72 



A Plan for "Seasteads" 



Finally, coastal zone policies should recog- 

 nize the desirabilit)^ of providing an outlet 

 for the energy and innovative talent of in- 

 dividual entrepreneure. There are many ways 

 in which these energies might be applied, in- 

 cluding aquaculture projects and underwater 

 tourism. Under existing law, uncertain and 

 cumbersome procedures for approval of such 

 enterprises etfectively foreclose them in most 

 States. Simple, inexpensive procedures are 

 needed to permit individuals and small com- 

 panies to lease submerged real estate and 

 water rights when consistent with the overall 

 plan of the State Coastal Zone Authority. 

 State action is required most urgently for de- 

 velopment within internal and territorial wa- 

 ters. As development extends farther offshore 

 and international legal arrangements are 

 clarified, leasing to permit diversified, non- 

 extractive seabed activities may become 

 feasible. 



The suggestion has been made that under- 

 water leases might capture some of the ex- 

 citement and public interest ignited by the 

 Homestead Act of 1862. Such "seasteads" 

 might be offered for extended periods on at- 

 tractive terms, contingent upon the usefiil 

 development of the marine tract in a manner 

 that would safeguard necessary navigation, 

 fishing, and other uses of the superjacent 

 waters and would be integrated with the over- 

 all plan for development of the coastal zone. 

 Oil, gas, and mineral rights would not be 

 conveyed through a "seastead" plan. 



The Commission recommends that States 

 develop procedures to permit the leasing 

 of offshore areas for new uses consistent 

 with the overall plan of the State Coastal 

 Zone Authorities for the development of 

 these areas. 



The Pollution Problem 



Pollution in the coastal zone prevents ef- 

 fective use of the waters and threatens their 

 future. Understanding pollution effects is a 

 prime concern of science; controlling the 

 disposition of pollution is a challenge to 

 engineers. 



Man easily surpasses nature in energy and 

 inventiveness in polluting the environment. 

 A river may abrade its banks and muddy 

 the downstream waters ; a hurricane may dis- 

 rupt a shoreline and bury a few acres of shell- 

 fish under the debris. But it takes a man to 

 create the devil's brew of pollution — oil 

 spreading into the ocean from a stricken 

 tanker, phosphates from washday detergents 

 leaching into the estuaries, phenol and cya- 

 nide streaming from industrial processing 

 plants, waste-laden effluents pouring from 

 some sewage treatment plants so poorly de- 

 signed or so badly operated that they are 

 barely worthy of their name. Pollution in one 

 sense is a measure of affluence. A higher 

 standard of living, more efficient farming, 

 more complex industry, more diverse leisure 

 activities — all these represent greater capa- 

 bilities to pollute. Although pollution can be 

 minimized, it probably can never be elimi- 

 nated completely. 



The disposition of wastes in estuaries 

 and offshore waters is both a major economic 

 use of the oceans and, at the same time, a 

 growing national disgrace. Every body of 

 water can assimilate certain amounts and 

 kinds of waste products, but every body of 

 water, including the ocean, has a limit. The 

 pollution load in many coastal waters already 

 has exceeded the limit. An estimated 1.2 mil- 

 lion acres (8 per cent) of the Nation's shell- 

 fishing groimds have been declared unsafe 

 for the taking of shellfish for human con- 

 sumption. The pollution load still is grow- 

 ing. Industrial pollution alone is increasing 



