By Emmanuel T. Erediano
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE URAALI Refaluwasch Association is urging Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds to introduce legislation that could “align offshore development with principles of territorial equity, environmental stewardship, cultural preservation, and sustainable blue‑economy advancement.”
In a letter to King-Hinds on Thursday, URAALI Senior Policy Advisor Melvin Faisao said the expansion of federal offshore jurisdiction adjacent to CNMI waters “has created a structural imbalance between resource control and territorial benefit.”
Faisao said that recent federal expansion of offshore leasing authority adjacent to the CNMI — including authorities enabled under amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act — has increased federal jurisdiction over offshore energy and mineral resources without corresponding territorial revenue participation or co‑management provisions.
For island communities such as the CNMI, Faisao said, offshore resource decisions extend beyond economics. They directly affect cultural seascapes, fisheries sustainability, ancestral navigation routes, and long-standing relationships between people and ocean ecosystems.
“Marine spaces are not solely economic zones — they are cultural, subsistence, and ecological lifelines,” he added.
To ensure territorial equity and implementation consistent with the Covenant, Faisao suggested that the U.S. Congress consider offshore energy and mineral revenue-sharing for U.S. territories, enhanced consultation and co‑management roles, reviewing Covenant impacts for offshore leasing near the CNMI, and providing funds for environmental and cultural mitigation related to offshore development.
Faisao said this analysis is based on community governance perspectives, nonprofit advocacy engagement, and cultural stewardship responsibilities within the Commonwealth.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
