747 



21 



ing developments and their impact, (4) the impacts of increased 

 recreational demands, (5) the impacts, such as environmental load, 

 produced by industrial growth, and (6) alternative choices to minimize 

 adverse impacts. 



S. 586 contains several important options for States dealing with 

 coastal zone impacts of DCS oil and gas and other energy facility 

 development. T,he core of the Committee's approach to the coastal im- 

 pacts problem is found in section 308 — as redesignated — which estab- 

 lishes a Coastal Energy Facility Impact Fund. The fund, authorized 

 at $250 million annually, is to be used for planning grants and for 

 amelioration and compensation grants or loans to States facing coastal 

 impacts from OCS operations or other major energy facilities. The 

 Committee believes that the key feature of the fund is its close rela- 

 tionship to the existing coastal zone management program created 

 by the 1972 act. Without this tie to coastal planning as a whole, an 

 impact fund could create counterproductive pressures on coastal 

 States and municipalities by encouraging the provision of public 

 facilities which might not otherwise fit in with comprehensive coastal 

 zone management plans developed by the State. Furthermore, if the 

 impact fund were to be separately administered and funded, highly 

 undesirable duplication and wasteful inefficiency would almost cer- 

 tainly result. 



The impact fund created in section 308 is designed to serve two 

 distinct purposes. The first is planning — the preparation of studies and 

 plans which determine what impacts are likely to occur and what meas- 

 ures need to be taken to minimize them. In addition a State is ex- 

 pected to reconcile such impact planning with the ongoing efforts of 

 the State to develop and/or operate its own coastal zone management 

 program. Section 308(a) sets aside 20 i^ercent of the fund, up to $50 

 million, for such studying and planning. It is expected that States 

 will begin the process of dealing with OCS and energy facility 

 impacts by applying for these planning funds, and that they will use 

 them for information-gathering and quantitative studies which are a 

 prerequisite to more tangible measures such as providing actual public 

 facilities or services. 



The primary purpose of such planning would be to develop the in- 

 formation which is pertinent to the policy determinations in formulat- 

 ing coastal zone management plans, and in determining eligibility for 

 further grants or loans as described below. 



The planning procedure may include but not be limited to, the 

 f ollQj\nng steps in achieving this purpose : 



1. Project the size and distribution of population growth and eco- 

 nomic expansion in the selected areas. This step should draw upon 

 existing projections made by Federal and State agencies, academic 

 institutions, and industrial planners. 



2. Develop an appropriate checklist of the political, social, physical, 

 biological, and economic impacts that may arise. 



3. Use the checklist and growth projections to determine the magni- 

 tude of the impacts. 



4. Identify areas in which critical problems are foreseen. 



5. Determine the effects on the State's coastal zone which will result 

 from projected activities in other portions of the State or other rele- 

 vant adjacent areas. 



