220 



land uses planning throngli assistance to the States in their develop- 

 ment of appropriate legal and institutional implements, it would not 

 provide emphasis or priority for protection of the coastal zone and 

 estuaries. 



Of the manmade threats to coastal environments described by the 

 Council on Environmental Quality in its first annual report, most 

 have their origin in heavily populated land areas at or near the 

 water's edge. But others can be traced further inland, where eventual 

 impact upon the coastal environment is not so easily recognized. Thus, 

 while pressures become most intense at the point where land meets 

 water, many cannot be alleviated without truly comprehensive plan- 

 ning. This fact, and the related absence of any precise geographic defi- 

 nition for the coastal zone, lies behind the integrated approach em- 

 bodied in S. 992. It may be noted that several States, coastal and in 

 land, have already expressed a commitment to this concept. We urge 

 that the Congress and your Committee, so effective in its concern for 

 sound management of the coastal zone, join in this initiative to encour- 

 age planning for effective management of all the Nation's lands and 

 waters. 



The Office of ]Management and Budget has advised that there is no 

 objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of 

 the Administration's program. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Harrison Loesch, 

 Assistant Sccretan/ of the Interior. 



Environmental Protection Agency, 



Office of the Adjiinistrator, 

 Washington^ D.C., June i, 1971. 

 Hon. Warren G. INIagnuson, 

 Choirinan, Committee on Commerce^ 

 U.S. Senate., Washington., D.G. 



Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in response to your request for our 

 agency's comments on S. 582 and S. 638, bills to provide for a national 

 program of assistance to the States in coastal zone management 

 programs. 



These bills would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to award 

 grants to coastal States for the development of management plans and 

 programs for the land and water resources of the coastal zone. Such 

 grants would not exceed 66%% of the planning costs (S. 582) or 

 50%_of such costs (S. 638). If the Secretary found that a plan was 

 consistent with the purposes of the act to balance development and 

 protection of the natural environment; that provision for public 

 notice and hearings on the plan and program had been made ; that the 

 plan and program had been reviewed and approved by the Governor ; 

 that a single agency would administer and implement the manage- 

 ment planand program; and that the State had the necessary au- 

 thority to implement the program, including controls over public and 

 private development, he would be authorized to make annual grants 

 for the costs of administering the program, with the same maximum 

 percentages as planning grants. S. 582 also requires minimum grants 

 of at least 1 percent of costs. 



