[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 48231-48232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12494]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 109 / Wednesday, June 5, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 48231]]


                Proclamation 10770 of May 31, 2024

                
National Ocean Month, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This National Ocean Month, we celebrate the wonder and 
                power of our magnificent ocean and recommit to 
                protecting and conserving it for generations to come. 
                The ocean powers millions of jobs; feeds and sustains 
                us; and is a rejuvenating source of inspiration, 
                exploration, and recreation. Its rich ecosystems of 
                marine animals, plants, and other species have been 
                stewarded by Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities 
                since time immemorial. And protecting and caring for 
                the ocean is critical to tackling the existential 
                threat of our time: climate change.

                Today, the ocean is facing unprecedented threats. 
                Record-breaking ocean temperatures, together with 
                pollution and ocean acidification, have forced marine 
                life from their historic habitats, damaging ecosystems 
                and straining communities who rely on the ocean for 
                sustenance and work. Rising sea levels and warmer ocean 
                waters have also endangered food supply chains and 
                contributed to increasingly dangerous storms, which 
                devastate coastal communities.

                That is why my Administration is taking aggressive 
                action to deliver the most ambitious climate agenda in 
                history. We launched the Nation's first Ocean Climate 
                Action Plan, a bold and coordinated effort to address 
                the climate crisis. We are protecting and restoring key 
                coastal habitats, such as marshes, mangroves, seagrass 
                beds, coral reefs, and more, helping protect 
                communities on land, reduce the impact of natural 
                disasters along our shores, and protect biodiversity.

                With historic investments from my Inflation Reduction 
                Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are expanding 
                offshore wind projects so that we have enough capacity 
                to power 10 million homes by 2030 while creating good-
                paying jobs. Meanwhile, as we launch tens of thousands 
                of projects to modernize our Nation's infrastructure, 
                we are working to lower the carbon footprint of cargo 
                ships, build cleaner supply chains, and reduce 
                pollution. We are cracking down on illegal fishing and 
                strengthening sustainable fisheries so that we protect 
                hardworking Americans who rely on our ocean to make a 
                living.

                My Administration has also been working tirelessly to 
                fulfill our goal of protecting and conserving at least 
                30 percent of America's lands and waters, including our 
                ocean. To that end, I took executive action to consider 
                designating more than 700,000 square miles of the 
                Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii as a new National 
                Marine Sanctuary--which could make this one of the 
                largest marine protected areas on the planet. If the 
                sanctuary is completed, it would conserve significant 
                natural and cultural resources and honor the 
                traditional practices and ancestral pathways of Pacific 
                Island voyagers. My Administration is also carefully 
                evaluating the potential Chumash Heritage National 
                Marine Sanctuary, the first Indigenous-led nomination 
                for a National Marine Sanctuary. Through the first-ever 
                United States Ocean Justice Strategy and my Investing 
                in America agenda, we are bringing environmental 
                justice to communities that have suffered the 
                consequences of climate change and pollution for too 
                long--including millions of dollars

[[Page 48232]]

                in investments for ocean debris prevention and removal 
                through my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and funding 
                for communities to restore their coasts through my 
                Inflation Reduction Act.

                This National Ocean Month, let us remember our 
                responsibility to our environment and recommit to 
                conserving, protecting, and restoring the bounty and 
                beauty of our ocean.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2024 as 
                National Ocean Month. I call upon Americans to take 
                action to protect, conserve, and restore our ocean and 
                coasts.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-12494
Filed 6-4-24; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P