Marine Science Affairs 



— strengthen planning and decision-making processes that rely on the 



expertise and knowledge of the coastal States, including the Great 



Lakes States, and are responsive to national as well as local needs; 



— expand the structure for consideration of multi-State issues in Coastal 



Zone planning and management ; 

 — ^broaden Federal policies and programs — without supplanting State 

 autonomy and responsibility — to encourage the States to develop 

 and carry out programs of planned use of the Coastal Zone in the 

 national interest; and 

 • — develop new mechanisms for acquiring, analyzing, and distributing 

 management information and environmental data concerning the 

 Coastal Zone. 

 This approach emphasizes that the State governments should be the 

 focal points for planning and managing activities in the Coastal Zone, with 

 the Federal and local governments supporting the States in carr^'ing out 

 this responsibility. In view of the inter-state character of many areas of 

 the marine environment, each State should take into account the plans 

 and needs of adjoining States, with the appropriate coordinating mechanisms 

 depending on the region. 



Already many Federal agencies support projects designed to foster develop- 

 ment of the Coastal Zone. More deliberate coordination of these activities 

 both at the Federal and State level is needed, supplemented as necessary by 

 additional Federal encouragement of planning and management activities 

 specifically directed to the Coastal Zone. 



Strengthening Multiagency Programs 



Based on studies by two interagency task forces to improve existing Federal 

 programs and policies affecting the Coastal Zone, the Council recommended 

 that the concerned agencies take further steps in six areas, namely: 

 1. Strengthening policy planning, coordination, and development, by: 

 — defining the national interest in the Coastal Zone more clearly and 

 encouraging enunciation of national goals and objectives in Coastal 

 Zone development by both the Executive and Legislative Branches; 

 — strengthening coordination of Federal agencies in the review of pro- 

 posed Coastal Zone alterations ; 

 — broadening studies of factors that influence land development in the 

 Coastal Zone, possibly by a multidisciplinary panel of specialists on 

 Coastal Zone development available for consultation with the States ; 

 and 



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