62 



The Commission believes it important 

 that the Congress assign planning, coordina- 

 tion, and management for coastal zone 

 l)eyond State jurisdiction to a single Federal 

 agency. The Federal planning and manage- 

 ment role would be analogous to that exer- 

 cised within the limits of Stat© jurisdiction 

 by the Coastal Zone Authorities. This as- 

 signment shoidd complement the specialized 

 responsibilities of the Bureau of Land Man- 

 agement, the Federal Water Pollution Con- 

 trol Administration, and the U.S. Army 

 Corps of Engineers and should not modify in 

 any way the overall responsibility of the De- 

 partment of Stat© for the Nation's foreign 

 affairs. 



The Commission recommends that: 



• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Agency administer the grants in sup- 

 port of planning and enforcement 

 activities of the State Coastal Zone 

 Authorities. It should be empowered to 

 revoke or withhold the grants if the 

 Authorities are not acting in compli- 

 ance with plans NOAA has approved. 



• All Federal agencies providing grants- 

 in-aid to States or engaging in coastal 

 activities review their projects for con- 

 sistency with plans of the State Coastal 

 Zone Authorities. 



• NOAA assist the States in an effort 

 to resolve problems resulting from the 

 divergent objectives of other Federal 

 agencies. 



• NOAA develop and continually update 

 its plans for the development and use 

 of coastal areas not within State juris- 

 diction and coordinate the activities of 

 other Federal agencies in these areas. 



Information Needed for Coastal 

 Zone Management 



The coastal zone's many uses, occurring 

 within a complex and delicately balanced 

 biophysical system, will challenge the Na- 

 tion's capacity for effective planning and 

 management. To establish an adequate basis 

 for decision making, there is a need for broad 

 surveys to establish basic national inventory 

 information, there is a need for continuous 

 and detailed studies of specific local condi- 

 tions, there is a need for trained personnel, 

 and there is a need for determining precise 

 jurisdictional boundaries. 



State Boundaries 



Controversy persists regarding the loca- 

 tion of the baselines from which to measure 

 the territorial sea and areas covered by the 

 Submerged Lands Act of 1953. Fixing these 

 lines will be difficult and contentious, because 

 valuable rights are at stake. The Supreme 

 Court of the United States now has before it 

 a dispute between the United States and Lou- 

 isiana involving $1.1 billion in mineral lease 

 payments. In California, the oil rights to ap- 

 proximately 500 acres of offshore land were 

 leased at $10,000 an acre; the rights are in 

 contention because of disagreement about 

 whether a low-lying reef some yards offshore 

 is sufficiently high to be considered part of 

 the coastline. It has been estimated that of the 

 18 seaward lateral boundaries between the 

 States, only 4 are substantially defined. 



It is important, too, that the boundaries be 

 fixed once and for all in terms of geographic 

 coordinates that can be portrayed on maps, 

 ratlier than in terms of distances from the 

 coasts. This would avoid the problem of base- 

 lines changing due to tidal effects, floating is- 

 lands, migrating sandbars, and the deposit 

 of riverborn© sediments. 



