237 



"(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 light of competing demands and the urgent need to protect and to give 

 high priority to natural systems in our coastal zone, present coastal State and 

 local institutional arrangements for planning and regulating land and water 

 uses in such areas are inadequate ; and 



"(h) The key to more effective use of the land and water resources of the 

 coastal zone is to encourage the coastal States to exercise their full authority 

 over the lands and waters in the coastal zone by assisting the coastal States, in 

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

 terests, in developing land and water use programs for the coastal zone, includ- 

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

 land and water use decisions of more than local significance. 



"declaeation 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, the resources 

 of the Nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding generations, (b) To en- 

 courage and assist the States to exercise effectively their responsibilities in the 

 coastal zone through the preparation and implementation of management pro- 

 grams to achieve wise use of the land and water resources of the coastal zone 

 giving full consideration to ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values as 

 well as to needs for economic development, (c) For all Federal agencies engaged 

 in pi"ograms affecting the coastal zone to cooperate and participate with State 

 and local governments and regional agencies in effectuating the purposes of this 

 act. And, (d) To encourage the participation of the public, of Federal, coastal 

 State, and local governments and of regional agencies in the development of 

 coastal zone management programs. With respect to implementation of such 

 management programs, it is the national policy to encourage cooperation among 

 the various coastal State and regional agencies including establishment of inter- 

 state and regional agreements, cooperative procedures, and joint action, partic- 

 ularly regarding environmental problems. 



"definitions 



"Sec. 304. For the purposes of this title — 



"(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 shorelines 

 of the several coastal States, and includes transitional and intertidal ai-eas, salt 

 marshes, wetlands, and beaches. The zone terminates, in Great Lakes waters, at 

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

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

 zone extends inland from the shorelines only to the extent necessary to control 

 shorelands, the uses of which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal 

 waters. Excluded from the coastal zone are lands the use of which is by law 

 subject solely to the discretion of or which is held in trust by the Federal Gov- 

 ernment, its officers or agents. 



"(b) 'Coastal waters' means (1) in the Great Lakes area, the waters within 

 the territorial jurisdiction of the United States consisting of the Great Lakes, 

 their connecting waters, harbors, roadsteads, and estuary-type areas such as 

 bays, shallows, and marshes and (2) in other areas, those waters, adjacent to 

 the shorelines, which contain a measurable tidal influence, including, but not 

 limited to, sounds, bays, lagoons, bayous, pounds, and estuaries. 



"(c) 'Coastal State' means a State of the United States in or bordering on, 

 the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, 

 or one or more of the Great Lakes. For the purposes of this title, the term in- 

 cludes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. 



"(d) 'Estuary' means that part of a river or stream or other body of water 

 having unimpaired connection with the open sea, where the sea water is meas- 

 urably diluted with fresh water derived from land drainage. The term includes 

 estuary-type areas of the Great Lakes. 



