functions must be to establish the environmental norms and the 

 environmental support services for the necessary oil exploration 

 offshore. Such environmental services must include forecasts of 

 weather and sea states and ocean currents, as well as provision of 

 biological background information which can be used for making 

 assessments of oil contamination. The Committee feels that these 

 activities must be accompanied by periodic monitoring. I agree that 

 this is a proper role for the Federal Government. We intend to 

 provide the necessary ocean monitoring and ocean forecasting 

 support. 



The President has directed that, under the leadership of the 

 Council for Environmental Quality, a comprehensive environ- 

 mental study be undertaken of the possible impacts of oil and 

 gas development along the Atlantic and Alaskan coasts. This study 

 will be completed in April 1974. In addition, the President has 

 forwarded legislation to the Congress providing for the certification 

 of the environmental safety of deep-water ports. This should insure 

 that our environmental objectives are not compromised in the 

 process of meeting our energy needs. 



One of the most interesting aspects of the Committee report is 

 its assessment of the national need for deep-water terminals and 

 deep-water ports. Without question, as the national dependence 

 upon foreign crude oil increases, the United States will need facili- 

 ties to accommodate tanker traffic, traffic that will involve ships 

 of massive size, up to 500,000 dead-weight tons. Studies, sponsored 

 by various agencies of the Federal Government including the Mari- 

 time Administration, are underway on issues such as those raised 

 by the Committee report. In addition, the Administration has pro- 

 posed legislation (S-1751, H.R. 7501, Deep- Water Port Facilities 

 Act of 1973) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to regulate 

 the construction and operation of deep-water port facilities. 



The Committee has also stated its concern about the difficulty 

 in obtaining approval of sites which satisfy economic and environ- 

 mental criteria for the construction of major new refineries. While 

 it is true that environmental concerns may have deterred some 

 companies, it is noteworthy that since the removal of crude oil 

 import restrictions on May 1, 1973, several oil companies have 

 decided to expand existing refinery capacity. This expansion will 

 provide a total increase of 10 percent in our national capacity. 

 However, the issue raised by the Committee is a crucial one. It 

 involves the manner in which we balance our economic and en- 



