provide. The U.S. Coast Guard is active in 

 the Great Lakes, and its resources in the 

 region are much greater than those of the 

 Lake Survey. ESSA and BCF have strong 

 capabilities which should be brought to bear 

 on Great Lakes problems. Combining the 

 capability of all four under NOAA would 

 permit efficient and expeditious accomplish- 

 ment of the intensified work warranted by 

 the importance of the Great Lakes as a 

 national resource. 



Sea Grant Program 



Under its broad legislative mandate, the 

 National Sea Grant Program has already 

 launched a number of valuable programs in 

 a variety of marine areas. The Commission 

 has recommended that the Sea Grant Pro- 

 gram be the vehicle to support the Coastal 

 Zone Laboratories. It could be the means of 

 support of the recommended University- 

 National Laboratories. The full role of the 

 Sea Grant Program will have to be evalu- 

 ated by the new agency. 



The transfer of the Sea Grant Program to 

 NOAA would not impair the National 

 Science Foundation's (NSF) capabilities to 

 perform its normal functions of research 

 and science education support. However, it 

 would enable NOAA in conjunction with its 

 other functions to sponsor a wide range 

 of highly useful applied marine science and 

 training activities in cooperation with uni- 

 versities and industry. 



Institutional Funding for University- 

 National Laboratories 



At the present time, no system exists to 

 assure the continuity of institutional support 

 for the Nation's major marine science labora- 

 tories. Informally, NSF and the Navy's Of- 

 fice of Naval Research (ONE) have assumed 

 a commitment to assist in providing the 

 funds necessary for their operation. In 



Chapter 2 the Commission has recommended 

 adoption of a more systematic way to sup- 

 port university laboratories at levels appro- 

 priate to the needs of big science and to 

 accelerate research on the problems of the 

 coastal zone. Proposals for University- 

 National Laboratories and Coastal Zone 

 Laboratories call upon NOAA to support the 

 acquisition and maintenance of major facili- 

 ties and a core staff. Such institutional fund- 

 ing would be augmented by supplemental 

 grants and contracts for specific projects 

 from any Federal agency or private source. 



The National Science Foundation bears 

 principal responsibility for university sup- 

 port and should continue to so do through 

 strengthened programs and increased fund- 

 ing. NSF now also provides block funding 

 for oceanographic vessels but, except under 

 the Sea Grant Program, has not otherwise 

 given institutional support for broad marine 

 programs. The Commission would place re- 

 sponsibility for institutional support of 

 University-National Laboratories in NOAA. 

 This should free NSF to use its limited funds 

 to support project research activities. 



The Office of Naval Research has also been 

 a major source of support for marine science, 

 and particularly for the large ocean labora- 

 tories. Like NSF, ONR has supported ships 

 and operations (though not with block fund- 

 ing) and has assisted universities to acquire 

 research submersibles and special research 

 platforms. With institutional support of the 

 University-National Laboratories provided 

 by NOAA, ONR could achieve an even 

 greater diversity in its marine sciences pro- 

 gram. NSF and ONR support of individual 

 investigators and specific projects would, of 

 course, continue, and the Commission urges 

 that there be increased funding for such 

 support. 



The Commission is of the view that NOAA 

 also should be assigned Federal responsi- 



