953 

 67 



received by the states or local governments pursuant to section 308(a) 

 of the Act to repay the Federal Government in the event of a default. 

 The Attorney General of the United States would be directed to take 

 appropriate action to protect the rights of the United States if so 

 requested by the Secretary of Commerce. 



Section 819 (i) establishes a revolving fund to provide for necessary 

 payments and administrative costs required to be made pursuant to 

 this section. Funds could either be appropriated directly to this fund 

 or the Secretary of the Treasury could be authorized (in appropriation 

 Acts) to purchase obligations issued by the Secretary of Commerce. 

 Both options are subject to the usual appropriations process and are 

 included for purposes of flexibility and consistency. 



An auditing provision is included in section 319(j) which would 

 permit the General Accounting Office to audit all financial transac- 

 tions of issuers and holders of bonds or other evidences of indebted- 

 ness. Only those financial transactions which relate to such evidence 

 of indebtedness would be subje^-t to this provision. 



The final subsection in section 319 defines "unit of general purpose 

 local government" as used in this bond guarantee section. 



This bond guarantee program was changed to its present form as 

 a result of a substitute amendment offered by Mr. Dingell of Michigan. 

 The original program as adopted by the Subcommittee was determined 

 to give too much flexibility to the Secretary, and the Committee be- 

 lieves that the additional provisions which were adopted represent a 

 more fiscally responsible approach. 



Section 3- — Associate Administrator for Coastal Zone Management 



H.R. 3981 provides for an elevation of the status of the adminis- 

 trator of tlie coastal zone management program within the structure 

 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to better 

 reflect the importance of this effort. This elevation will especially be 

 necessary in view of the additional responsibilities given that office 

 by this legislation and the greatly increased amount of funding 

 authorized. 



Within NOAA at present, there are three persons at the associate 

 administrator level (executive level V). H.R. 3981 would add the 

 fourth sucli person, witli a specific assignment for coastal zone man- 

 agement. This action would raise the present status of the office from 

 that of assistant administrator for coastal zone management, a posi- 

 tion under the Civil Service System. 



By becoming an executive level position, the associate administrator 

 for coastal zone management would be a Presidential appointmei t 

 and require Senate consent. This type of appointment will also serve 

 to increase the visibility of the program in keeping with the Com- 

 mittee's view of its importance to the country. 



Section 4 — Consistency Requirements of Section 307 



This section specifies that nothing in this Act (amending the Coastal 

 Zone Act of 1972) shall be deemed to modify, or abrogate the con- 

 sistency requirements contained in section 307 of the CZM Act of 1972. 

 The Committee wanted to emphasize that it still regards the original 

 consistency provisions as a very important element in the comprelien- 

 sive coastal zone scheme. With the exception of the amendments to 

 section 307(c) contained in this bill, no other amendments contained 



