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States to accept broadened responsibility for land use planning and 

 management. 



Under H.K. 2493, the Secretary of Commerce would be authorized 

 to share with coastal States their costs in the development and ad- 

 ministration of an approved coastal zone management plan and 

 program. 



Similar authority would be vested in the Administrator of National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by H.R. 2492. 



Studies conducted by this Department pursuant to the Federal 

 Water Pollution Control Act and the Estuary Protection Act of 1968 

 confirmed our fears that, in the absence of effective protective meas- 

 ures, the finite resources of our coastal and estuarine areas will con- 

 tinue to be threatened by population growth and economic develop- 

 ment. 



As reported to the full committee during the last Congress, we and 

 others have concluded that effective management of land and water 

 resources can best be promoted by encouraging the States to accept a 

 broadened responsibility for land use plamiing and management. 

 Recognizing that land use problems are not limited to the coastal 

 zone, the Council on Environmental Quality last August expressed 

 a need to begin shaping a national land use policy. 



Speaking for the Council, Dr. MacDonald has already spoken of 

 his message of February 8, "Program for a Better Environment," * * * 

 President Nixon discussed the relationship of his land use proposal 

 to the question of coastal zone management : "This proposal," he said, 

 "will replace and expand my proposal submitted to the last Congress 

 for coastal zone management, while still giving priority attention to 

 this area of the country which is especially sensitive to development 

 pressures." 



H.R. 2493 would authorize cost-sharing grants both for program 

 developm.ent and program management. The administration bill dif- 

 fers fi^om those directed solely to the coasital zone, however, with re- 

 spect to the scope of a State's planning activity and, indeed, the nmn- 

 ber of States eligible for assistance. 



The National Land Use Policy Act of 1971 would recognize, none- 

 theless, that land use pressures and the conflicts they cause are most 

 intense at the point where land meets water. To assure that coastal zone 

 and estuarine management receive the priority attention of coastal 

 States, our proposed H.R. 4332 would identify the coastal zones and 

 estuaries as "areas of critical environmental concern" and require that 

 a State's land use program include a method for inventorying and 

 designating such areas. 



Further, the Secretary of the Interior, charged with the responsi- 

 bility for administration of Federal assistance, would be authorized to 

 make grants for program management only if State laws affecting 

 land use in the coastal zone and estuaries take into account the pix)tec- 

 tion of their esthetic and ecological values and the susceptibility of 

 wetlands to permanent destruction through drainage, dredging, ajid 

 filling. 



Pei'haps most important in terms of State action is the provision 

 that $100 million would be allocated to the States over 5 years under 

 regulations which must take into account the nature and extent of 

 States' coastal zones and estuaries. 



