1099 



Mr. Speaker, that is not what the bill says at all. There is no discre- 

 tion in the Secretary to withhold approval or retain any proceeds in 

 the State's account. The only discretion of the Secretary occurs in sec- 

 tion 308(b) (5) of the bill. In that section of the bill the language 

 reads as follows : 



The Secretary, in a timely manner, shall determine that each coastal state has 

 expended or committed, and may determine that such state will expand or com- 

 mit, grants which such state has received. 



Mr. Speaker, I think it is important, as a matter of legislative history 

 to establish very clearly that the Secretary does not have the right to 

 impose additional conditions prior to the approval of automatically 

 granted funds, except for the condition that the States must certify 

 that they are going to be used for proper purposes. As soon as that 

 certification is made, that is the end of it as far as the Secretary is 

 concerned. 



Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take this time to make it very clear that I 

 thought that there might be some question as to the interpretation 

 of this section and wanted the foregoing to appear in the legislative 

 history so that everyone would understand exactly what the bill says. 



Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I strongly support the passage of the 

 conference report. I believe we have a good bill and a bill that will 

 help the coastal States in their efforts to protect their coastal zones. 



Mr. Murphy of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 

 gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Breaux) . 



(Mr. Breaux asked and was given permission to revise and extend 

 his remarks.) 



Mr. Breaux. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, I take this time to try 

 and elaborate on some of the happenings in the conference committee 

 that we held on the coastal zone management bill. 



Many Members might not realize exactly how important this legisla- 

 tion is. It is exertmely important. It is land-mark legislation as far as 

 this Congress is concerned. For the first time this Congress is recogniz- 

 ing the fact that coastal States who are involved with offshore oil and 

 gas developments are entitled to consideration from the Federal 

 Government in aiding them in trying to satisfy some of the troubles 

 that are occurring in their areas. 



I was in very strong support of this bill when it left the House and 

 I also agreed with the general concept and philosophy that was con- 

 tained in the Senate bill. 



I know that everyone sitting here this afternoon is absolutely spell- 

 bound to know why I was the only member of the conference committee 

 that did not sign the conference report, and just because everyone is 

 really wondering why, I am going to tell the Members why. 



Basically the program provided for $400 million in grants that 

 were going to be allocated to the various coastal States for projects that 

 we listed in this committee bill. The money was going to be based on a 

 formula which the committee came up with which basically states that 

 it depends on how much offshore activity is occurring off the coast of a 

 State. 



Based on that activity the $400 million was to he allocated out to 

 the various States. 



That was fine, and that was what I understand out- conference with 

 the Senate had agreed upon. I guess we learn something new in this 



