Policy Committee (OPC), formerly known as the International Marine 

 Science Affairs Policy Committee (IMSAP), which serves as an adviser 

 to Federal agencies on marine affairs aspects of pertinent national 

 and international matters. During the Third Law of the Sea Confer- 

 ence, it has been supporting a Freedom for Ocean Sciences Task Group 

 (FOSTG) to review its concerns that the new conventions drafted 

 would increase the difficulties of performing oceanic research. 



The Environmental Studies Board includes an International Environ- 

 mental Programs Committee (lEPC), which provides interdisciplinary 

 advice on international environmental problems and on U.S. initia- 

 tives presented at international conferences. It is also responsible 

 for planning for the U.S. participation in the Global Environmental 

 Monitoring System (GEMS). 



The Geophysical Research Board includes a Committee on Data Inter- 

 change and Data Centers (CDIDC) which advises the U.S. participants 

 in World Data Centers. 



The Transportation Research Board's program includes the dissemina- 

 tion of information about research in many fields of transportation. 

 It operates the Maritime Research Information Service (MRIS), a 

 system for the acquisition, selection, storage, retrieval, and dis- 

 semination of references to projects, technical reports, and journal 

 articles in the maritime field. 



The NRC's Ship Research Committee (SRC) provides services in con- 

 nection with the research program of the Ship Structure Committee 

 (SSC) established in 1946 to research ship structures and their equip- 

 ment. NRC also includes coordinating committee on Scientifie and 

 Technical Assessment of Environmental Pollutants (STAEP). 



Other boards and committees include the Committee of Ecological 

 Research for the Interoceanic Canal (CERIC), organized in 1969 to 

 review and make recommendations regarding the accomplishments of the 

 Atlantic-Pacific Interoceanic Canal Study Commission. CERIC' s report 

 was completed in 1970. The Committee on Nuclear and Alternative 

 Energy Sources (CONAES) has concerned itself with the establishment 

 of nuclear energy plants offshore or on the coasts and with developing 

 other energy sources in the ocean; a Committee on Water (COW); and 

 the Board on Ocean Science Affairs (BOSA), a temporary title. 



Associated with the National Academy of Engineering is a Marine 

 Board (NAE/MB), formerly the Committee on Ocean Engineering (NAE/COE). 



B. STATE AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS 



420. ALABAMA 



Alabama's Departments of Public Health (DPH) and Conservation 

 and Natural Resources (DCNR) are concerned with the marine environ- 

 ment. The latter includes a Division of Fish and Game and a Marine 

 Resources Division, which operates the Alabama Marine Resources 

 Laboratory (AMRL) on Dauphin Island. 



In 1971 the State legislature chartered the Marine Environmental 

 Science Consortium (MESC), a public nonprofit corporation that sup- 

 ports the 18-member universities and colleges in Alabama with neces- 

 sary marine related course offerings to satisfy their degree programs. 

 MESC is at the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory (DISL). 



421. ALASKA 



The State's marine science activities are concentrated largely 

 in the Departments of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) and Fish and 

 Game (ADF&G). The State also supports the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

 Commission (AEWC). 



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