316 



There is no question that local governments do possess considerable 

 authority in the coastal zone, but in many cases their authority does 

 not extend far enough to deal fully with the problems of the zone. 

 This fact has been recognized in several of the coastal States, and legis- 

 lation which partially meets the total coastal zone needs has been en- 

 acted in the past few years in those States. This proposed legislation is 

 designed to encourage those States and others to move forward more 

 rapidl}^ in the development of a coordinated, cohesive program. The 

 legislation further recognizes that various local interests must be 

 drawn into the State management processes, and throughout the bill 

 provisions are made for coordination on as wide a basis as possible. 



The coastal zone problems are related to but are signilicantly dif- 

 ferent from problems of general overall land use. It is for that reason 

 that your committee did not agi'ee with the positions of the various 

 departmental witnesses who, while all recognizing the critical nature 

 of the coastal zone problems, proposed that the solution of those prob- 

 lems should be merged under an overall land use policy. It is true that 

 almost any combination of management approaches is theoretically 

 possible. However, if solutions are to be meaningful, large overall 

 ecosj'stem problems must be divided into manageable units. It is for 

 that reason that your committee urges the immediate adoption of 

 this coastal zone management legislation, leaving to future action pro- 

 posed legislation concerning land use policy relating to interior lands. 

 The problems of the coastal zone and in particular the coastal watei-s 

 are significantly unique and should be treated in a separate program. 

 Once this j^rogram is initiated and solutions are found, those solu- 

 tions will serve well in consideration of overall land use problems to 

 the extent that the two are similar. 



SECTION-BY-SECTIO]Sr ANALYSIS 



The bill amends the act of June 17, 1966, which established a Na- 

 tional Council on Marine Kesources and Engineering Development 

 and a Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Eesources, by 

 adding a new title to that act. 



Section 301. Short Title. Title III may be cited as the "Coastal 

 Zone Management Act of 1972." 



Section 302. Congressional Findings. — This section contains a series 

 of findings concerning the Nation's coastal zone. The findings relate 

 to the national interest in the management, use, protection, and de- 

 velopment of the coastal zone; the resource values of the zone; the 

 losses suffered to the zone resources because of increased demands for 

 various uses of the zone ; the vulnerability of the zone to man's activi- 

 ties: the values being lost and the special characteristics being dam- 

 aged; the inadequacies of present planning and regulatory arrange- 

 ments; and the necessity for encouraging and assisting the coastal 

 estates to develop national management programs for land and water 

 uses in the coastal zone. 



In enumerating the types of activities which are threatening the 

 special values of the coastal zone, your committee intends to empha- 

 size that uncoordinated and uncontrolled uses can no longer be toler- 

 ated if the values of the zone are not to be completely destroyed. At 

 the same time, coordinated, controlled, and rational use allocations 

 can serve not only to protect but also to enhance zonal values and wiU 



