program and NASA differ in several respects with the proposals 

 of the Commission. He hopes that NOAA will not be referred 

 to as a "wet NASA" and suggested that a more suitable analogy 

 would be NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee 

 for Aeronautics. Professor Skolnikoff discusses some of the 

 issues which should be considered when evaluating national or- 

 ganizations for oceanography in Uses of the Seas prepared by 

 the American Assembly. 



Organization 



The new independent operating agency, which would re- 

 port directly to the President, would absorb a large portion of 

 the non-military marine programs presently being conducted 

 by various federal agencies and departments. The initial com- 

 position would include: 



— the U. S. Coast Guard of the Transportation Department 

 — the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the Interior 



Department 

 — the marine and anadromous fisheries functions of the 

 Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife of the Interior 

 Department 

 — the National Sea Grant Program now administered by 



the NSF 

 — the U. S. Lake Survey of the Army Corps of Engineers 

 — the National Oceanographic Data Center 

 — the Environmental Science Services Administration of 

 the Commerce Department which is composed of the 

 Weather Bureau and Coast and Geodetic Survey, along 

 with the environmental agencies 



This would provide NOAA with about 320 seagoing ships and 

 55,000 employees (mostly in the Coast Guard). It would have 

 thirteen physical environmental science laboratories, fifteen 

 marine biology laboratories, six technology laboratories, and five 

 coastal laboratories. The agency might also include other agen- 

 cies which are concerned with marine affairs, such as the Na- 

 tional Center for Atmospheric Research now operated for NSF. 



NOAA, however, would remain separate from the work 

 done by the Navy and the Maritime Administration. Also where 

 functions of programs are essential to the operation of existing 

 groups they will not be consolidated, e.g., the oceanography- 

 from-space program of NASA and the marine-related nuclear 

 energy programs of the Atomic Energy Commission. It is pos- 

 sible that there will be cooperation with these groups in some 

 aspects of research and technology. 



Creation of a National Advisory Committee for the Oceans 

 (NACO) is requested to advise the head of NOAA and report 

 to the President and Congress on the progress of ocean pro- 

 grams. The members (about 15) would be appointed by the 



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