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governments in the estuarine and coastal zone. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The National tstuarine Management Program cannot abrogate the 

 Federal interests in the estuarine and coastal zone nor the missions 

 which the Congress, pursuant to those interests, has assigned to 

 various Federal agencies. Instead, it is imperative that the pro- 

 gram include the Federal Government as a strong and active 

 participant. This means Federal action on three fronts. 



(1) The first is the full and effective mobilization and 

 use by all Federal agencies of estuarine and coastal zone 

 management authority and responsibility which they now 

 possess by assignment from the Congress. This will, in 

 many instances, also require increased funding of these 

 programs by the Congress. It also may require action by 

 the Executive, both at the Presidential and departmental 

 levels, to improve utilization of authority now available. 



Although all present Federal activities applicable to 

 estuarine and coastal zone management purposes -- ranging 

 from service to regulatory functions -- clearly can and 

 must participate on this front, a number of actions are 

 especially critical and essential. These include: 



(a) Increased funding of Federal construction grants 



