of the Council to preside over meetings of the Council during the absence, 

 disability, or unavailability of the Chairman. 



(d) Each member of the Council, except those designated pursuant to 

 subsection (b), may designate any officer of his department or agency ap- 

 pointed with the advice and consent of the Senate to serve on the Council 

 as his alternate in his unavoidable absence. 



(e) The Council may employ a staflf to be headed by a civilian executive 

 secretary who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive compen- 

 sation at a rate established by the President at not to exceed that of level II 

 of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule. The executive secretary, subject 

 to the direction of the Council, is authorized to appoint and fix the compen- 

 sation of such personnel, including not more than seven persons who may be 

 appointed without regard to civil service laws or the Classification Act of 

 1949 and compensated at not to exceed the highest rate of giade 18 of the 

 General Schedule of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, as may be 

 necessary to perform such duties as may be prescribed by the President. 



(f) The provisions of this Act with respect to the Council shall expire 

 one hundred and twenty days after the submission of the final report of the 

 Commission pursuant to section 5(h). 



RESPONSIBILITIES 



Sec. 4. (a) In conformity with the provisions of section 2 of this Act, it 

 shall be the dut)' of the President with the advice and assistance of the 

 Council 



( 1 ) survey all significant marine science activities, including the poli- 

 cies, plans, programs, and accomplishments of all departments and 

 agencies of the United States engaged in such activities ; 



(2) develop a comprehensive program of marine science activities, 

 including, but not limited to, exploration, description and prediction of 

 the marine environment, exploitation and conservation of the resources 

 of the marine environment, marine engineering, studies of air-sea inter- 

 action, transmission of energy, and communications, to be conducted by 

 departments and agencies of the United States, independently or in 

 cooperation with such non-Federal organizations as States, institutions 

 and industry; 



(3) designate and fix responsibility for the conduct of the foregoing 

 marine science activities by departments and agencies of the United 

 States ; 



(4) insure cooperation and resolve differences arising among de- 

 partments and agencies of the United States with respect to marine 

 science activities under this Act, including differences as to whether a 

 particular project is a marine science activity; 



(5 ) undertake a comprehensive study, by contract or otherwise, of the 

 legal problems arising out of the management, use, development, recov- 

 er)', and control of the resources of the marine environment; 



(6) establish long-range studies of the potential benefits to the 

 United States economy, security, health, and welfare to be gained from 

 marine resources, engineering, and science, and the costs involved in 

 obtaining such benefits ; and 



217 



