483 

 Role of Ix)gal Governments 



SUMMARY 



Tlie States typically have deleg^ated or assigned authority to their 

 local subdivisions to carry out a broad range of functions which 

 directly or indirectly may have important effects on estuarine and 

 coastal resources. Among these significant activities are: (1) planning 

 and zoning of land use; (2) provision, either directly or otherwise, of 

 water supply, waste collection and treatment, and other utilities; (3) 

 construction of port facilities, roads, and bridges; (4) provision of 

 beaches, parks, marinas, fishing piers, and other recreational facilities; 



(5) regulation of the use of septic tanks in the zone and the admin- 

 istration of pest control and other public health protection programs; 



(6) regulation of fills and the administration of drainage projects; 



(7) promotion of industrial or other economic development; (8) 

 maintenance of property and other essential records; and (9) admin- 

 istration of local courts to establish justice and equity in interpersonal 

 relations. 



Although the primary responsibility for the management of the 

 resources of the estuarine and coastal zone now rests with the States, 

 the above listing clearly demonstrates that local governments today 

 in fact are making many of the most crucially important decisions 

 which actually govern the management and use of these resources. 

 Located "on scene" they are themselves major users of the zone's 

 resources. Moreover, they are highly responsive to public and private 

 interests in the nongovernmental sector which also are directly en- 

 gaged in developing and using these resources to satisfy human wants 

 and needs. In both respects, therefore, local governments today occupy 

 the most crucial spot in the management of estuarine and coastal re- 

 sources, because of the consequences, for the good or ill of the estuarine 

 or coastal resources concerned, of the States' local assignment of con- 

 trol over local activities. 



Local governments naturally desire to promote the economic growth 

 of the local area and to improve the community's property-tax base 

 which traditionally has financed most of their activities. However, 

 each local unit usually is too small to envision or respond effectively 

 to the needs of an entire estuary or coastal area. Frequently, they also 

 have lacked funds, and therefore the staff, to maintain the expertise 

 Avhich is capable of fully understanding all of the ramifications of 

 local actions upon the larger estuarine and coastal zone. The result is 

 that all too often local governments have succumbed to strong eco- 

 nomic and political pressure to proceed with poorly planned or unwise 

 development of estuarine and coastal resources, or to permit such 

 development by those in the nongovernmental sector. In succumbing 

 to these pressures, local governments unfortunately have contributed 

 much to the impairment of the Nation's estuarine and coastal 

 resources. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Although the record of local governments in managing estuarine 

 and coastal zone resources on the whole is subject to criticism, the Na- 

 tion's effort to imj^rove management of these resources should retain 

 a significant role for local governments in the new national program. 



