Within the Department of Defense, the Advanced Research Projects 

 Agency will begin work on surface effects vehicles. However, this increase 

 in defense is more than offset by reductions in other areas. 



Developing a Concerted National Effort 



An overview of the Nation's marine science program highlights the 

 wide range and diversity of purposes, institutions, specialized bodies of 

 knowledge, and Federal activities that make up the missions of 11 depart- 

 ments and agencies. Two administrations since enactment of Public Law 

 89-454 have employed the Marine Sciences Council to assist the President 

 in marine science policy development, planning and coordination so as to 

 develop a concerted national effort. Underlying the Council's method of 

 operating are three concepts — 



(1) It should aid in strengthening the programs of the agencies and 

 in coordinating activities so as to foster an enterprise stronger than the 

 sum of its parts; 



(2) Its scope of activity, in keeping with the spirit of the legislation 

 to take into full account all the uses of the oceans, should be broader 

 than programs of scientific oceanography; and 



(3) Emphasis should be placed on the institutional framework and 

 governmental processes by which science is blended with considerations 

 of law, socioeconomics, and public policy and should seek new ideas 

 within and outside Government. 



The Council has assisted two administrations to {a) identify unmet 

 needs and opportunities to which Federal marine science programs could 

 be directed, especially gaps in programs that cross agency lines; (b) recom- 

 mend priorities on a Government-wide basis by selecting areas deserving 

 additional emphasis; (c) identify impediments to progress and strategies 

 for their circumvention; (d) develop policies by which the objectives and 

 programs of one agency will not inadvertently conflict with equally valid 

 but independent activities of another; {e) recommend — in those cases 

 where missions of several agencies may overlap — that one agency assume 

 a lead responsibility for Government-wide planning, guiding, coordinating, 

 and assuring fiscal support; (/) coordinate — through a committee struc- 

 ture — programs which are of concern to many agencies; (g) insure that the 

 appropriate sources of the Federal Government are brought to bear on 

 mutually agreed upon goals; (h) evaluate programs so as to eliminate 

 marginal activities ; and ( i) develop background, legal, economic, and tech- 

 nological studies for identifying alternative policies and criteria for choice. 



The Marine Sciences Council's professional staff includes specialists in 

 ocean sciences, engineering, national security affairs, public administration, 

 data, marine geology, economics, and international relations. The Council 

 staff assists in identifying policy issues, developing and analyzing background 

 material, and proposing action programs. Also, the Council obtains addi- 

 tional advice through contract studies and from its consultants. 



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