353 

 TITLE III— MANAGEMENT OF THE COASTAL ZONE 



SHORT TITLE 



Sec. 301. This title may he cited as the '■''Coastal Zone Management 

 Actofl972'\ 



CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS 



Sec. 302. The Congress finds that — 



(a) There is a 7iational interest in the effective management ., bene- 

 ficial use^ protection^ and development of the coastal zone; 



(b) The coastal zone is rich in a vaiiety of natural., commercial^ 

 recreational., industrial., and esthetic resources of immediate and poten- 

 tial value to the present and future well-heing of the Nation; 



(c) The increasing and competing demands upon the lands and 

 waters of our coastal zone occasioned hy population groioth and eco- 

 nomic development^ including requirements for industry., commercCy 

 residential development., recreation., extraction of mineral resources 

 and fossil fuels., transportation and navigation., ivaste disposal., and 

 harvesting of fish., shellfish., and other living inarhne resources^ have 

 residted in the loss of living marine resout'ces, wildlife, nutrient-rich 

 areas, permanent and adverse changes to ecological systems, decreas- 

 ing ojyen space for public use, and shoreline erosion; 



(d) The coastal zone, and the fish, shellfish, other living marine 

 resources, and wildlife therein, are ecologically fragile and conse- 

 quently extremely vulnerable to destruction hy mamh alterations ; 



{e) Important ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values in 

 the coastal zone which are essential to the well-heing of oil citizens are 

 heing irretrievably damaged or lost; 



if) Special natural and scenic characteristics are heing damaged 

 hy 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 the coastal zone, present 

 state and local institutional arrangements for planning and regu- 

 lating land and water uses in such areas are inadequate ; and 



(h) The key to more effective protection and use of the land and 

 water resources of the coastal zone is to encourage the states to exer- 

 cise their full authority over the lands and waters in the coastal zone 

 hy assisting the states, in cooperation with Federal and local govern- 

 ments and other vitally affected interests, in developing land and 

 water use programs for the coastal zone, including unified policies, 

 criteria, standards, methods, and processes for dealing with land, and 

 water use decisions of more than local significance. 



DECLARATION OF POLICY 



Sec. 303. The Congress declares that it is the national policy (a) to 

 preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance, 

 the resources of the Nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding gen- 

 erations, {h) to encourage and assist the states to exercise effectively 



