example of successful coordination 

 among Federal agencies whose object- 

 ives and responsbilities overlap. 



The Council could give increased 

 attention to freshwater inflow in its 

 assessment activities, in its policy 

 analysis, in its state grant program, 

 and in its regional planning program. 

 The council can also ensure that 

 freshwater inflow will be adequately 

 treated by the planners of Federal 

 projects. Section 103 of the Water 

 Resources Planning Act requires the 

 council to establish principles, 

 standards, and procedures for the 

 formulation and evaluation of Federal 

 water projects. At tomorrow's coun- 

 cil meeting, the members will--I 

 hope--approve the publication of the 

 revised P&S as a final rule. The new 

 P&S included the requirement to con- 

 sider instream flows. 



The procedures are contained in 

 our manuals: for National Economic 

 Development, for Environmental Qual- 

 ity, for Regional Economic Develop- 

 ment, and for what has been termed 

 Other Social Effects. The Environ- 

 mental Quality manual, for instance, 

 provides that planners comply with 

 relevant provisions of the Coastal 

 Zone Management Act. This necessari- 

 ly broad mandate will not of itself 

 ensure due consideration of freshwa- 

 ter inflow to estuaries. The manual 

 cannot possibly set out all the ele- 

 ments of each of the thirty or so 

 Federal laws for which it seeks com- 

 pliance. However, the council plans 

 to mention the peculiar freshwater 

 inflow problem in its Reference Hand- 

 book which accompanies the various 

 manuals going to the planners in the 

 field. Luckily, the state-of-the-art 

 is such that estuarine scientists can 

 now predict the effects that irriga- 

 tion projects, energy facilities, and 

 harbor dredging will have on the del- 

 icate balance of the estuarine eco- 

 system. Scientists can now suggest 



thresholds for estuaries. These ad- 

 vances in technology will be reflect- 

 ed in the planning done in accordance 

 with the Council's Principles and 

 Standards . 



Thus far, I have recounted how 

 each of the council programs might 

 respond to the newly perceived needs 

 of the estuary. There is one further 

 council program which had the poten- 

 tial to become a driving force in 

 estuary protection. I am speaking of 

 the Independent Project Review. In 

 January 1979, President Carter signed 

 an executive order which directs that 

 the council perform an impartial 

 technical review of preauthorization 

 reports and preconstruction plans for 

 Federal and federally-assisted water 

 and related land resources projects. 

 The Independent Project Review serves 

 as a quality control mechanism. The 

 order requires that all agencies sub- 

 mit cost-benefit information; evalua- 

 tion of reasonable alternatives; 

 evidence of compliance with environ- 

 mental and other laws; and evidence 

 of public, state, and local involve- 

 ment in the planning process. A 

 detailed finding of the areas of 

 compliance or noncompliance will be 

 returned to the agency head at the 

 end of the 60-day review period. 

 This information will also be trans- 

 mitted to Office of Management and 

 Budget (0MB) and to the Congress 

 when the agency submits its project 

 proposal to the Congress. It is im- 

 portant to note that the independent 

 review is strictly a staff technical 

 review. The findings do not go to 

 the council members for review or 

 approval but are transmitted by the 

 chairman to the planning agency and 

 are available to the public. 



The independent project review 

 will provide a checkpoint for see- 

 ing that the estuary and its fresh- 

 water inflow received proper consid- 



15 



