account in large measure for the proportionately high increase in 

 that year's program budget. 



The emphasis on energy-related programs will continue in fiscal 

 year 1976. Department of the Interior (DOI] funds allocated to 

 nonliving resource programs will be augmented by $32 million, most 

 of which will be expended on Outer-Continental-Shelf (OCS) 

 environmental assessment programs to determine the impact of 

 fossil-fuel development. Another prominent program designed to 

 resolve problems between environmental protection and the use of 

 marine resources is the Coastal Zone Management program of 

 NOAA. The funds made available through this program for coastal 

 management grants to U.S. coastal States and territories will be 

 increased significantly. A major use of the grants is expected to be 

 the support of projects to minimize adverse impacts of OCS oil and 

 gas development on the coastal zone. 



In related efforts, the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] is 

 expanding its studies of the environmental effects of energy 

 development. The Energy Research and Development Administra- 

 tion (ERDA) is accelerating its efforts to determine the best sites for 

 coastal powerplants, to understand the environmental effects of 

 nuclear-power use, and to develop new methods of generating 

 energy from the ocean's dynamic processes. 



Funds allocated to the development of mineral resources have been 

 comparatively small, but are being substantially augmented in fiscal 

 year 1976. NOAA's new Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study 

 (DOMES], conducted at prospective manganese nodule mining sites, 

 will be quadrupled by an increment of $3 million. Expenditures for 

 living-resource conservation and management programs will also 

 rise significantly. The major increases in this category will be for the 

 assessment of commercial fishery stocks, research directed to the 

 protection of marine mammals and endangered species, and for the 

 enforcement of fishery treaties by the U.S. Coast Guard, (USCG). 



Other areas of the marine program have not been subject to the 

 same compelling pressures for expanded activity. Expenditures in 

 these areas, however, are being maintained at levels necessary to 

 assure the Nation's security and to provide essential support for 

 future development and environmental preservation. For example, 

 budgets for national security programs, ocean observation and 

 prediction, mapping and charting, and ocean research will all be 

 modestly increased. The SEASAT project of the National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the design and 

 construction of an ocean-observation satellite is entering its 

 fabrication phase and will receive a substantial increment. Con- 

 sidering the fiscal year 1976 program as a whole and the national 

 economic framework within which it was developed, the program 



