10 



NOAA. Through cooperation with State 

 agencies, neighboring institutions, and such 

 Federal agencies as the Federal Water Pol- 

 lution Control Administration and the U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers, each laboratory 

 can deA-elop scientific and technological pro- 

 grams most appropriate to its region. 



A serious handicap to scientific estuarine 

 and coastal research is the diminishing num- 

 ber of relatively unaltered areas where nat- 

 ural processes can be observed. As an ad- 

 junct to the Coastal Zone Laboratories, the 

 Connnission recommends that representative 

 coastal and estuarine sites be established as 

 natural preserves for conduct of studies 

 necessary to establish a proper base from 

 which the etfects of man's activities can be 

 determined and ultimately predicted. 



Attacking Coastal Zone Pollution 

 Problems 



Dumping wastes into the Nation's rivers, 

 filling marshlands, and spreading the spoil 

 from dredging have polluted the coastal 

 waters everywhere. Research into the 

 processes and consequences of this pollution 

 must be accelerated and new methods found 

 to handle waste collection and treatment. 

 Federal laboratories, universities, and in- 

 dustry must concentrate on this eifort, which 

 should begin far upstream; it cannot be ac- 

 complished in the coastal zone alone. 



Great Lakes Restoration 



The Great Lakes have deteriorated for 

 more than 100 years under the assault of 

 human activities that pollute the water. To 

 arrest and ultimately to reverse this deterio- 

 ration is an urgent national need. Preliminary 

 studies indicate that restoration of damaged 

 lakes may be possible. The Commission pro- 

 poses a National Project to accelerate the 

 scientific research and technological develop- 

 ment that will be necessary to extend this 

 possibility to the Great Lakes. 



Interim Policies 



Organization, research, and development 

 in the estuaries and coastal zones will take 

 time, no matter how rapidly action is insti- 

 tuted. Meanwhile, matters must be prevented 

 from becoming worse. Existing Federal and 

 State laws affecting water quality must be 

 strictly and aggressively enforced. The Fed- 

 eral agencies themselves must lead the way 

 by rigidly complying with existing legisla- 

 tion and Executive Orders relating to pollu- 

 tion from Federally connected activity. 

 Amendments to some Federal laws are desir- 

 able in order to increase their effectiveness. 

 State executives and legislatures must exer- 

 cise restraint in approving activities which 

 may alter the coastal zone until better infor- 

 mation is obtained about the consequences 

 of such activities and until State plans for 

 the coastal zone as a whole can be developed. 



Developing the Resources of the Sea 



Beginning at the shoreline and extending 

 outward to the waters and bed of the deep 

 sea are a great variety of resources, many of 

 which already contribute substantially to the 

 national economy. The need is to establish 

 the institutional framework and the scien- 

 tific and technological foundation for assur- 

 ing that the Nation has access to those re- 

 sources of the sea which it needs when it 

 needs them. Some of these needs are imme- 

 diate; others are long range. 



Because the commercial exploitation of the 

 sea's resources is the task of profit -oriented 

 industry, the national plan should create a 

 climate in which industry can operate effec- 

 tively with assistance from the Federal Gov- 

 ernment in those areas of scientific research 

 and technological development where private 

 investment cannot be expected to assume the 

 full burden. 



An example of the kind of research and 

 development facility for which Federal as- 



