815 



This legislation answere the needs of the States and local commu- 

 nities that are faced with major energy developments, especially those 

 which will come with expanded offshore oil and gas leasing. 



The legislation is carefully written, so that assistance is given only 

 where needed and is only for projects in compliance with the coastal 

 States' own plans for their coastal areas. H.R. 3981 is no giveaway 

 measure but a sound, fiscally responsible product representing months 

 of hard work, negotiation, and cooperation among the majority and 

 minority members of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. 

 It provides equity to States and local governments and is within the 

 limits of the congressional budget. 



We must proceed with additional offshore oil and gas leasing. Off 

 our coasts, the best prospects for new energy resources lie. We also 

 need to get on with building needed liquefied natural gas facilities, 

 oil and coal shipping areas, and deepwater ports to handle large 

 supertankers. 



H.R. 3981 will allow progress in these areas in two major ways. First, 

 it requires that coastal areas carefully plan for energy facilities that 

 have to be in the coasts so they will not damage these valuable areas. 

 Second, it compensates those areas, in an automatic manner, for OCS 

 impacts because the impacts are so clear, and provides additional aid 

 if the States or communities can show that they require it. 



I now want to trace some of the history and background of this legis- 

 lation. The capable chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceanography, 

 the gentleman from New York, will discuss w4th you the bill's 

 particulars. 



The coastal management program is a unique product of Congress. 

 It has its origin in the 1966 establishment of a Presidential Commis- 

 sion to study ocean policy issues. Adopted with only lukewarm sup- 

 port from the administration at the time, the Commission on Marine 

 Science, Engineering, and Resources represented Congress conviction 

 that ocean issues would become increasingly important to the country. 

 Time has proven Congress judgment to be correct. 



The Presidential Commission produced in 1969 what has become a 

 landmai'k document in the ocean and coastal public policy field, en- 

 titled "Our Nation and the Sea." Far-reaching and prophetic in scope, 

 the report had as a main recommendation the establishment of a strong 

 civilian ocean agency in the Federal Government. 



Finally, after great pressure was exerted by Congress, the admin- 

 istration in 1970 agreed to form the present National Oceanic and 

 Atomospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce. It 

 was less powerful than Congress thought needed, but it represented 

 progress. 



The Commission's principal programmatic recommendation was for 

 the Federal Government to provide financial aid and overall guide- 

 lines to the States for the development of comprehensive coastal area 

 management programs that would guide future growth and develop- 

 ment in these critically important areas. 



It was over the opposition of the administration that Congress 

 pushed through the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. President 

 Nixon reluctantly signed the law and then declined to recommend 

 funding for 1 year. 



