authorized a major program on national ocean policy and its implications, 
which a special Senate Committee now has under way. 
Although heartened by prospects attendant on S.Res. 222, NACOA once 
again feels compelled to address the question of why an ocean affairs focus 
is needed, why we feel the need for associating organizationally the func- 
tions of marine resource development, regulation, and research, and where 
the competence to carry out these functions should reside. How this com- 
petence is brought together—whether within a DENR, an existing Depart- 
ment, or by establishing a new independent agency—is less important than 
that it be done soon. Our present assessment favors amalgamating the 
desired competence, the bulk of which can come from several existing 
organizations, within an existing Department or Agency as the most 
expeditious way of getting on with the business of the United States and 
the sea. 
Why an Ocean Program? 
NACOA wishes to note that although the need for specialized technology 
in the oceans, such as seagoing platforms and support systems, and the 
need for specialized knowledge of the environment by those who plan and 
use the technology at sea, has always provided a plausible rationale for a 
correspondingly specialized Federal management, two new elements are 
all but compelling. These new elements are the need to protect the environ- 
ment from the users of the sea and the need to protect the users of the sea 
from each other. 
The environmental threat from oil spillage is the clearest example of 
the former, although pesticides, toxic metals, and other terrestrial pollutants 
are serious threats as well. The deliberate overboard pumping of oil to 
empty bilges or clear cargo tanks and the inadvertent leakage and accident- 
caused spillage from tankers are potentially very large as the size of 
tankers, volume of shipping, and the amount of cargo carried grows to 
unprecedented proportions. The tanker’s story is the most dramatic. 
Starting after World War II when the largest was of approximately 20,000 
deadweight tons, supertankers now exist in the 500,000 deadweight ton 
class with 90-foot drafts and there is talk of tankers even larger. Such ships 
present a new kind of problem because the amount of oil involved in any 
one accident can be so large. Containing the environmental threat in 
just this one area thus becomes more urgent as it becomes more difficult. 
The second critical development in recent years is the astonishing growth 
in the number and levels of seagoing activities. A consequence is the 
increasing conflict over the use of sealanes themselves. This traffic will 
increasingly conflict with fisheries as could offshore oil and mineral extrac- 
tion, deepwater ports, and so forth. All these activities will, in turn, 
threaten some of the amenities sought for recreation by boaters, swimmers, 
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