18 



has demonstrated that strength at the Presi- 

 dential staff level cannot compensate for 

 weaknesses in the agency operating structure. 

 A new, strong Federal focus for marine ac- 

 tivity is essential to a national ocean effort. 

 The organization should direct a civil ocean 

 program to the Nation's economic and social 

 needs, conducting the scientific, technologi- 

 cal, and management programs required to 

 ensure that those needs are met. The orga- 

 nization should serve as stimulus, guide, and 

 supporter for State marine activities and 

 provide a central point in the Federal Gov- 

 ernment to which industry can look for ad- 

 vice, cooperation, and some kinds of support 

 in industrial marine enterprises. 



Because the needs of people and of indus- 

 try are affected and even determined by the 

 interaction of sea, air, and land, it is not 

 enough to organize around the marine en- 

 vironment alone. Basic theory, experimental 

 techniques, equipment, and even personnel ai'e 

 much the same for both atmospheric and 

 ocean studies. The scale of effort needed, and 

 the necessity of measuring interactions among 

 the various parts of the environment, make 

 it imperative to organize within the larger 

 context of the air-sea environment. This is 

 sound both from the standpoint of good 

 science and the prudent management of per- 

 sonnel, fimds, and equipment. 



The Commission recommends, as was 

 briefly noted earlier in this summary, the 

 organization of an agency : 



• To explore the marine frontier and its in- 

 terrelationships with the atmosphere 



• To define its resources 



• To advance capabilities for its use 



• To provide supporting services including 

 weather and ocean forecasts 



• To minimize conflicts over uses of the ma- 

 rine environment 



• To coordinate scientific and technical re- 

 quirements and recommendations in sup- 

 jx)rt of foreign policy objectives 



• To serve marine industry and the marine 

 interests of the American people. 



Fui-tlier functions are defined in Chapter 7. 



The proposed National Oceanic and 

 Atniosjiheric Agency should report directly 

 to tlie President and should acquire through 

 transfer those Federal organizations and 

 programs integral to its mission but which 

 do not provide close operational support to 

 the departments and agencies in which they 

 are presently located. 



^Vny recommendation for reorganization 

 has many consequences, and the Commission 

 came early to the conclusion that a whole- 

 sale consolidation of marine activities within 

 a single structure would be unsound. None- 

 theless, the Commission is convinced that the 

 value to the Nation of creating an inde- 

 pendent agency as the prime Federal center 

 of marine strength outweighs the inevitable 

 trauma and difficulty of shifting agency 

 elements and programs. Creation of an in- 

 dependent agency would not prejudge any 

 future Federal organizational plans; the 

 agency could be moved as a whole. 



The central purpose of the Conunission in 

 I'ecommending the formation of the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency is to pro- 

 vide the means for undertaking the full range 

 of actions needed to realize the Nation's 

 growing stake in the effective use of the sea. 

 In some cases, the existence of such an agency 

 is critical to implementation of the Commis- 

 sion's recommendation; in others, recom- 

 mended programs could appropriately be 

 implemented through existing agencies. In 

 these latter cases, the Commission in its rec- 

 ommendations has identified parentlietically 

 the appropriate action agency. 



