292 



Beaches are posted because of contamination and fish catches are seized because 

 of mercury and DDT poisoning. 



Some reaches of the coast, from Morro Bay north to Monterey and Marin 

 County to the Oregon border, are still relatively untouched 



But much of this is private ranchland, and at the moment there is absolutely 

 no assurance it will escape the fate of other private ranchland that, for example, 

 could be found in the Santa Clara Valley 25 years ago. 



The authors conclude by saying that — 



There is no coordinated public regulation of this priceless stretch of land 

 and sea. 



For the past several years the California Legislature has been 

 wrestling with the problem of enacting an effective piece of legislation 

 to preserve and protect the California coastline. 



The report quotes California Assembly Speaker Bob Moretti as 

 •Saying that the best planning available would be worthless without 

 money to finance the agencies involved, but more importantly, to 

 purchase coastal land for public use. 



S. 3507 — if implemented in a tough manner and if adequate funds 

 are appropriated — could assist California to extricate itself from its 

 coastal quagmire. 



It is my hope that Federal legislation such as S. 3507 with its hope 

 of Federal financial assistance will act as a catalyst and encourage the 

 California Legislature to come up with effective legislation to deal 

 with the "disappearing California coastline." 



Mr. Tower. Mr. President, I am very pleased today to join in 

 Supporting S. 3507, of which I am a cosponsor. The passage of this 

 bill will bring to fruition many years of work by a great many people. 

 After several years of study, Senator Hollings last year introduced 

 S. 582 as a comprehensive proposal to deal with the problems mani- 

 fest in the coastal zone. About that same time, I introduced S. 638, 

 dealing with the same subject. I have been concerned for some time 

 with the unique problems of pollution and land use in the coastal 

 zone and believe that we will now be able to begin to work to correct 

 them. This new bill, S. 3507, takes into consideration the best aspects 

 of S. 582 and S. 638, along with some ideas that were developed by 

 the Subcommittee on Oceans and Atmosphere in the hearings that 

 they held. I wish at this time to congratulate the memliers and the 

 staff of that subcommittee, both past and present, for their fine work 

 on this bill and the outstanding cooperation that has been shown to 

 me and my staff as we were working with them. 



Mr. President, the heart of this bill will be the encouragement of 

 the coastal States to survey the needs and problems of their coastal 

 zones and assistance to them in establishing comprehensive programs 

 for dealing with those recognized needs and problems. In my State 

 of Texas, nearly 40 percent of all our citizens live in the area 50 miles 

 from the Gulf of Mexico. 



In addition, a great deal of our industrial and commercial activity 

 talces place in the same area. In the Nation as a whole, an even greater 

 percentage of activity takes place in the coastal zone. The situation 

 everywhere is becoming more acute. Pollution and land use problems 

 are proliferating as the coastal zone becomes more congested. This 

 bill is an attempt by the Government to assist the States in correcting 

 pollution, and plamiing for the best use of limited land and water 

 resources. 



