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ment of fundamental technology relevant to minerals exploration and 

 exploitation and greater flexibility in the leasing provisions for the 

 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953. 



4. Fresh water: Brackish and salt water are being converted to 

 fresh water in many parts of the world and possibilities may exist 

 for tapj)ing ground waters in coastal strata. The Federal Government's 

 ongoing desalination research and development program reflects a 

 close and effective partnership among Federal, State, and local govern- 

 ments and the academic community, and the Commission recom- 

 mends its continuation with increased emphasis on the possibilities of 

 very large-scale applications, smaller plants for such purposes as 

 tapping brackish water supplies for inland communities, and systems 

 permitting reuse of waste waters. 



The Department of the Interior is responsible for fostering the 

 development and use of the Nation's minerals, including those of the 

 Outer Continental Shelf. It should continue to administer the Outer 

 Continental Shelf leasing programs and exercise primary responsibil- 

 ity for deciding whether the national interest warrants specific action 

 to encourage development of seabed resources. However, conduct 

 of offshore surveys and development of fundamental technology for 

 marine operations are programs which should be assigned to the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency. NOAA will need to work 

 closely with the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines in these 

 tasks. 



The Commission, though its Panel on Marine Industry and Invest- 

 ment, has given special attention to the circumstances and needs of 

 marine industries. In general, the Commission has found that capital 

 has not been lacking to finance industrial ocean projects and that 

 industry neither desires nor needs direct Government subsidies. 

 Rather, to encourage private investment enterprise Government 

 policy should be directed to providing the research, exploration, 

 fundamental technology, and services necessary to expanded opera- 

 tions at sea and should seek to introduce a framework of laws and 

 regulatory policies that will allow greater predictability in business 

 planning and thereby increase confidence and investment activity. 

 An important responsibility of the proposed new agency will be to 

 work on a sustained basis with other agencies of Government, in con- 

 sultation with the private sector, to achieve these objectives. 



The marine resource industries have a common interest in the clari- 

 fication of marine boundaries and jurisdictions. But the matters at 

 stake in securing international agreements regarding the geographic 

 extent of national jurisdiction over seabed resources and arrangements 

 for exploring and exploiting resources in the areas beyond involve 

 far ranging and difficult questions of national policy which require 

 consideration also of the Nation's military and foreign policy interests. 



The Commission recommends that the United States seize the 

 opportunity for leadership which the present situation demands and 

 has proposed a legal-political framework for overcoming present 

 uncertainties. Its proposal anticipates redefinition of the "Continental 

 Shelf" to fix its seaward limits at the 200 meter isobath or 50 nautical 

 miles from the baseline for measuring the breadth of the territorial 

 sea, whichever gives greater area; the creation of an "intermediate 

 zone" to encompass the bed and subsoil of the deep sea in the band 



