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"(f) Special natural and scenic characteristics are being damaged by ill- 

 planned development tbat 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 regulating land and water uses in 

 such areas are inadeqaute ; 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 exercise their full 

 authority over the lands and waters in the coastal zone by assisting the states, 

 in cooperation with Federal and local governments and other vitally affected 

 interests, 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. 



"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 generations, (b) to encourage and 

 assist the states to exercise effectively their responsibilities in the coastal zone 

 through the development and implementation of management programs 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 pro- 

 grams affecting the coastal zone to cooperate and participate with state and 

 local governments and regional agencies in effectuating the purposes of this 

 title, and (d) to encourage the participation of the public, of Federal, state, 

 and local governments and of regional agencies in the development of coastal 

 zone management programs. With respect to implementation of such manage- 

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

 various state and regional agencies including establishment of interstate and 

 regional agreements, cooperative procedures, and joint action particularly regard- 

 ing environmental problems. 



"definitions 



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



"(a) 'Coastal zone' means the coastal waters (including the land therein and 

 thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and 

 thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shore- 

 lines of the serveral coastal states, and includes transitional and intertidal 

 areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches. The zone extends, in Great Lakes 

 waters, to the international boundary between the United States and Canada 

 and, in other areas, 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 those shorelands, the uses of which have a direct impact on the coastal 

 waters. 



"(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 quantity or percentage of sea 

 water, including, but not limited to, sounds, bays, lagoons, bayous, ponds, and 

 estuaries. 



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

 Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Great Lakes. For the purposes of this title, 

 the term includes 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. 



"(e) 'Estuarine sanctuary' means a research area which may include an.y 

 part or all of an estuary, adjoining transitional areas, and adjacent uplands, 

 constituting to the extent feasible a natural unit, set aside to provide scientists 

 and students the opportunity to examine over a period of time the ecological 

 relationships within the area. 



"(f) 'Secretary' means the Secretary of Commerce, 



