eration in the planning of Federal 

 water resource projects. 



To date, the project review 

 unit is still engulfed in the con- 

 tinuing battle between the White 

 House and certain factions of Con- 

 gress over water policy in general 

 and particularly over the omnibus 

 water projects bill. Although we 

 have statutory authority to per- 

 form the review, a rider on our 

 1980 appropriations bill prohibit- 

 ed the use of FY 1980 funds for the 

 review until it was authorized 

 after the date of the appropriations 

 bill. The Senate Environment and 

 Public Works Committee has reported 

 out a bill authorizing the review 

 but the House has not. We antici- 

 pate some action on this matter 

 this month, but the situation right 

 now is so uncertain that any pre- 

 diction of future congressional ac- 

 tion would be meaningless. Suffice 

 it to say that the council believes 

 the independent review is necessary 

 to ensure that projects are well 

 planned; we are confident we will 

 get the review up and running; and 

 we would welcome the opportunities 

 that the independent project review 

 would provide for the consideration 

 of estuaries and freshwater needs. 



So much for what the council 

 may do with existing programs. I 

 perceive that there could be a 

 further role for the council in this 

 arena. All of the interests which 

 are finding themselves in pitched 

 battle with one another in the 

 coastal zone just happen to be mem- 

 bers of the Water Resources Council. 

 Actually, this is no coincidence. 

 One purpose of Congress in creating 

 the council was to coordinate all 

 those agencies whose activities have 

 some bearing on water and related 

 land resources. The council can 

 serve to mediate among the competing 



interests of Energy, Defense, Trans- 

 portation, Agriculture, Housing and 

 Urban Development, and the Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency, but we can 

 only do it successfully if those 

 agencies want our help. For example, 

 the council could offer the impetus 

 needed to get the Estuary Protection 

 Act to live up to its name. The Act 

 needs recognition, funding, and the 

 resolution of who is responsible for 

 what between Interior and Commerce. 

 The council could, in the next fiscal 

 year, do the necessary analysis to 

 determine how the act could be imple- 

 mented in concert with agency reviews 

 done under Section 404 of the Clean 

 Water Act, NEPA, and other statutes 

 to avoid duplication. This is the 

 role that Congress envisioned for the 

 council when it first conceived the 

 idea of a coordinating, mediating 

 body. To what better use could 

 council efforts be put? Of course, 

 with its small staff and other cur- 

 rent initiatives, the council will 

 need the support of its members to 

 devote its resources to the fresh- 

 water inflow/estuary problem. 



I have tried to set forth for 

 you today the pattern of law and 

 policy which surrounds agency de- 

 cisionmaking at the Federal level. 

 I have indicated the problems we have 

 encountered in implementing that law 

 and policy. I will now sum up some 

 solutions to these probems which 

 could be implemented at the national 

 level . 



The Nation must be made aware of 

 the valuable resource that is the 

 estuary. The Nation must also be 

 made aware of the critical role that 

 freshwater inflow plays in the mainte- 

 nance of this valuable resource. One 

 way to achieve this would be a direc- 

 tive such as an executive order from 

 the executive office, similar to 

 those employed to alert the country 



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