Ch. 1— Summary, Issues, and Options • 25 



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Source: National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA 



ISSUES AND OPTIONS 



Although EEZ exploration costs could be large 

 in the aggregate, there are several possible low-cost 

 actions that Congress might take along the way to 

 bolster the national effort by focusing the govern- 

 ment exploration effort and improving Federal 

 agency performance through better communica- 

 tion, coordination, and planning. The major needs 

 of the fledgling U.S. ocean mining industry might 

 be best met through appropriate legislation aimed 

 at providing a suitable Federal administrative man- 

 agement framework. 



Focusing the National Exploration Effort 



Responsibility for various aspects of EEZ min- 

 erals exploration is shared by several Federal agen- 

 cies: U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and 



Atmospheric Administration, Minerals Manage- 

 ment Service, U.S. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Navy, 

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Aeronau- 

 tics and Space Administration, Department of 

 Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, and several other con- 

 tributing agencies. Moreover, the major academic 

 oceanographic institutions — Scripps Institution of 

 Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- 

 tution, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory — 

 play a key role in the pursuit of scientific knowl- 

 edge about the seafloor and the ocean environment, 

 as do a large number of marine scientists at many 

 universities and colleges throughout the country. 



State agency efforts, though modest in compar- 

 ison to the Federal programs, are focused on the 

 3-mile territorial sea under the coastal State's con- 



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