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that is being examined now in the executive branch with regard to 
this matter of State- -managed coastal zone authorities. 
They would be meaningless unless there were some clearly identi- 
fied center or focus within the constellation of Federal agencies to do 
this, and there have been several alternatives proposed short of NOAA. 
The Department of the Interior is one; the Marine Science Council 
is another. So there would be some alternatives. The problem is com- 
pounded by the fact that within the Federal Government so many 
different Federal agencies are involved in the coastal zone. Everybody 
is doing his thing there. 
Mr. Lennon. You see, one of the difficulties that the Members of the 
Senate and Members of the House have, who represent coastal areas, I 
think it was about, when, 1899, that the Congress enacted the law that 
authorized the Cor ps of Engineers to issue dr edging permits if it did 
not interfere with or obstruct navigation, and there was a tremendous 
number of those old applications pouring into the Corps of Engineers. 
Then, I believe in 1967, the Secretary of the Army, acting for the 
U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of the Interior, under an 
Executive order of the President, entered into a memorandum of 
understanding that the Corps of Engineers would not issue dredging 
permits unless it met with the approval of the regional director of the 
Department of Interior who had to correlate it and coordinate it with 
the Department of the Interior. Now, no one knows which way to move 
The Corps of Engineers says, “We are stymied, we don’t know what 
to do. We wish we hadn’t been burdened with this.” Here is a man who 
owns a land, a king’s grant, say, from the shoreline out to the Atlantic 
coastal waterways and he wants to dredge to get a little motor boat out 
there. He applies for a dredging permit. They object at the Department 
of Interior level. Then he has to go into Federal court, the expense of 
going into Federal court to seek a writ of mandamus. Then the question 
of the ownership of the land comes in. 
Dr. Wenk. Your very point, Mr. Chairman, reflects the complexity 
of dealing with coastal zone issues because of the multiple purposes 
that these coastal resources serve and inevitably the conflicts that arise 
not only among the different users, but among the Federal agencies 
themselves, each of which up to this time has been obliged to look at 
one single purpose of these coastal resources. 
You put your finger on the very problem we face and I believe we 
have some solutions for this. 
Mr. Lennon. Well, I am thankful you have a special panel making 
recommendations related to the coastal zone authorities. In my pro- 
posal to the Governors from all the coastal and lake States on this 
question, I pointed out to them some of the areas of discussion they 
can expect when they come here for that 2 day conference. You have 
provided me with a hope that your panel would be in a position to 
give us in writing by October 1 your specific direction that you think 
we should go and legislate at the Federal level that would implement 
what is recommended, and which you agree is the movement for the 
coastal zone authorities. 
Dr. Wenk. Mr. Chairman, you are putting me on the spot 
Mr. Lennon. I am trying to. 
