The Coastal States Organization (CSO) is a U.S. non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 located in Washington D.C. that represents the Governors

Governor (United States)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...

 of the nation’s thirty-five coastal states, commonwealths and territories. CSO represents the Governors on legislative and policy issues relating to the sound management of coastal, Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 and ocean resources. It contributes to the development of coastal zone management legislation and programs.

History

At the 1969 National Governor's Association Conference, a committee on national marine affairs introduced the resolution to create CSO which was endorsed unanimously., The resolution noted the growing public interest and concern in maintaining the quality of the environment, and that state and territorial governments had not been adequately represented in the emerging national coastal programs. The resolution further emphasized that state governments could best increase their ability to contribute to development and operation of the National Oceanographic and Coastal Zone Management Program

Coastal Zone Management Program

The Coastal Zone Management Program was created by P.L. 92-583 . It provides grants to eligible states and territories as an incentive to prepare and implement plans guiding the use of coastal lands and resources. Thirty-four of the 35 eligible states and territories are implementing...

s by forming an organization designed to achieve these purposes. The organization thus came into being in 1970.,

Membership and organization

The Organization's membership consists of the thirty-five coastal states, commonwealths

Commonwealth (United States)

Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia....

 and territories, which are represented by delegates appointed by the Governors. Including senior state officials from the state environmental, natural resource, or planning agencies, these delegates constitute CSO’s Governing Board.

Priorities

Organizational priorities in 2008-2009 were: Climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

, Coastal Zone Management Act

Coastal Zone Management Act

The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 is an Act of Congress passed in 1972 to encourage coastal states to develop and implement coastal zone management plans...

 Reauthorization, Energy/Outer Continental Shelf

Outer Continental Shelf

The Outer Continental Shelf is a peculiarity of the political geography of the United States and is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U.S...

(OCS) activities and appropriations.