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RESPONSIBILITIES AND RECOMMENDED ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

 IN THE COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL ESTUARINE AND COASTAL ZONE 



MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 



The responsibility for leadership in defining the policy and objectives 

 of a national program for the comprehensive management of the estuarine 

 and coastal zones of the United States rests with the Federal Govern- 

 ment. It is also the responsibility of the Federal Government to 

 implement its portion of the announced national program; to coordinate 

 the activities of its respective departments and agencies; to define 

 the Federal role to be established and maintained with State, Inter- 

 state, and local governments as well as with a wide variety of public 

 and private interests; to Identify Federal jurisdictions in the 

 estuarine and coastal zones, and to relate these jurisdictions to 

 those of State, Interstate, and local governments to exercise its 

 jurisdictional responsibilities to prevent the destruction and misuse 

 of the resources of the estuarine and coastal zones; to evaluate the 

 impact of Federal and federally supported water and related land 

 resource projects upon the downstream estuaries and coastal areas, 

 especially for interstate and international river basins; to perform 

 the functions that are exclusively Federal in nature in such a manner 

 as to establish a leadership example for other governmental, public, 

 and private interests. 



National Interests 

 These responsibilities coupled with the role that follows make up a 

 rather thorough and detailed picture of the national interest 1n the 

 estuarine and coastal zones. 



