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many areas and much of our inshore area is ugly, overcrowded, and 

 polhited by domestic and industrial activities. 



I know that this committee surely shares my opinion that priority 

 attention should be given to improved planning and management of 

 the coastal zone areas of the Nation. This has urgency, not only from 

 the point of view of environmental quality and pollution control, as 

 I stressed above, but also for the opportunities that can result from 

 improved resources production and many positive conservation 

 measures. 



These could include the constructive use of waste heat from power 

 generating plants, improved methods and techniques in aquaculture, 

 improvements in natural biological productivity, and actions which 

 will generally improve the esthetics of the coastal environment. 



I stress again that the answer to our problems in the coastal zone is 

 not to stop development but to allow for multiple use, to undertake 

 new endeavors that will, in fact, reclaim lost and polluted areas and, 

 in general, plan positively to meet our rapidly growing population 

 and economic pressures on coastal zones. 



Several agencies of the Department of Commerce, in addition to 

 NOAA, can be of considerable assistance, particularly to give guid- 

 ance to economic opportunities, to assist industry to meet changing 

 conditions, and to encourage new developments and positive planning 

 for the coastal zone. 



For example, the Maritime Administration promotes and encour- 

 ages the development of port and related transportation facilities. The 

 Economic Development Administration fosters economic development 

 in coastal areas through research and technical planning assistance 

 and through a program of grants and loans. The Regional Action 

 Plamiing Commissions are now active in coastal zone planning. 

 Through this mechanism, the States receive assistance in planning, 

 legal, and socioeconomic aspects of coastal zone management. 



The organization of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- 

 istration has brought together a significant portion of the Federal 

 Government's oceanographic capabilities, so that NOAA is in a good 

 position to assist the Department of the Interior when appropriate in 

 the coastal zone aspect of its administration of the national land use 

 program envisioned under H.R.. 4332. 



NOAA administers several programs which, with their services, 

 products and related research, contribute to our knowledge of the 

 coastal zone and consequently to potentially effective management 

 practices therein. These include sea grant, fisheries, mapping and 

 charting, environmental monitoring and prediction, and work in sup- 

 port of environmental quality objectives. 



As this committee knows, the sea-grant program is oriented pri- 

 marily to the coastal zone and its marine resources and utilization. 

 Over 80 percent of the sea-grant research funds have been spent in 

 coastal zone applications. In addition to studies in ecology?', the sea- 

 grant program has supported projects to develop models for coastal 

 zone management, projects on legal regimes, and on socioeconomic as- 

 spects of coastal zone management. 



Tlie National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fishery 

 activities are closely involved with the matters of concern to the coastal 

 zone. Studies in fundamental ecological research, mariculture and 



