3.10 -- CONCLUDING OBSERVATION 



Concerning the implications of this discussion on the as 

 yet undeveloped OCS areas such as offshore Mississippi- 

 Alabama-Florida, it should be noted that subsequent to an 

 announcement of future leasing, an environmental evaluation 

 program must be initiated by the Bureau of Land Management. 

 The first phase of the evaluation program consists of gather- 

 ing baseline data before any development activity. After the 

 lease sale, and concurrent wiht development activities, a program 

 of environmental monitoring is developed. However, these pro- 

 grams concern only the federal OCS areas (offshore) . Only 

 limited study has been done concerning the impacts of offshore 

 oil and gas production on nearshore waters and onshore wet- 

 lands, but it is this region where the greatest potential for 

 environmental damage exists. It is within these nonfederal 

 areas that maximum natural productivity exists, and where the 

 ecosystem is considerably more vulnerable and fragile than the 

 federal areas further offshore. Since the source of potential 

 damage to these areas is due to development activities on Federal 

 lands and the revenues derived from such activity accrues solely 

 to the Federal government, a good case can be made for at least 

 a moral obligation on the part of the Federal government to 

 evaluate and monitor the environmental condition of these areas 

 (Jones, no date: 2-4). A 1976 amendment to the Coastal Zone 

 Management Act -- Section 308 entitled "Coastal Energy Impact 

 Program" -- provides Federal funds to states for preventing, 

 mitigating, or rectifying the adverse environmental or recrea- 

 tional impacts of coastal energy activities on the states' 



coastal zones. 



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