72 NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 



members could devote to Council activities might repult in less con- 

 sideration of oceanography within the executive branch than presently 

 exists. If the Council and the Interagency Committee on Ocean- 

 ography both exist, there will be substantial duplication cf efforts and 

 possible conflict of proposed programs. We think it is better to leave 

 oceanographic planning and coordination in the hands of the policy 

 and operating officials who work with the oceanographic program, 

 serve on the Interagency Committee on Oceanogarphy, and who are 

 thus most qualified to advise the President on its needs. 



For these reasons, the Department strongly favors the objectives of 

 titles I and II of the biU but is opposed to the establishment of a council 

 to accomplish these objectives. If the bill were amended to permit 

 the President to establish such mechanisms as he believes necessary to 

 accomplish these objectives, we would favor those titles of the bill. 



The Department also favors an increase in exploration and develop- 

 ment of the Continental Shelf; but opposes enactment of H.R. 7849 

 because, among other reasons, the establishment of a commission to 

 manage the Federal Continental Shelf program and to fund private 

 Continental Shelf activities is unnecessary and undesirable. The 

 Federal program, including any funding of private Continental Shelf 

 activities, should properly be managed by the agencies having missions 

 concerning the shelf under supervision of the President. 



Under the Convention on the Continental Shelf, which entered into 

 force for the United States on June 10, 1964, the United States and 

 other signatory states have jurisdiction over their continental shelves 

 to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to such depths as admit 

 of exploitation of the natural resources of the seabed and subsoil. In 

 view of the importance of these resources, it has become imperative 

 that the United States intensify its efforts to explore, survey, and map 

 its Continental Shelf to locate potential exploitable resources, and to 

 encourage industry to develop the technology to recover these re- 

 sources so that the country as a whole will be able to take full advan- 

 tage of them. Present activities of the Department are directed 

 toward accomplishment of these objectives. 



The Secretary of Commerce presently has the authority, which he 

 has delegated to the Environmental Science Services Administration 

 (ESSA), to survey and map the Continental Shelf. ESSA has the 

 competency, through its Coast and Geodetic Survey, for these ac- 

 tivities. From its surveying activities, ESSA obtains knowledge 

 about the Continental Shelf including the locations of its mineral 

 resources. Fiu"thermore, ESSA cooperates with the Department of 

 the Interior and other agencies while surveying the Continental Shelf 

 so that mineral, biological, and other resources can be located in the 

 same operation. Accordingly, we do not think that creation of a new 

 agency, such as the Marine Exploration and Development Commis- 

 sion, will increase the efiiciency of Federal exploration of the Conti- 

 nental Shelf. Rather, creation of such a commission is likely to 

 result in duplication of activities and facilities, and waste of experi- 

 enced manpower. 



Admittedly, section 301(d) of H.R. 7849 requires the Commission 

 to "utilize the capacity of existing governmental agencies to the 

 maximum extent consistent with the purposes of this Act." How- 

 ever, the Commission can avoid the limiting sentence of section 301(d) 

 by determining that its staff, or a private organization imder a loan, 



