Sponsor
Sponsor
EBC 6th Annual Ocean Resource Management Conference
Ocean Governance - Federal Agency Ocean Management Programs
Friday, July 22, 2011
Foley Hoag Enterprise Center
Bay Colony Corporate Center, North Entrance
1000 Winter Street - Suite 4000 - Waltham, Massachusetts
AGENDA
8:00 a.m.
Welcome - Daniel K. Moon, President EBC
Introduction - Jack Wiggin, Chair, EBC Ocean & Coastal Resources Committee
Director, Urban Harbors Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston
8:20 a.m.
Ron Beck, Chief, Energy Facilities Branch, US Coast Guard (USCG), First District
8:40 a.m.
Mel Coté, Jr., Manager, Ocean and Coastal Protection Unit
US. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1
9:00 a.m.
Darryl Francois, Projects Chief, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
9:20 a.m.
Brian Valiton, New England District, Regulatory Division, US Army Corps of Engineers
9:40 a.m.
Denise Desautels, Deputy Regional Counsel, NOAA
10:00 a.m.
Networking Break
10:30 a.m.
Panel Discussion:
How collaboration and coordination can be enhanced for the national ocean policy
Moderator: Curtis L. Thalken, Vice President, Normandeau Associates
All the speakers will participate.
11:30 a.m.
Q&A
12:00 p.m.
Adjourn
PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS
Colonel (Ret.) Curtis Thalken, P.E., Vice President
Normandeau Associates
Shelton, CT , 603-472-5191
203-747-1098
cthalken@normandeau.com
Colonel Curt Thalken joined Normandeau Associates in 2009 after a 25 year military career,
which culminated as Commander for the New England District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE). His experience includes working in both austere and developed
environments and teaching in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the
United States Military Academy, West Point NY. In his capacity as Commander of the New
England District, he was responsible for aspects of the Federal Government’s engineering
efforts and regulatory programs within New England. His regulatory responsibilities included
both administration of Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting, for non-Federal applicants and the
development of National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) documents for projects
administered by USACE and review of other Federal Agency NEPA documents. He is a
licensed professional engineer and he holds: a Bachelor’s Degree from the United States
Military Academy, at West Point, a Masters Degree in Engineering Sciences from the Thayer
School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, and a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies and
International Relations from the U.S. Naval War College. Since joining Normandeau, COL
Thalken has continued to be involved in both terrestrial and marine based permitting
enterprises.
Jack Wiggin, Director, Urban Harbors Institute
University of Massachusetts
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393,
617-287-5570
jack.Wiggin@umb.edu
Jack Wiggin is the director of the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts
Boston. Mr. Wiggin has over 30 years of public and private sector experience in coastal and
ocean management and environmental planning. He currently serves on the Gulf of Maine
Council on the Marine Environment and The Boston Harbor Association.
Urban Harbors Institute - The Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts
Boston is a science and policy center with a focus on issues of the coastal and marine
environments. UHI conducts applied scientific research and provides assistance to local,
state, and federal governments on coastal area policy development, planning and
management.
SPEAKERS
Ron Beck, Chief, Energy Facilities Branch
US Coast Guard (USCG), First District
408 Atlantic Avenue Boston, MA 02110
800-848-3942
ronald.e.beck@uscg.mil
Mr. Beck is the First Coast Guard District’s program manager for coastal energy projects
including LNG facilities and Offshore Renewable Energy Initiatives (OREI). The First Coast
Guard District extends from the Canadian border to New Jersey. He is a member of the
Northeast Regional Ocean Council and is the First District’s lead for regional Coastal and
Marine Spatial Planning.
Mr. Beck is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds Masters Degrees in
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering. He
holds a U.S. 100-Ton Master’s License, is a life-long sailor and boater and lives in
Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Mel Coté, Jr., Manager, Ocean and Coastal Protection Unit
US. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1
5 Post Office Square - Suite 100 Boston, MA 02109
617-918-1553
cote.mel@epamail.epa.gov
Mel Coté is manager of the Ocean and Coastal Protection Unit in the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s New England Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ocean
and Coastal Protection Unit administers the National Estuary Program for the six “member”
estuaries in New England, the Regional dredged material management and ocean disposal
programs, and other assorted marine water quality programs. Mel also serves on the
Northeast Regional Ocean Council, the Gulf of Maine Council, and the board of the
Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, as well as other
assorted regional committees and workgroups.
Mel was hired by EPA in August 1990 to serve as manager of the Near Coastal Waters
Program in the former Water Management Division’s Marine and Estuarine Protection
Section. From February 1993 until February 2002, he served as the Senior Regional
Program Manager for the Long Island Sound Study National Estuary Program and the
Connecticut Nonpoint Source Program. In that position he worked with the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection, and other federal, state, regional, and local
government agencies and non-governmental organizations to plan, implement, and monitor
watershed management, nonpoint source, and habitat restoration projects.
Prior to his federal service, Mel held a brief internship with the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority, worked a year for the City of Somerville on its water conservation
program, and worked four years for the League of Conservation Voters as a field
representative, field manager and canvass director of the environmental political action
committee's Manchester, NH field office. Mel holds a BA in Journalism and Communications
from Washington and Lee University and an MA in Environmental Policy from Tufts
University.
Denise Desautels, Deputy Regional Counsel
NOAA
55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 01930
978-559-1864
Denise.Desautels@noaa.gov
Denise is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island graduate program in community
planning and area development and Northeastern University Law School. She clerked for
Chief Justice Peter Kilborn of the Massachusetts Land Court; served as a presiding official for
the Energy Facilities Siting Board, senior attorney for the U.S. DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration, and Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security
representative on the Ocean Policy Task Force's coastal and marine spatial planning working
group. She currently serves as the deputy regional counsel for NOAA's Northeast Office.
Darryl K. François, Chief, Projects and Coordination Branch
Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs
MS 4090, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, VA 20170
703-787-1305
darryl.francois@boemre.gov
Mr. François is responsible for managing the regulatory framework that governs the
development of renewable energy projects on public lands of the U.S. outer continental shelf.
His responsibilities include policy guidance and management oversight of the lease issuance
process and coordination of intergovernmental information gathering and dissemination
efforts with Federal agencies and State and tribal governments related to environmental and
technology issues of offshore renewable energy development.
In addition to the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, Mr.
François’ 30 year career with the Department of the Interior includes service with the U.S.
Geological Survey, Minerals Management Service and Indian Affairs. He received his B.S. in
Physics from Bradley University and his M.S. in Geophysics from the Pennsylvania State
University.
Brian Valiton, New England District, Regulatory Division
US Army Corps of Engineers
696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742
978-318-8111
Brian.E.Valiton@usace.army.mil
Brian Valiton is a Senior Project Manager in the Massachusetts Permits and Enforcement
Branch of the Regulatory Division. He has worked in the Regulatory Division, handling both
the permitting and enforcement functions, since the mid-1970s.
Mr. Valiton is a civil engineer and a lawyer and is a veteran of the Vietnam war.
Environmental Business Council
375 Harvard St, Suite 2
Brookline, MA 02446
617-505-1818 www.EBCne.org
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