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vessels of 1,600 or more tons when operating in the navigable 

 waters of the United States (33 C.F.R. 164). 



These products and services are even more vital today than they 

 have been in the past. Transportation, defense, science, public 

 works, and recreation depend on these services. No other agency 

 or organization in the country gathers these data or responds to 

 these needs. But today, NOAA faces the prospect of being unable 

 to discharge these responsibilities effectively for a number of 

 reasons. 



First, NOAA's charting products are becoming inadequate because 

 of lack of maintenance. More than 99 percent of U.S. 

 international commerce, valued at nearly $500 billion, moves by 

 ship. Half of this cargo is oil or hazardous material. These 

 ships must move through U.S. coastal waters guided by charts that 

 were created with data that in some cases is over 50 years old. 

 Fully half of U.S. waters less than 30 meters deep (including 25 

 percent of our harbors and harbor approaches) were surveyed prior 

 to World War II. Tidal current predictions for several ports 

 have been withdrawn because their accuracy has deteriorated to a 

 potentially dangerous state. 



Second, new navigation and positioning technology has improved 

 productivity thereby changing user requirements for these 

 services. The new technology of digital chart data for use with 



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