184 



(c) The increasing and competing demands upon the lands and waters of our 

 coastal zone occasioned by population growth and economic development, includ- 

 ing requirements for industry, commerce, residential development, recreation, 

 extraction of mineral resources and fossil fuels, transportation and navigation, 

 waste disposal, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and other living marine resources, 

 have resulted in the loss of living marine resources, wildlife, nutrient-rich areas, 

 permanent and advei'se changes to ecological systems, decreasing open space for 

 public use, and shoreline erosion ; 



(d) The coastal zone, and the fish, shellfish, other living marine resources, and 

 wildlife therein, are ecologically fragile and consequently extremely vulnerable 

 to destruction by man's alternations ; 



(e) Important ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values in the coastal 

 zone which are essential to the well-being of all citizens are being irretrievably 

 damaged or lost ; 



(f) Special natural and scenic characteristics are being damaged by ill-planned 

 development that threatens these values ; 



(g) In Ught of competing demands and the urgent need to protect and to give 

 high prioi-ity to natural systems in the coastal zone, present state and local in- 

 stitutional arrangements for planning and regulating land and water uses in such 

 areas are inadequate ; and 



(h) The key to more effective protection and use of the land and water re- 

 sources of the coastal zone is to encourage the states to exercise their full au- 

 thority over the lands and waters in the coastal zone by assisting the states, in 

 cooperation with Federal and local governments and other vitally affected inter- 

 ests, in developing land and water use programs for the coastal zone, including 

 unified policies, criteria, standards, methods, and processes for dealing with land 

 and water use decisions of more than local significance. (Pub. L. 89-454, title III, 

 § 302, as added Pub. L. 92-5S3, Oct. 27, 1972, 86 Stat. 1280. ) 



SHORT TITLE 



Section 301 of Pub. L. 89-4.54, as added by Pub. L. 92-583, provided that : "This 

 title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the 'Coastal Zone Management Act 

 of 1972'." 



§ 1452. Congressional declaration of policy. {Sec. 303) 



The Congress finds and declares that it is the national policy (a) to preserve, 

 protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance, the resources of the 

 Nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding generations, (b) to encourage and 

 assist the states to exercise effectively their responsibilities in the coastal zone 

 through the development and implementation of management programs to achieve 

 wise use of the land and water resources of the coastal zone giving full consid- 

 eration to ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values as well as to needs 

 for economic development, (c) for all Federal agencies engaged in programs af- 

 fecting the coastal zone to cooperate and participate with state and local gov- 

 ernments and regional agencies in effectuating the purposes of this chapter, and 

 (d) to encourage the participation of the public, of Federal, state, and local gov- 

 ernments and of regional agencies in the development of coastal zone manage- 

 ment programs. With respect to implementation of such management programs, 

 it is the national policy to encourage cooperation among the various state and 

 regional agencies including establishment of interstate and regional agreements, 

 cooperative procedures, and joint action particularly regarding environmental 

 problems. (Pub. L. 89-454, title III, § 303, as added Pub. L. 92-583, Oct. 27, 1972, 

 86 Stat. 1281.) 



Section Referred to in Other Sections 



This section is referred to in section 1455 of this title. 

 § 1453. Definitions. (Sec. 304) 



For purposes of this chapter — 



(a) "Coastal zone" means the coastal waters (including the lands therein and 

 thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and 

 thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shore- 

 lines of the several coastal .states, and includes transitional and intertidal areas, 

 salt marshe.s, wetlands, and beaches. The zone extends, in Great Lakes waters, to 

 the international boundary between the United States and Canada and. in other 

 areas, seaward to the outer limit of the United States territorial sea. The zone 



