556 



Management for grants under section 305 received, on the aver- 

 age, 37 percent less than the amount requested. This is even more sig- 

 nificant when we realize that States were prepared to fully fund from 

 their own revenues the one-third matching amount required by the 

 act. In terms of dollars, this represents approximately $3 million in 

 unmet State needs. This fact, coupled with the anticipated 40-percent 

 increase in State requests for fiscal year 1975, more than substantiates 

 the need for an increase in this area. 



Second, the bill would amend the act to remove the present 10-per- 

 cent limitation on the amount any one State may receive out of the 

 total appropriated amount for section 306 management grants and 

 replaces it with specific dollar limitations for specified yearly inter- 

 vals. This amendment is designed to deal with an unusual situation 

 that is expected to occur only in the first and last years of the imple- 

 mentation of section 306. States will not all complete their coastal 

 zone management programs at the same time; in fact only four are 

 expected to be eligible for coastal zone program management grants 

 in fiscal year 1975. The present 10-percent limitation places those 

 States that complete their program early at a disadvantage by limiting 

 the amount of section 306 funds that they can receive. With only four 

 applicants and each funded at up to a minimum of 10 percent of the 

 funds available, only 40 percent of the funds available could be ex- 

 pended, shutting oflf the possibility of additional assistance for those 

 States. 



The act clearly visualizes grants to vary according to the length of 

 a State's coastline or the size of its population. The 10-percent limi- 

 tation was added to the act in anticipation that the entire $30 million 

 authorized for section 306 grants would indeed be appropriated. If 

 OMB's Dast record on funding the Coastal Zone Management Act is 

 any guide to its future actions, considerably less than $30 million can 

 be expected for grants under section 306 in fiscal year 1976 and fiscal 

 year 1977. So, in order for the Office of Coastal Zone Management to 

 make a more equitable and complete allocation of its grant assistance 

 for management of coastal zone programs, the 10-percent limitation 

 should be dropped and dollar limitations substituted in its place. 



The recent annual report of the National Advisory Committee on 

 Oceans and Atmosphere addressed the authorization limitation prob- 

 lem and recommended that the section 306 limitation be revised. The 

 report states: 



We recommend that the allocation restrictions in Section 306 Administrative 

 Grants Program be revised so as to allow more realistic assignment of funds 

 according to need and readiness of individual participating States, especially 

 during the build-up and phase-down periods of program development. With these 

 action'- of the Coastal Zone Management Program envisioned by the Act will, in 

 our opinion, be well underway. 



Mr. Prpsident. this bill would correct this problem by setting a limit 

 of $2 million per State for fiscal vear 1975, $2.5 million for fiscal year 

 1976, nnd^S million for fiscal year 1977. 



The third amendment to the act proposed by the bill would extend 

 grant assistance for the creation of estuarine sanctuaries for 3 more 

 years. As it now reads, the act authorizes appropriations for fiscal 



