tion system and assure its availability in time of 
national emergency. 
In support of its multifaceted mission, the Coast 
Guard maintains an extensive field operation 
throughout the United States and abroad that in- 
cludes more than 630 manned operational and sup- 
port facilities. Total operating assets today include 
247 cutters ranging in length from 65 to 378 feet, 
7 icebreakers, 1,950 boats of less than 65 feet, and 
175 fixed and rotary wing aircraft. The agency em- 
ploys 37,300 military personnel and 6,500 civilians. 
The operating units of the Coast Guard fully re- 
flect the multimission character of the parent agency. 
Although an individual operating unit may be 
charged with a primary responsibility in the area of 
search and rescue, law enforcement, aids-to-navi- 
gation, or other specific program area, each facility 
also routinely supports other Coast Guard missions. 
For example, Marine Safety Offices have been estab- 
lished to coordinate related functions of the Marine 
Environmental Protection, Commercial Vessel 
Safety, and Port Safety and Security Programs. A 
fisheries patrol unit must also be responsive to search 
and rescue emergencies and must be prepared to 
render assistance in the event of a pollution incident. 
Application of the multimission concept to the train- 
ing of personnel and the design and deployment of 
physical assets is intended to improve flexibility and 
reduce aggregate facility requirements. 
In support of its various functional responsibili- 
ties, the Coast Guard also has an extensive research, 
development, test, and evaluation program. The total 
outlay for these activities was $17.8 million in fiscal 
year 1976, and will total about $20 million in fiscal 
year 1977, and $20 million again in fiscal year 1978. 
Today a substantial share of the funding for Coast 
Guard R&D is devoted, directly or indirectly, to re- 
search-related activities in the area of pollution 
abatement and’ environmental protection. 
In addition to the central role played by the Coast 
Guard in providing Federal assistance in support of 
marine navigation and safety, other Federal agencies 
also provide important support services in this area. 
Notable among these are the mapping, charting, and 
surveying services conducted by the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the 
Department of Commerce and NOAA’s weather 
forecasting and weather warning services. In 1976, 
more than $35 million was devoted by NOAA to 
mapping, charting ,and surveying activities and over 
$200 million was devoted to environmental monitor- 
ing, prediction, and warning activities. While these 
programs provide support for a wide variety of activ- 
ities throughout the Nation, they are of particular 
importance to the safe and efficient operation of the 
U.S. marine transportation system. 
In the next section brief consideration will be 
given to the water transportation infrastructure im- 
pact of various Federal initiatives relating to environ- 
mental protection and coastal zone management. 
These issues are treated in greater detail in the 
chapters devoted to Marine Environment and Ocean 
and Coastal Resource Management. 
t Rel Q0C\ Integration of Nontransportation Objectives in the Development and Operation of the 
‘S Wer Ve MOU @ ALI RAO fuse 
Marine Transportation System 
In recent years growing public concern for en- ¢ prevent pollution also contribute to traditional Coast 
has Ted_to a broader l_role in attempting to 
integrate these emerging social objectives equitably 
with traditi requirements for an efficient water 
transportation system. In the process new Federal 
organizations have been created which exert major 
influences on the U.S. marine transportation infra- 
structure. In addition, certain traditional agencies 
have been given extensive new responsibilities in 
these areas, and in all cases traditional Federa 
marine transportation activities have been at least’ . 
partially influenced by the need for increased envir- 
onmental protection and better water resource use 
planning. 
The U.S. Coast Guard is, of course, the traditional 
organization that has -assumed the bulk of the new 
responsibilities in the area of marine environmental 
protection. As the Nation’s principal Federal marine 
law enforcement agency, many of these new re- 
sponsibilities fit well with traditional law enforce- 
ment functions and many new programs designed to 
vironmental protection and better planning for com-’ 
peting uses of limited ocean and coastal resources 5 
g 
~ 
— 
Guard objectives in the areas of improved naviga- 
tion and safety. As a consequence of these interrela- 
tionships, the Coast Guard has been the logical 
agency to assume the primary Federal burden of 
implementing and enforcing many of the new initia- 
tives relating to the protection of the marine en- 
vironment. 
Although environmental protection is a relatively 
recent Coast Guard function, an important statutory 
authority for this function dates from as early as 
1899. In that year the Congress passed the Rivers 
and Harbors Act, which prohibited the curse ping of 
refuse into the navigable waters of the United States. 
This act, more commonly known as the Refuse Act, 
remained in place for many years, however, before 
becoming a major instrument in the fight against 
water pollution because of the narrow construction 
given to the term refuse. It was not until the mid- 
1960s that this was changed by a Supreme Court 
ruling. 
In 1966, in the case of the United States vs. Stand- 
ard Oil Company of Kentucky, the Supreme Court 
V-12 
