e The Administrator of the agency would be better 
able to organize and devote attention to ocean 
activities than a Secretary of a large department 
which has other missions. 
e Direct access to the President for coordination 
of Government-wide ocean actitivities would be 
facilitated. 
The Stratton Commission’s report in 1969 was 
instrumental in motivating the Administration to 
create NOAA within the Department of Commerce 
in 1970. Although the Commission saw an independ- 
ent NOAA as one with regulatory, enforcement, 
developmental, management, and research authority, 
NOAA as now constituted is predominantly research 
and development-oriented, within the exceptions 
noted above. 
President’s Advisory Council on Executive Reorganization—The Ash Council (1971) 
The Ash Council—the President’s Advisory Coun- 
cil on Executive Reorganization—was created by 
President Nixon in 1969 as a one-shot advisory 
group within the Executive Office of the President. 
Its report was submitted in May 1970 and released 
in February 1971, followed closely by a reorganiza- 
tion message to Congress outlining the proposal for 
a Department of Natural Resources.'* Among the 
five major components identified for consolidation 
was “marine resources and technology.” The internal 
structure of the department would have included an 
Oceanic, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences Adminis- 
tration which would have been formed by merging 
NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey. The modest 
proposal, as far as ocean programs were concerned, 
fell far short of the Stratton Commission recommen- 
dations. The rationale for the Ash Council proposal 
was based on the similarity of functions between 
NOAA and USGS in scientific data acquisition and 
mutuality in earthquake, hydrologic and cartographic 
activities. Hearings were held in the 92d and 93d 
Congress on the Department of Natural Resources 
(DNR) and Department of Energy and Natural Re- 
sources (DENR) approaches, but no further legisla- 
tive action was taken. The proposals did not resur- 
face in the 94th Congress. 
National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere: Third Annual Report (1974) 
The National Advisory Committee on Oceans and 
Atmosphere (NACOA) concentrated on ocean orga- 
nizational problems in its Third Annual Report, 
issued in 1974. Not unlike the Stratton Commission, 
it recommended a broadly based ocean agency, but 
left the question open as to whether it could best 
function as an independent agency, within an exist- 
ing department, or in a new multi-purpose depart- 
ment, such as the Department of Energy and Natural 
Resources (DENR) which was under consideration 
at that time. In effect, the proposal was for an ex- 
panded NOAA which would be augmented by the 
additional functions of: 
e U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); 
¢ Corps of Engineers’ marine and coastal pro- 
grams; 
e Bureau of Land Management (BLM) OCS min- 
eral leasing program; 
e Marine fisheries program of the Bureau of Sport 
Fisheries and Wildlife; and 
© U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). 
NOAA’s responsibilities were to include: 
e Assessment and management of fisheries and 
marine mammals; 
“U.S. Office of Management and Budget, op. cit. note 33, 
pp. 153-223. 
Assisting the commercial fishing industry; 
e Stimulating and supporting sport fishing and 
recreation; 
e Assessment and management of nonliving marine 
resources; 
e Assisting energy and mineral industries operating 
in the marine environment; 
e Coordinating marine, atmospheric, and coastal 
zone affairs; . 
e Regulating and enforcing ocean activities; 
e Advising and counseling other Federal agencies 
and States on ocean affairs; 
e Planning for comprehensive use of the marine 
resources and environment; and 
© Coordinating weather modification activities. 
NACOA’s recommendations for reorganization 
were in response to the Ash Commission’s recom- 
mendations for consolidating all natural resource 
functions into a DNR or DENR. Oceans were to be 
included under the broad rubric of natural resources. 
NACOA saw four major deficiencies in the DENR 
proposal: *° 
“First, they lack a suitable marine affairs 
policy statement which would draw atten- 
tion to the uniqueness of the problems of 
marine resources management . . . Second, 
* National Advisory Committee On Oceans and Aimosphere, 
op. cit. note 38, p. 15. 
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