317 



permit the utilization of zone resources while protecting the natural 

 values of the zones from further deg-radation. 



Section 303. Declaration of Policy. — This section establishe_s a na- 

 tional policy to protect, preserve, develop, and, where possible, to 

 restore or enhance the resources of the coastal zone, to encourage and 

 assist the States in exercising their responsibilities in this critical area, 

 to provide for the close cooperation and active particii^ation of all 

 Federal agencies with responsibilties for Federal interests in the zone, 

 and to insure the widest possible involvement of all instrumentalities 

 and indi^'iduals, public and private, governmental and non-govern- 

 mental. Federal, regional. State, and local, in the decisionmaking and 

 implementation process designed to maintain the proper resource pro- 

 tection utilization balance. The resources involved include natural, 

 commercial, recreational, industrial, and esthetic resources. 



Section 304. Definitions. — This section defines the terms "coastal 

 zone", "coastal waters", "coastal state", "estuary", "estuarine sanc- 

 tuary", and "Secretary". 



(a) "Coastal zone" is defined as meaning the coastal waters and 

 the adjacent shorelands, strongly influenced by each other and in close 

 proximity to the shorelines of the coastal Stat-es. This general defini- 

 tion is deliberately left broad and flexible, providing a basic concept 

 wliich will fit the varied and divergent situations which exist among 

 the several coastal States involved. The reference to coastal waters, 

 hereafter specifically defined, encompasses the islands and other built- 

 up lands located within those waters, as well as the submerged lands 

 beneath them. The reference to shorelands encompasses any bodies of 

 water located within those shoreland areas, including fresh or brackish 

 lakes or ponds, as well as any fresh water aquifers that may be present 

 beneath those lands. 



As to the outer and inner limits of the zone, it extends outward, in 

 the Great Lakes area, to the international boundary between the United 

 States and Canada and, in other areas bordering on the oceans, seas, 

 gulfs, and sounds, to the outer limit of the territorial sea which, under 

 the present posture of international law, means 3 miles from the base 

 line from which the territorial sea of the United States is measured. 

 Should the United States, by future action, either through interna- 

 tional agreement or by unilateral action, extend the limits of the U.S. 

 territorial sea further than the present limits, the coastal zone would 

 likewise be expanded, at least to the extent that the expanded water 

 area and the adjacent shore lands would strongly influence each other, 

 consistent with the general definition first referred to above. 



The inland reach of the coastal zone extends only as far inland as is 

 necessary to control the shorelands adjacent to the coastal waters where 

 the uses of those shorelands have a direct impact on coastal waters. 

 The phrase "direct impact" is intended to cover only those impacts of 

 a significant nature. The purpose of limiting the inland reach is to 

 restrict the operation of this legislation to its basic underlying pur- 

 pose, that is the management and the protection of the coastal waters. 

 It would not be possible to accomplish that purpose without to some 

 degree extending the coverage to the shorelands which have an im- 

 pact on those waters. It is, therefore, the intent of your committee 

 to bring under the coverage of this legislation only those shoreland 

 areas the control of which is necessary to the efi^ective management 



