coastal ecosystems, partly in support of environmental assessments 

 of the leasing system, but also as they relate to shipping accidents 

 and to discharges from adjacent land areas. DOI's Office of Water 

 Research and Technology supports research by academic in- 

 stitutions on the spreading of oil slicks. 



The potential impacts of OCS oil and gas development on land use, 

 public services, and other activities within the coastal zone are 

 receiving increasing attention, especially in areas adjacent to the oil 

 and gas exploration frontier along the northeast and central Atlantic 

 coast, where demands on the use of the shoreline are already intense. 

 As pressure on the use of the coastal zone continues to grow, the 

 need for contingency planning at Federal, State, and local levels 

 increases. To aid in the planning effort. Congress passed a number of 

 amendments to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, 

 administered by NOAA's Office of Coastal Zone Management 

 (OCZM), and granted additional funding for priority support of 

 planning programs in States that are most likely to be affected by 

 new or expanded offshore petroleum activity. In addition to 

 planning grants to the States, OCZM, with the cooperation of other 

 Federal agencies, such as DOI's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, is 

 sponsoring regional conferences to discuss subjects of mutual 

 concern to the Federal Government and the States. 



To aid in planning and managing onshore-offshore activities, 

 USGS and NOAA have produced cooperatively the Experimental 

 1:250, 000-Scale Topographic-Bathymetric Map, a map of a portion 

 of the North Carolina coast. This prototype, which is actually two 

 maps in one, incorporates into one format and one edition the data 

 previously shown separately on the USGS topographic map and the 

 NOAA bathymetric map of the area. Map-use comments, 

 suggestions, and acceptance of the experimental sheet, issued in 

 early 1975, are being solicited prior to implementing a program to 

 produce such sheets. 



Deepwater Ports 



On January 4, the President signed the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 

 into law. In anticipation of the legislation, the USCG established a 

 Deepwater Ports Project Staff in early July 1974. The initial 

 activities of this staff have focused on preparing environmental 

 impact assessments for deepwater port proposals and on drafting 

 regulations that aim at reducing the probability of mishap. The 

 regulations include specifying maximum safe vessel draft for each 

 port, limiting entry to vessels that comply with manning and 

 readiness requirements, embarking port representatives prior to 

 entry, requiring intervals between vessels, and establishing weather 

 minimums and cutoff conditions for vessel traffic. 



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