922 



36 



state borders. As was noted above, states have also found they could 

 use additional money with which to finance necessary research or with 

 which to train personnel. 



For this reason, there has not been as much interstate or regional 

 cooperation as the Committee or the states themselves would like to 

 see. Despite the authorization in section 305(g) that interstate bodies, 

 among others, be used to prepare programs, this basically has not oc- 

 curred. Some instances of regional cooperation among independent 

 state programs have occurred, it should be noted, as in the Great Lakes 

 where workshops have been held, regional problems examined and 

 visits by state program personnel conducted. 



Because many of the most important coastal problems in areas such 

 as New England, the mid- Atlantic and the Great Lakes are so obvi- 

 ously interrelated and do not respect state boundary lines, the Com- 

 mittee provides a specific authorization for interstate funding. 



Under this provision, 90 percent grants may be made to support in- 

 terstate coordination, study, planning or for actual implementation. 

 The permission of Congress for the states to form compacts for these 

 purposes is expressly given, with the requirement that the activities 

 be pursuant to sections 305 and 306 of the Act. 



Additionally, the Committee feels strongly that Federal agencies 

 must be a party to effective interstate or regional cooperative efforts 

 among state and local units of government. Therefore, in section 

 309(c) the Committee encourages specified federal agencies to cooper- 

 ate with any interstate bodies established under this new section when 

 requested to do so. The Committee would add that it feels it essential 

 that the interstate programs involve the relevant Federal agencies and 

 trusts that this cooperation will be sought early in the development 

 of programs crossing state lines. 



Because it may take time to negotiate formal interstate compacts or 

 agreements, the Secretary is authorized to make grants to temporary 

 coordinating bodies. A five-year limit is placed on this provision so 

 that the "temporary" bodies do not tend to become permanent. 



d. The Committee has made three major changes in the 306 or the 

 administrative grant portion of the Act. First, the federal matching 

 share is raised to 80 percent to bring it into conformity with the in- 

 crease authorized for section 305 funding. The authorized amount 

 of funding in this all-important phase of the program is raised from 

 the present $30 million level to $50 million. 



The latter increase is a reflection of inflation in part, but also recog- 

 nition by the Committee that implementation of coastal management 

 programs is going to be a complicated matter requiring skilled person- 

 nel in the responsible state and local offices. In addition to the techni- 

 cal aspects of administering a complex program, these persons will be 

 required to deal effectively with affected local units of governments, 

 other state agencies, federal officials, the general public and the media, 

 for instance, to explain the purposes and functioning of the program. 

 Therefore, the Committee felt a larger authorization is required. By 

 this increase, the Committee further underscores the importance with 

 which it regards the operational phase of this program. 



A new provision adopted by the Committee at the suggestion of Mr. 

 Lent of New York, appearing at the end of the section, is intended to 

 protect the interests of local units of government. The coastal zone 



