32 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 



U.S. innovation and engineering know- 

 how applied to developing seabed min- 

 ing technology could place the United 

 States in a pivotal competitive position 

 to exploit a world market . . . for seabed 

 mining equipment. 



Congress also has the option of merely broaden- 

 ing the geographical coverage of the Outer Con- 

 tinental Shelf Lands Act to include the U.S. terri- 

 tories and possessions. Such action, if it applied to 

 the Act in general, would also open these areas to 

 potential oil and gas leasing in the future, although 

 the EEZs of most of the territories and possessions 

 are not known to have oU and gas potential. If Con- 

 gress chose to redefine the Outer ContinentaJ Shelf 

 and make it identical to the EEZ, the status of the 

 oil and gas leasing program might be clarified in 

 some areas of legal uncertainty beyond the con- 

 tinental shelf but within the 200-nautical mUe zone. 



Improving the Use of the Nation 's 

 EEZ Data and Information 



Oceanographic data collected in the course of ex- 

 ploring the EEZ are a national asset. Because of 

 the immense size of the U.S. EEZ, exploration 

 activities are likely to continue for decades. Infor- 

 mation and data may take many forms, may dif- 

 fer in quality, may come from many geographical 

 areas, and may be collected by many agencies and 

 entities. It is important that such data be evaluated, 

 archived, processed, and made available to a wide 

 range of potential users in the future. 



As the pace of EEZ exploration increases, the ex- 

 isting Federal oceanographic data systems — which 

 are currently taxed near their capacity based on 

 available funding and resources — probably wOl be 

 unable to adequately manage the load. Even today, 

 in some cases, data must be discarded for lack of 

 storage and handling facilities, and user services 

 are limited. In other cases. Federal agencies some- 

 times do not submit data acquired at public expense 

 to the National Oceanographic Data Center or the 

 National Geophysical Data Center in a timely and 

 systematic manner. 



Limitations on the national data centers are pri- 

 marily institutional, budgetary, and service-con- 

 nected. Funding for data archiving and dissemina- 

 tion generally has been considered a lower priority 

 by the Federal agencies than data collection. The 

 historical usefulness of oceanographic, environ- 

 mental, and resource information is often over- 

 looked by Federal managers with mission-oriented 

 responsibilities. 



Consistent policies for transmittal of EEZ-related 

 information to the national data centers are lack- 

 ing in many Federal agencies. However, invento- 

 ries of data collected by the academic community 

 under the auspices of the National Science Foun- 

 dation's Division of Ocean Sciences are required 

 to be transmitted to the national data centers in a 

 timely manner as a condition of its research grants. 

 The Ocean Science Division's ocean data policy is 

 an excellent example that other Federal agencies 

 might emulate. 



But even with more effective policies to ensure 

 transmittal of EEZ information to the national data 

 centers, little improvement in efficiency can be ex- 

 pected unless resources — both equipment and per- 

 sonnel — are upgraded and expanded commensur- 

 ate with the expected increase in the workload. The 

 mere "storage" of data does not fulfill the national 

 need; such information must be retrievable and 

 made available to a wide range of potential users, 

 including Federal agencies. State agencies, acade- 

 mia, industry, and the general public. 



Improved data services will require additional 

 funds to raise the level of capability and perform- 

 ance of the existing national data centers. Eventu- 

 ally, regional data centers may be required to ade- 

 quately service the public needs; but for the time 

 being the major Federal effort aimed at improving 

 data services probably should be directed at upgrad- 

 ing the performance of the existing centers. 



Congressional Options 



Option 1 : Direct each Federal agency to estab- 

 lish an EEZ data policy that will ensure 

 the timely and systematic transmittal of 

 oceanographic data to either the National 

 Oceanographic Data Center or the Na- 

 tional Geophysical Data Center, which- 

 ever is appropriate. 



