculty member of the Computer Science Department has founded a very successful Oxford-based company that provides training and certification in the revolutionary Linux computer operating system. Our economists have been invited by the Department of Justice to find solutions to America's clogged courts by studying the relationship between economic growth and the rise in civil suits. Researchers have also teamed up with the Department of Transportation in an effort to solve traffic problems in America's small towns.
     The University holds Carnegie Classification of Higher Education Research University II status, acknowledging it as one of the nation's top 125 research institutions. With the recent dedication of the Center for Water and Wetland Resources at the University's Field Station and completion of a new home for the National Food Service Management Institute, UM researchers have more than 250,000 square feet of research space available for work that is helping to improve life for all Americans. Combined with its efforts in Marine Natural Products Research and Legal Research and Scholarship under the leadership of the Legal Program, The University of Mississippi has many strengths to offer the Sea Grant Law Center and the Sea Grant community.

B. Partners at The University of Mississippi
     As shown in the attached letters of support, The University of Mississippi has numerous research institutes that have committed support to the Sea Grant Law Center. The Center for Water and Wetland Resources and Mississippi Minerals Resources Institute are enthusiastic about future collaboration between research scientists and lawyers at the Sea Grant Law Center. In addition, the Croft Institute for International Studies, National Center for Natural Products Research, and the Center for Justice and the Rule of Law have committed resources for research and a conference to address international marine issues.
     The School of Law offers an exceptional blend of doctrinal, theory, and lawyering skills courses, including six courses in environmental and resource law including Coastal and Ocean Law and Admiralty Law. It also houses two national research centers. The newly established National Remote Sensing and Space Law Center of Excellence serves the state's emerging commercialization of remote sensing, geographical information systems and related geospatial information technologies. Funded by NASA through the Stennis Space Center, the Space Law Center will focus collaborative research among the state, the commercial remote sensing industry, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, NASA and other government agencies. The Center for Justice and the Rule of Law, funded through the Department of Justice, is also located at the School of Law. Its objective is to examine important issues of domestic and international law and justice through research, publications, symposia, and training conferences. To further its goal of promoting the exchange of knowledge through cooperative research agreements with leading scholars and organizations, the Center has approved initial funding for the Sea Grant Law Center to provide information on current environmental enforcement issues in the field of marine law.
     The Croft Institute for International Studies conducts teaching, research and service activities in International Studies. The Institute also serves the state and the region by providing workshops and other outreach activities to assist schools, teachers, businesses, and professions in meeting international and global challenges and opportunities.
The National Center for Natural Products Research, was launched in 1995 to bring together an alliance of academia, government, and the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries to integrate research, development, and commercialization of potentially useful natural products, including products from the sea. The Center faculty work in partnership with researchers around the country, including Sea Grant scientists, in the discovery and development of potential new drugs and agrochemicals and the biology and chemistry of medicinal plants. The Center for Natural Products Research has expressed its interest in pursuing a joint symposium or publication with the Sea Grant Law Center and has offered financial assistance toward that end.
     University of Mississippi Field Station was begun in 1947 as a bait fish farm and grew into the Field Station which now houses the Center for Water and Wetland Resources. The Field Station and Center provide the infrastructure to support internationally recognized basic and applied research related to northern Mississippi habitats and to improve management of these and similar habitats throughout the region.
     The Mississippi Minerals Resources Institute was established in 1972 as part of the U.S. Department of Interior's Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute Program to provide both the public and private sectors with expertise necessary for making responsible decisions regarding our nation's mineral resources and environmental well-being. Research projects address contemporary issues, providing educational training to college students who work on these projects, disseminating project results to industry and other interested parties, and by engaging in community service activities when called upon. Its impact is evidenced by its growth and continued funding; it is one of the few such institutes still in existence.

C. Nationwide Collaboration
     Numerous partners from across the country join The University of Mississippi in this proposal to establish the Sea Grant Law Center. The Rusk Center for International Law at the University of Georgia and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, at The University of Miami will coordinate a conference on international marine issues. The University of Oregon Ocean and Coastal Law Library offers valuable web-based tools for locating materials on ocean and coastal law and policy. The Nova Southeastern Law Center will provide technological expertise to assist in creating the Virtual Center for use by the Law and Policy Network and Sea Grant constituents. In addition, numerous members of the marine law and policy network have shown their confidence in the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program through letters of support which are attached.
During the last two years, since the time of the inception of the idea of a national law center, lawyers at the Sea Grant Legal Program have informed members of the marine law and policy community about the potential for such a center and an entity that could provide the structural support necessary for a network. Even though they are not expressly mentioned in this proposal (perhaps because they are submitting competing proposals), all members have expressed a desire to work with the Law Center if it is housed here. While members of the community are currently competing for the placement of the Law Center, a willingness to work to integrate efforts and activate a marine law and policy network exists. Individuals at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program will use our long-term relationships with marine law and policy researchers across the nation to gather expertise and provide the structure necessary to create an active and responsive network.

VI. Conclusion
      For thirty years, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program has been a leading member of Sea Grant's legal scholarship and outreach, providing legal analysis and research for constituents throughout the world. Through its collaborative activities with Sea Grant Colleges, law research institutes, and the marine law and policy community, the Legal Program is poised to lend its stability and structure for the establishment of the Sea Grant Law Center. By locating the Law Center at The University of Mississippi, the Sea Grant Network can take advantage of the expertise and experience developed at the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program during the last three decades.
     The University of Mississippi offers not only a group of energetic and insightful attorneys to provide advisory services and research to Sea Grant constituents but also the Legal Program's history, experience, and respected place in the National Sea Grant Network to establish the Sea Grant Law Center and Sea Grant Marine Law and Policy Network.

University of Mississippi