557 



year 1974 only at an amount not to exceed $6 million, with no State 

 being allowed to receive in excess of $2 million. 



It is clear from the legislative history of the Coastal Zone Manage- 

 ment Act that the estuarine sanctuaries program was intended to serve 

 as an integral part of the State coastal zone management efforts. Sec- 

 tion 312 was designed to provide States with assistance in acquiring 

 and operating natural field laboratories in which techniques and ap- 

 proaches for coastal zone management could be tested and perfected. 

 The Commerce Committee intended that the system of estuarine sanc- 

 tuaries be representative of the principal types of estuarines found in 

 the United States, of which 11 broad types have been identified. 



So far at least 20 coastal States have indicated a desire to establish 

 an estuarine sanctuary. For fiscal year 1974, a total of $4 million was 

 made available for estuarine sanctuary grants to the States. Although 

 the $4 million is to remain available until expended, it will not be ade- 

 quate to fund even half the estimated estuarine sanctuaries needed. To 

 correct this situation, my bill would extend the authorization for sec- 

 tion 312 grants to June 30, 1977. This should give NOAA tlie flexibility 

 it needs to assure that State demands for estuarine sanctuary assist- 

 ance are adequately met. 



This amendment is also in line with recommendations included in 

 the NACOA report, which recommends that — and I quote from the 

 report : 



The Estuarine Sanctuaries Program . . . should be extended in time, and the 

 funding provided by Section 315 of the Act should be increased to a level sufficient 

 to comply with the clear Congressional intent, namely, at least one estuarine 

 sanctuary in each of the identifiable zoogeographic regions. We note especially 

 that funds are now available on a one-time-only basis for purchase of a limited 

 number of sanctuaries, but no support is available for planning and management 

 of these areas on a continuing ba.sis. It seems obvious that adequate monies to 

 provide support for these Federal/State sanctuaries should also be added in this 

 section. We do not know how much much it will take and, hence, must leave it 

 to the legislative amendment process to determine. 



Finally, Mr. President, the bill would extend the availability of 

 coastal zone management grants for an additional 2 years. Under 

 present language both the program development and administrative 

 grant programs would expire on June 30, 1977. This deadline would 

 have probably been adequate for all States to develop coastal zone 

 management programs had not the administration neglected to fund 

 the program for almost a year after its passage, and had not the energy 

 crisis been thrust upon us. Unfortunately, the former had caused an 

 unnecessary delay of grant assistance not anticipated by the Congress 

 when it enacted "the Coastal Zone Management Act, while the latter 

 has thrust new planning responsibilities upon many coastal States that 

 neither they, nor the Congress, had anticipated back in the fall of 1972. 

 A 2-year extension of both grant programs will provide coastal States 

 with the extra time they need to develop coastal zone management 

 programs that can cope with the land-side impacts of energy-related 

 offshore development. 



Mr. President, many of those who doubted the need for a Federal 

 Coastal Zone Management Act when it passed in 1972 have become 

 believers in 1974. The energy crisis has dramatically increased the 



