536 



granted to applicant states under the Administration Grant program 

 (Section 306) of the Act. This limitation, built into the present Coastal 

 Zone Management Act of 1972, prevents adequate funding under Sec- 

 tion 306 which will occur in the first and last years of that program 

 when less than 10 states will apply for management program adminis- 

 trative grants. Thus, in fiscal year 1975, it is conceivable that three or 

 four times as much money as would be required would have to be ap- 

 propriated in order that the size of individual grants to the several 

 states be large enough to cover administration of the management pro- 

 grams envisaged under Section 306. Moreover, the 10 percent limita- 

 tion prevents expenditure of the entire appropriation for that fiscal 

 year when less than 10 states apply. 



In place of the 10 percent limitation, it is recommended that mone- 

 tary amounts be proposed : $2 million for fiscal year 1975 ; $2.5 million 

 for fiscal year 1976; and $3 million for fiscal year 1977. This obviously 

 will eliminate the need to request a greater appropriation than is actu- 

 ally needed in order to meet the demands under Section 306 of the 

 Act. 



The second provision in the bill would raise the authorization level 

 available to the states under the management program development 

 grant portion of the Act ( Section 305 ) . The amount requested for this 

 program in the 1975 budget is within the current authorization level. 

 Given the overriding need to control Federal spending the Adminis- 

 tration believes that an increase in the 1975 level is not desirable and 

 therefore these high authorization levels are not necessary or appro- 

 priate at this time. In developing the fiscal 1976 budget request, con- 

 sideration will be given to the possible need for an increase in the 

 funding level. If it is determined that an increase is appropriate, the 

 Administration will then propose an increase in the authorization 

 level. 



Finally, the third provision of this bill seeks to extend funding be- 

 3'Ond fiscal year 1974 for the Estuarine Grant provision (Section 312) 

 of the Act. The estuarine sanctuary program has evoked considerable 

 positive response from at least 20 coastal states. The Office of Coastal 

 Zone Management and the Department are now studying alternative 

 overall national plans for the Nation's estuarine sanctuary needs to 

 provide the basis for decisions on the scope of the Federal program. 

 A^Tien those studies are completed and evaluated we will then be in a 

 position to propose specific legislative changes. Meanwhile, the Ad- 

 ministration believes that it would be premature to extend the current 

 authorization level for three years. 



In summary the Department recommends against enactment of the 

 provisions of H.R. 16215, except for the proposed amendment to Sec- 

 tion 306 with respect to the 10 percent limitation on the amount which 

 can be granted to any one state. 



We have been advised by the Office of Management and Budget that 

 there would be no objection to the submission of our report to the Con- 

 gress from the standpoint of the Administration's program. 

 Sincerely, 



Karl E. Bakke, 



General Counsel. 



