126 



STATEMENT OF HON. MYSON TEIBTJS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR 

 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 



Mr. Tpjbus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, I 

 am pleased to present the Department of Commerce views on coastal 

 zone management. Throughout this conference it has been emphasized 

 time and time again that in order to avoid mutually destructive com- 

 peting uses of the coastal zone there is a need for a national legisla- 

 tive policy. 



For example, two of our Nation's most important goals in this area 

 are (1) the maximum economic utilization of the coastal zone, and 

 (2) the preservation of the natural environment of the coastal zone. 

 Obviously these are competing and contradictory goals. The attain- 

 ment of either of these goals to the serious detriment of the other 

 would be unacceptable to the public interest. We, therefore, must 

 strive to achieve a meaningful optimization of the coastal zone to 

 meet these goals. 



In order for decisionmakers to achieve this balance they must first 

 have available adequate comprehensive physical and socioeconomic 

 data. Once these the data have been provided, they must devise a plan 

 for the management of the coastal zone that will give appropriate 

 recognition to competing uses, such uses as industrial development, rec- 

 reation, conservation, transportation requirements, labor utilization, 

 and housing, and their effect on the quality of the environment and the 

 ecology. 



Any plan for the development and management of the coastal 

 zone will require the simultaneous consideration of economic, politi- 

 cal, social, technical and scientific factors. I visualize that for every 

 natural system there could be need for a laboratory, a staff of in- 

 vestigators and a dynamic computer model of the zone. 



With support from a data base such as this, and a computer ro,odel, 

 it should be possible to forecast the effects of different management 

 policies and provide a better basis for decisionmaking. 



I will now discuss briefly what the Department of Commerce has 

 been doing that relates directly to coastal zone management. 



The Department's Environmental Science Service Administration 

 (ESS A) is active in the coastal zone, gathering, processing, analyz- 

 ing, and disseminating environmental data. These data include in- 

 formation on coastal tides, movement of ocean currents, structure 

 and shape of bordering ocean basins, seismic activity and climatic 

 study of the area. 



Further, ESSA's Coast and Geodetic Survey provides the charts 

 necessary for navigation of this area and the determination of marine 

 boundaries. It also conducts the surveys, investigations, analyses and 

 research in hydrography, oceanography, cartography, geodesy, and 

 seismology which are necessary in any planning efforts involving 

 the area. 



ESSA's Weather Bureau plays a vital role in the preservation of life 

 and property in the coastal zone by providing the river and flood 

 forecasting and warning systems. As the events of the past 2 months 

 have demonstrated, ESSA's hurricane warning system is useful to 

 the coastal zone. In connection with this role, research and analysis 

 of hydrometeorological data is performed for application to the zone. 



