908 



22 



advocated by the Administration was desirable. One key finding was 

 that national legislation had to provide flexibility in order to take 

 into account the wide range of coastal areas and the different ap- 

 proaches that states and local governments would take in the various 

 sections of the country. 



One major difference voiced dealt witlh the location of the federal 

 responsibility. The administration favored the Department of the 

 Interior while others expressed preference for the Marine Sciences 

 Council or the proposed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency 

 (NOAA) which would succeed it. Toward the end of 1970 the Admin- 

 istration also let it be known that it was considering a national land 

 use bill which would, in its view, supplant the need for a separate 

 coastal zone bill. The Subcommittee on Oceanography approved a re- 

 vised version of the coastal zone bill introduced earlier in the year by 

 the Administration, but Congress adjourned sine die before the full 

 Senate Commerce Committee could take action. 



The House Subcommittee on Oceanography took up the topic of 

 coastal zone management during eight days of hearings in 1971, begin- 

 ning in June and ending in November. The Senate Subcommittee on 

 Oceans and Atmosphere (successor to the Oceanography Subcommit- 

 tee) held additional hearings in May 1971, and approved a measure, 

 S. 582, w'hich had been proposed earlier in the year by the Subcommit- 

 tee Chairman, Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Objections to the measure 

 were voiced from a number of sources, which persuaded Senator Hol- 

 lings to request recommital to the Subcommittee and the preparation 

 of a new bill, S. 3507, which was reported favorably April 11, 1972. 



The bill was passed by a vote of 68 to on April 25, indicating the 

 broad base of support for better management of our coastal resources. 



Parallel action took place in the House where a bill was reported 

 favorably by the Oceanography Subcommittee on May 2, 1972. This 

 measure, H.R. 14146, named the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, formed in 1970 as a component of the Commerce De- 

 partment, as the administering agency at the federal level. 



During consideration on the floor in August, opposition was ex- 

 pressed on the grounds that the program should be administered by the 

 Department of the Interior in view of the pending national land use 

 legislation which would be assigned that Department. Oceanography 

 Subcommittee Members argued that NOAA was better equipped to 

 deal with coastal zone problems than Interior, that the coasts were 

 unique and warranted special and separate attention and that pas- 

 sage of national land use legislation was speculative. A motion to trans- 

 fer the proposed coastal zone management program to the Interior 

 Department, supported by the Administration, succeeded. 



In conference between the House and Senate in the fall of 1972, a 

 compromise was worked out. The Senate insisted that the coastal zone 

 program remain assigned to NOAA. In exchange, it was agreed that 

 any land-use elements in a state coastal zone program would have to 

 receive the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior or whoever 

 might administer a national land use program. 



