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RESPONSIBILITIES AND RECOMMENDED ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE 

 COMPREHENSIVE ESTUARINE AND COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 



The local governments of this country are subdivisions of the States 

 and are created by the States for a wide varietv of purposes. These 

 purposes may range from specific functions such as water supdIv, sew- 

 age collection and treatment, port development and operation, etc., 

 to general purpose units of government such as counties, cities, and 

 towns . 



Responsibilities of Local Government 



It is with the general nuroose units of government that the responsi- 

 bility rests for many of the day-to-day decisions that have impact on 

 the quality of the estuarine and coastal environment. The responsibil- 

 ity to control the character and location of shoreline develoDments 

 throuqh land use planning and zoning and the enforcement of zoning 

 requirements resides with the local governments. The resnonsibility 

 to control waste discharges and land drainage exists largely with local 

 governments. The interface between Deople and government takes place 

 largely at the local level. Because of these responsibilities and 

 relationships it is important that we be aware of the extent to which 

 the local governments have been effective in influencina the balance 

 between the destruction or misuse of the estuarine and coastal resources, 

 and the development of plans for their effective comorehensive manage- 

 ment. For the most part local governments have not made a significant 

 contribution toward brinqing about balanced use of the estuaries and 



