moves into the more speculative offshore areas. 
These incentives will encourage continued develop- 
ment by industry of much of the required exploi- 
tation technology, provided that the incentives are 
advanced sufficiently ahead of the need for the 
technology. It must be clearly understood that a 
lag of five to 10 years exists from the time a large 
field is discovered until volume production is 
achieved. 
A mechanism should be established to ensure 
optimum information exchange between Govern- 
ment and the petroleum industry. This industry 
has successfully developed a major technology on 
its own for working at sea. Considerable engineer- 
ing experience accumulated within the industry 
could be of great value to the Government. In 
addition, many oil companies continue to encour- 
age the Government to make use of their plat- 
forms for realtime and historical measurements. 
The Federal Government should take full advan- 
tage of these opportunities. 
The Government should seek a considerably 
improved understanding of hurricanes within 5 
years and capability for limited hurricane modifi- 
cation within 10 years. 
Problems involving physical environmental pre- 
diction and modification continue to be the prime 
technological area in which Federal Government 
efforts could have a major impact on the industry. 
Progress in hurricane research has been disappoint- 
ingly slow. Two hurricanes in successive years, 
1964-1965, caused over $200 million in damage to 
the industry. Efforts to improve accuracy of 
weather information, wave data predictions, and 
ocean current measurements would have a signifi- 
cant impact on offshore economics. 
Improved methods must be developed to mini- 
mize the probability of major oil spills, to opti- 
mize countermeasures, and to develop technolog- 
ical means of identifying responsible polluters. 
Contingency plans should be established to permit 
immediate action to contain and clean up major 
oil spills. 
More emphasis must be placed on achieving 
positioning accuracy in the order of 50 feet at 
distances as great as 200 miles from shore. 
The U.S. Geological Survey should accelerate 
reconnaissance mapping of our Shelf. The modest 
USGS program of sub-bottom mapping is also of 
value to the industry and should be continued. 
Detailed exploratory surveys should be left to 
private enterprise. 
The ESSA bathymetric charting of our Conti- 
nental Shelf also should continue, adhering to its 
schedule of completing most of the shelf within 
two years. In addition, ESSA should start now to 
make plans for extending bathymetric chart cover- 
age to the continental slope and rise. 
IV. OCEAN MINING 
A. Introduction 
1. Interest in Ocean Minerals 
The following are the primary reasons for the 
development of a domestic ocean mining industry. 
a. Act of Congress Strong national impetus 
toward development of an ocean mining industry 
on the U.S. Continental Shelf is provided by two 
objectives stated in the Marine Resources and 
Engineering Development Act of 1966:'* 
The accelerated development of the resources of 
the marine environment. 
The encouragement of private investment enter- 
prise in exploration, technological development, 
marine commerce, and economic utilization of the 
resources of the marine environment. 
b. Income to Nation The Presidential Proclama- 
tion of Sept. 28, 1945, and more recently the 
1958 Geneva International Conference on the Law 
of the Sea, effectively added, with respect to 
natural resources, about 810,000 square miles to 
the area of the United States or approximately 25 
per cent of total U.S. dry-land area. The Nation 
should gain knowledge of the potential resources 
of this tremendous area and should expect in- 
come from leases and royalties on the exploita- 
tion of its wealth. Ultimately, the stimulation of a 
new industry will result in expenditures for sala- 
ries, capital, and taxes, contributing greatly to the 
Nation’s economy. This income should exceed 
many times any expenditure for Government 
services to support this exploitation. 
14 Public Law 89-454, Section 2(b). 
VI-179 
