The concept of multiple use of public resources 

 implies that Government will serve as resource 

 manager in the coastal zone. As such, Government 

 considers alternative ends for ocean development, 

 considers alternative means to accomplish these 

 ends, and further, defines criteria for deciding 

 among them. 



Managing the resources will be a complex task. 

 For one thing, no one government agency either 

 Federal or State has, or is likely to have, unified 

 management responsibility for all aspects of ocean 

 development. For another, the several industrial 

 and nonindustrial interests have different goals and 

 approaches to coastal development. 



Finally, various regions of the sea and the 

 resources within each region have their own special 

 characteristics. Effective management further re- 

 quires a proper legal framework. 



We believe the central criterion in any planning 

 should be to balance potential uses and users. The 

 best assurance of including this criterion in the 

 planning and decision-making process for the 

 coastal zone is participation of varied interests in 

 allocating uses and in judging among specific 

 competing uses. 



Although the level of government involvement 

 should be determined by specific circumstances, in 

 general. State leadership is to be favored. Large, 

 interstate estuaries may require interstate com- 

 pacts. Metropolitan areas may well require special 

 kinds of governmental units such as regional or 

 council type governments currently under discus- 

 sion.^ '' 



It also is important to recognize the role of 

 National interests vis-a-vis local interests. Planning 

 and implementation of coastal management may 

 need to include National, as opposed to regional, 

 interests. The most important sources of this 

 interest are: (1) preservation of unique natural 

 areas, (2) the vital role of many estuaries in 

 supporting populations of migratory waterfowl 

 and fish, (3) interstate navigation (4) National 



Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Rela- 

 tions, Alternative Approaches to Governmental Reorgani- 

 zation in Metropolitan Areas (1962), p. 85. The latest 

 commentary and draft law on councils of government are 

 to be found in Advisory Commission on Inter- 

 governmental Relations, 1967 State Legislative Program 

 of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Rela- 

 tions (1966). 



defense, and finally (5) the coastal zone as a 

 National resource. These reserve the right of the 

 Federal Goverrmient to review the efficacy of any 

 management system. 



In Chapter 10, we outline in some detail our 

 recommendations for State Coastal Management 

 Authorities. 



V. THE NEED FOR A SYSTEMATIC AP- 

 PROACH TO WASTE MANAGEMENT 



One of the traditional uses of our rivers. Great 

 Lakes, estuaries, and open coast has been waste 

 disposal. Every body of water can assijnilate 

 wastes to some extent with little effect on the 

 ecology or the condition of the lake, river, or 

 estuary. But every body of water, ilficluding the 

 ocean, has a limit. 



The panel has had difficulty in coming to grips 

 with the pollution problem in the marine environ- 

 ment. In many of the coastal zone areas it is the 

 single most important problem. It is the one 

 problem in which there is the most action at all 

 levels of government. It is evident that the people 

 of this Nation are disturbed about pollution and 

 they aim to do something about it. 



Throughout this report we have noted problems 

 related to water quality, oil pollution, the need for 

 more sewage treatment plants, and the almost 

 insuperable task of controlling insecticides and 

 other non-point source pollutants. We have made a 

 series of specific recommendations concerning 

 pollution and have noted with satisfaction the 

 increased public awareness of pollution problems 

 and the progress in pollution abatement made in 

 recent years. The President now has advisory 

 boards on both air and water pollution. Water 

 pollution problems are the concern of several 

 Federal agencies as well as the interagency Water 

 Resources Council. 



In spite of all of this activity, however, the 

 panel is not sanguine about the future. Problems 

 of waste management are not simply a combina- 

 tion of air, water, and land pollution problems. 

 Much which is basic to our economy is involved in 

 waste management. It is certainly more efficient 

 and, in an absolute sense, more economical, to 

 remove dirt before it leaves the smokestack than 

 to shovel if off the streets or scrape it off the sides 

 of buildings. The man who sprays his fields is not 

 responsible for the pesticides that drain off into 



III-146 



