Ch. 1— Summary, Issues, and Options • 33 



Congressional Action: 



a. Amend authorizing legislation for each ap- 

 propriate program and/or Federal agency. 



b. Direct action through the annual appropri- 

 ations process. 



c. Enact general legislation that would apply 

 to all Federal agencies collecting FEZ data 

 and information. 



Option 2: Provide additional funds and direc- 

 tives to the National Oceanographic Data 

 Center and the National Geophysical Data 

 Center to upgrade ££Z data services accord- 

 ing to a plan, to be developed by the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for 

 meeting the future needs of archiving and dis- 

 seminating EEZ data and information. 



Congressional Action: Issue directive through 

 the annual appropriations process. 



Option 3: Continue at the current level of 

 funding and continue to permit the Federal 

 agencies to transmit EEZ-related information 

 to the National Oceanograhic Data Center and 

 the National Geophysical Data Center at each 

 agency's discretion. 



Congressional Action: No action required. 



Advantages and Disadvantages 



Incentives for the agencies and the academic 

 community to place more emphasis on data serv- 

 ices could take several forms. Since improvements 

 in data services are tied to adequate funding, the 

 most expedient approach for Congress would be 

 to direct appropriate agency actions through the 

 annual appropriations process. This option, how- 

 ever, would only be effective for one budget cycle 

 and would have to be repeated annually if an ef- 

 fective long-term data services program were to 

 continue. 



Amendments to individual agency authorizing 

 legislation, or alternative "umbrella" legislation 

 applicable to all agencies collecting EEZ data and 

 information, would establish continuing programs 

 to improve data services. Long-term plans for meet- 

 ing the expanding EEZ data needs of the future 

 should provide guidelines for improving overall 

 government data services. 



Providing for the Use of Classified Data 



National security may require that public dis- 

 semination and use of certain EEZ-related data con- 

 tinue to be restricted. This restriction may result 

 in some hardship and perhaps additional expense 

 to the scientific community as well as the marine 

 minerals industry, but it need not totally lock up 

 that information. There are responsible ways in 

 which classified data can be made available to those 

 needing to use such data for further EEZ explo- 

 ration. 



Federal personnel, contractors, and academicians 

 in many technical and engineering fields have ac- 

 cess to and routinely use classified information on 

 a daily basis. While maintaining security installa- 

 tions is sometimes unwieldy and expensive, it may 

 be possible to achieve a compromise between the 

 national need for security and the national need for 

 timely and efficient exploration of the EEZ by estab- 

 lishing secure data centers to manage classified EEZ 

 data. 



Other aspects of EEZ data classification may 

 prove to be more troublesome. The ocean science 

 community may be restricted from publishing some 

 EEZ data or information that would, if unclassi- 

 fied, be freely available in the scientific literature. 

 There are also inconsistencies in U.S. policy regard- 

 ing scientific access of foreign investigators to the 

 U.S. EEZ and the Navy's access to foreign EEZs 

 to gather hydrographic information that seem at 

 odds with current EEZ data classification policies. 

 Diplomatic questions may arise from these in- 

 consistencies that could result in access restriction 

 for U.S. scientists working in the EEZs of other 

 countries. 



Congressional Options 



Option 1: Establish regional classified data 

 centers at major oceanographic institu- 

 tions or at colleges and universities, with 

 access assured for certified scientists and 

 with guidelines established for the use 

 and publication of data sets and bathy- 

 metric information. 



Congressional Action: Direct the Department 

 of Defense in collaboration with the Na- 

 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 



