NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 39 



U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 



Washington, D.C., July 28, 1965. 

 Hon. Herbert C. Bonner, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House oj Representatives. 



Dear Mr. Bonner: The Atomic Energy Commission is pleased 

 to comment on H.R. 5884 and H.E. 6009, identical bills to provide a 

 program of marine exploration and development of the resom-ces of 

 the Continental Shelf. 



H.R. 5884 and H.R. 6009 (hereinafter referred to as "the bill") 

 would establish a Marine Exploration and Development Commission 

 composed of two members appointed from private life by the President, 

 as well as the Secretaries of the Departments of Defense, Interior, 

 and Commerce. The function of this Commission would be to 

 formulate and carry out programs for purposes of exploration and 

 development of the marine resources of the Continental Shelf and 

 the waters above the Continental Shelf. Among the specifically 

 described programs are those for marine exploration necessary to 

 describe the topography and to identify, locate and economically 

 develop physical, chemical, geological, and biological resources of the 

 Continental Shelf and for fostering participation in marine exploration 

 and economic development by scientific institutions and industry. 



Marine exploration of the Continental Shelf is one segment of the 

 study of oceanography. As you know, the Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission was one of the four Federal agencies that first suggested and 

 participated in efforts to coordinate the national program in oceanog- 

 raphy. The Federal Council for Science and Technology (FCST) 

 created by Executive Order No. 10807 on March 13, 1959, established 

 the permanent Interagency Committee on Oceanography (ICO) by 

 letter dated March 3, 1960, from George Kistiakowsky, Chairman of 

 the FCST, to the Honorable James H, Wakelin, Jr., Assistant Secre- 

 tary of the Navy for Research and Development. A primary function 

 of the ICO has been to coordinate the activities of various agencies 

 having an interest in oceanography and related marine sciences. 

 These activities include exploration of the Continental Shelf as weU 

 as research involving the physical, chemical, geological, and biological 

 processes of the marine environment. 



The Commission considers that appropriate efforts for the accumu- 

 lation of knowledge respecting the Continental Shelf are currently 

 being exerted by those Federal agencies carrying out activities of 

 exploration and research with respect to the Continental Shelf under 

 the coordination of the ICO, and that the institution of a program of 

 economic development of the resources of the Continental Shelf, 

 which would be a primary function of the Marine Exploration and 

 Development Commission under the bill, would be premature at this 

 time. For example, agencies participating in the ICO are currently 

 conducting a program to develop a comprehensive understanding of 

 the distribution, ecology, physiology, behavior, response to environ- 

 mental changes and interrelationships of marine organisms in order 

 to permit proper planning for the greater use of the sea, including 

 the waters of the Continental Shelf, as a source of food. Intensive 

 commercial development at the present time could adversely affect 

 the satisfactory conduct of this program. In addition, exploration of 

 the Continental Shelf has been under way for a considerable period of 



