640 
could be used to ‘obstruct programs which did not meet their own 
departmental bureaucratic objectives.’ ” ® 
In ocean-related activities interagency coordination has historically 
been sought through loosely knit interagency advisory committees or 
high level review-councils. In 1960 the Interagency Committee on 
Oceanography (ICO) was formed to coordinate the 15 agencies that 
were then engaged in oceanographic research.3® The ICO was replaced 
by the National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering in 
1966, a Cabinet-level panel which was chaired by the Vice-President. 
In terms of effectiveness, there is little doubt that the National 
Council on Marine Resources and Engineering was the most influential 
of all the interagency coordinating instrumentalities. There were 
several reasons for this: (1) the Council had a direct legislative man- 
date; (2) members were cabinet rank officers with authority and 
responsibility for setting policy; (3) the Chairman was the Vice Pre- 
sident of the United States; and (4) in a more normative sense, 
the first Chairman, Hubert H. Humphrey, was an ex-Senator who 
understood and had an excellent working relationship with the Con- 
gress. The Council’s success must also be partially attributed to the 
power it derived from its position in the establishment.*” 
When the Marine Council was terminated as provided by the 
enabling legislation on April 30, 1971, it was replaced by the In- 
teragency Committee on Marine Science and Engineering (ICMSE) 
which was established by the Federal Council for Science and 
Technology. ICMSE is a nonstatutory executive coordinating commit- 
tee composed of 13 members from the subcabinet (assistant and deputy 
assistant secretary) levels of departments or agencies, including the 
Smithsonian Institution, which are involved in ocean-related activities. 
The committee is presently chaired by the Adminisrator of the Na- 
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
ICMSE’s charter provides limited authority from the President to: 
(1) ensure planning and coordination of Federal activities in marine 
sciences and engineering and related matters; (2) identify the need 
for and foster appropriate studies or investigations; and (3) annually 
review the Federal marine science and engineering program and 
budget.*8 ICMSE has no specific authority to establish policies or 
to set priorities; it is solely advisory. Members of ICMSE convene 
bimonthly to review major programs and exchange information. The 
agenda is formed by requests generated from the Executive or Con- 
gress. The Senate National Ocean Policy Study has actively used 
ICMSE as a vehicle for reviewing the status of ocean data resources, 
the state-of-the-art of ocean instrumentation and a survey of Federal 
agency research programs in the Great Lakes. The committee has 
a number of functional subcommittees which deal with limited in- 
teragency problem-solving in the areas of the Chesapeake Bay, coastal 
35 [bid., p. 11. 
36 The ICO was actually a spinoff from the Subcommittee on Oceanography formed within the now 
defunct Federal Council for Science and Technology created by Executive Order No. 10807, on Mar. 
13, 1959. 
37 For a comprehensive analysis of the functions and operation of the National Council on Marine 
Resources and Engineering based on firsthand knowledge, see: Wenk, Jr., Edward, The Politics of the 
Ocean. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1972, cited earlier. 
38 U.S. General Accounting Office. The Need for a National Ocean Program and Plan, op. cit., p. 
24. 
