To fulfill responsibilities under the Federal 

 Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, the 

 Federal Water Pollution Control Administration is 

 authorized to collect and disseminate data on 

 chemical, physical, and biological water quality 

 and other information insofar as such data or 

 other information relate to water pollution and 

 the prevention and control thereof. The Geological 

 Survey monitors geologic processes in the marine 

 environment; it is authorized to determine the 

 source, quantity, quality, distribution, movement, 

 and availability of both surface and ground water, 

 including the estuarine and other coastal waters, 

 and fresh water sources beneath the coastal zone. 

 The Survey is further authorized under Bureau of 

 the Budget Circular A-67 to operate and maintain 

 a National system for water data coordination, 

 which includes data from estuaries. The Geological 

 Survey does much of the data collection itself, 

 mainly through cooperative investigations with 

 States and other local agencies. 



II. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION 



Management, planning, and coordination of 

 various environmental monitoring and prediction 

 programs is vested by statute or by executive 

 agreement in various agencies and in the Executive 

 Office of the President, including the Bureau of 

 the Budget, the Office of Science and Technology, 

 the Federal Council for Science and Technology, 

 the Marine Council, and the Water Resources 

 Council. Particular departments are given coordi- 

 nating responsibilities over certain of the marine 

 programs, such as the Department of Interior for 

 fisheries and water resources, and the Department 

 of Commerce for meteorology. 



It is clear that the elements comprising the 

 National marine environmental prediction service 

 now reside in several agencies of the Federal 

 Government. Other agencies are involved in related 

 atmospheric monitoring and prediction activities. 

 The scattering of responsibilities through many 

 Federal agencies has caused funding and manage- 

 ment difficulties. 



The complexity of the problem is illustrated by 

 the ocean-station-vessel program. This interna- 

 tional activity is under the jurisdiction of the 

 International Civil Aviation Organization. The 

 ships serve as communications relays in support of 

 commercial aviation, as well as performing search 



and rescue missions. Those ocean stations that are 

 the responsibility of the United States are manned 

 by Coast Guard ships. As a major mission, these 

 ships also collect meteorological and ocean- 

 ographic data. The Department of Defense funds 

 environmental observations taken aboard the ships 

 by transferring funds to the Department of Com- 

 merce to provide observing teams for the ships. 

 Additional data are collected by Coast Guard 

 personnel. 



Special arrangements exist for the collection of 

 meteorological data in support of aviation in- 

 terests, between the Federal Aviation Administra- 

 tion and ESSA. The Coast Guard transmits many 

 ESSA forecasts and warnings to marine interests. 



Since the passage of the Marine Resources Act, 

 the National Council on Marine Resources and 

 Engineering Development has provided a focus for 

 coordination of the National oceanographic pro- 

 gram. It has been able to establish clearly defined 

 agency responsibiUties for some major programs 

 and insist on program coordination although these 

 decisions may not have been optimum or popular 

 with all agencies. 



The Council has established the Interagency 

 Committee on Ocean Exploration and Environ- 

 mental Services charged with developing a Federal 

 Plan for Marine Environmental Prediction. The 

 Committee has considered the problem of coordi- 

 nating the activities of the several agencies in 

 executing the plan, but has limited its considera- 

 tion to means for coordinating the activities of 

 several independent agencies. 



The Committee has stated that a program 

 planning steering group and project coordination 

 mechanism are required; it is not in a position to 

 propose any changes in statutory responsibilities. 

 It is the panel's opinion that devices of this 

 character will not be completely effective in 

 developing an efficient National Envirormiental 

 Monitoring and Prediction System. 



Several efforts have been made to provide 

 interagency coordination in meteorology. The 

 Department of Commerce estabUshed the Office 

 of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological 

 Services and AppUed Meteorological Research in 

 response to Bureau of the Budget Circular A-62 to 

 provide a focus for review and coordination of 

 meteorological service and supporting research 

 programs. As part of its mission this office has 



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