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Negotiated rulemaking advisory committee is official
 The Cape Hatteras Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee, the group that will negotiate and develop a management plan for off-road vehicles on The Cape Hatteras National Seashore, is finally official. A Notice of Establishment (NOE) was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, Dec. 20, and members of the committee began receiving notices of their appointments from Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. The notice, however, fell a day short of meeting a requirement for notice to committee members and the public of the group’s first meeting, scheduled for Jan. 3-4 in Avon. The Federal Register publication included this information: “An unusual combination of events in the preparation, approval, and transmission of this notice has resulted in the publication of this notice less than 15 days before the date of the first meeting and official date of establishment. The National Park Service has made extraordinary efforts to provide other forms of notification to all Committee members and to the public.” “Establishment of the committee is a long-awaited, important step to begin the development of an ORV regulation for the Seashore,” said seashore Superintendent Mike Murray on Thursday. “There is a great deal of interest in this issue, and we are encouraged that the process is moving forward.” The issue of driving on seashore beaches pits groups that advocate open, and sometimes unlimited, access for ORVs against environmental groups that advocate increased protection of natural resources. Caught in the middle is the National Park Service, which has the dual, and often conflicting, role of providing for public recreation on the beaches and protecting the seashore’s natural resources. The issue is further complicated by the fact that the parks have been required to have approved regulations in place to manage ORV access for more than 30 years. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore developed a plan in 1978, but it was never formalized. This fact has not escaped attention by national environmental advocacy groups. Currently, the seashore has an Interim Protected Species Management Plan that sets guidelines for managing ORV access. Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service in November over its lack of an ORV management plan and what they see as the shortcomings in the interim plan. And for almost three years, park officials have said that they intend to develop a long-range plan by negotiated rulemaking. Negotiated rulemaking, also known as RegNeg, is a process set up by federal legislation to resolve environmental disputes that involve federal agencies or interests. It requires that all parties to a dispute – the stakeholders who have an interest in the outcome -- sit down at the table and reach an agreement, not by majority rule but by consensus. The Committee will hold its first meetings on Jan. 3-4. The meetings will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 3, and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 4. The meetings on both days will be held at the Avon Fire Hall, 40159 Harbor Drive, in Avon. The meetings are open to the public, and people who are not on the committee will have a time set aside to make brief comments during the meeting. The Notice of Intent with a list of committee members can be found on the Federal Register Web site at http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=257638377861+1+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve More information may also be found on the seashore Web site http://parkplanning.nps.gov/CAHA, including links to information about the National Environmental Policy Act planning process for the ORV Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement and the regulatory negotiation process. -NPS- 
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