pant with respect to such program (but not the cost or value of land or of Federal contributions).

(2) No portion of any payment by the Foundation to any participant in any program to be carried out under this title shall be applied to the purchase or rental of any land or the rental, purchase, construction, preservation, or repair of any building, dock, or vessel.

(3) The total amount of payments in any fiscal year by the Foundation to participants within any State shall not exceed 15 per centum of the total amount appropriated to the Foundation for the purposes of this title for such fiscal year.

(e) In allocating funds appropriated in any fiscal year for the purposes of this title the Foundation shall endeavor to achieve maximum participation by sea grant colleges and other suitable institutes, laboratories, and public or private agencies throughout the United States, consistent with the purposes of this title.

(f) In carrying out its functions under this title, the Foundation shall attempt to support programs in such a manner as to supplement and not duplicate or overlap any existing and related Government activities.

(g) Except as otherwise provided in this title, the Foundation shall, in carrying out its functions under this title, have the same powers and authority it has under the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to carry out its functions under that Act.

(h) The head of each department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government is authorized, upon request of the Foundation, to make available to the Foundation, from time to time, on a reimbursable basis, such personnel, services, and facilities as may be necessary to assist the Foundation in carrying out its functions under this title.

(i) For the purposes of this title

(1) the term "development of marine resources" means scientific endeavors relating to the marine environment, including, but not limited to, the fields oriented toward the development, conservation, or economic utilization of the physical, chemical, geological, and biological resources of the marine environment; the fields of marine commerce and marine engineering; the fields relating to exploration or research in, the recovery of natural resources from, and the transmission of energy in, the marine environment; the fields of oceanography and oceanology; and the fields with respect to the study of the economic, legal, medical, or sociological problems arising out of the management, use, development, recovery, and control of the natural resources of the marine environment;

(2) the term "marine environment" means the oceans; the Continental Shelf of the United States; the Great Lakes; the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of the United States to th depth of two hundred meters, or beyond that limit, to where the depths of the superjacent waters admit of the exploitation of the natural resources of the area; the seabed and subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of islands which comprise United States territory; and the natural resources thereof;

(3) the term "sea grant college" means any suitable public or private institution of higher education supported pursuant to the

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purposes of this title which has major programs devoted to increasing our Nation's utilization of the world's marine resources; and

(4) the term "sea grant program" means (A) any activities of education or research related to the development of marine resources supported by the Foundation by contracts with or grants to institutions of higher education either initiating, or developing existing, programs in fields related to the purposes of this title, (B) any activities of education or research related to the development of marine resources supported by the Foundation by contracts with or grants to suitable institutes, laboratories, and public or private agencies, and (C) any programs of advisory services oriented toward imparting information in fields related to the development of marine resources supported by the Foundation by contracts with or grants to suitable institutes, laboratories, and public or private agencies.

ADVISORY FUNCTIONS

SEC. 205. The National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development established by section 3 of title I of this Act shall, as the President may request

(1) advise the Foundation with respect to the policies, procedures, and operations of the Foundation in carrying out its functions under this title;

(2) provide policy guidance to the Foundation with respect to contracts or grants in support of programs conducted pursuant to this title, and make such recommendations thereon to the Foundation as may be appropriate; and

(3) submit an annual report on its activities and its recommendations under this section to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the Senate.

B.R. 1221

90TH CONGRESS 2d Session

}

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

{ No. 1222

REPORT

AMENDING THE ACT CREATING THE ATLANTIC-PACIFIC INTEROCEANIC CANAL STUDY COMMISSION

MARCH 28, 1968.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. GARMATZ, from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 15190]

The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 15190) to amend sections 3 and 4 of the act approved September 22, 1964 (78 Stat. 990), providing for an investigation and study to determine a site for the construction of a sea-level canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill is to amend the act authorizing an investigation and study to determine a site for the construction of a sea-level canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by extending the time for a report for an additional year and by authorizing the expenditure of an additional $6.5 million.

Under Public Law 88-609, a Commission composed of five men from private life was authorized to make a study, including onsite surveys, for the purpose of determining the most suitable site for the construction of a sea-level canal in or about the Isthmus of Panama. This bill became law on September 22, 1964. The Commission was not appointed until April 18, 1965, and the agreement to permit studies in the Republic of Panama was not concluded until February 15, 1966. Thereafter, negotiations were entered into with Colombia for similar authority, and this agreement was not executed until October 25, 1966. The delay in the appointment of the Commission and the subsequent delays in obtaining exploration agreements not only shortened the time available to the Commission for studies

leading to its final report under the law, but resulted in extra expenditures. In addition, in the course of its work, it was discovered that in certain areas further studies were required. As a part of its studies, it was proposed to examine the feasibility of the use of nuclear means for canal construction.

In view of the fact that the necessary devices were not available, the Atomic Energy Commission was called upon to institute its own studies in this respect. By reason of delays beyond the control of the Canal Commission, the first two of a series of six experiments to be conducted by the AEC were not undertaken until January and March of this year. The experiments thus far conducted indicated the practicability of the use of nuclear means for canal construction. The Canal Commission has concentrated the greater part of its work in the Republic of Panama, in and about the present canal site and a single route to the East. This latter route would be the only one considered in Panama which would be practical for nuclear excavation.

By reason of an earlier start in the Republic of Panama and concentration on that area, a very substantial amount of work remains to be done along the Colombia route. As a matter of fact, the necessary equipment to procure core samples was not moved from the Panama sites to Colombia until the early part of this year, and little work has been performed in this respect to date. The greater part of the money to be authorized by this bill will be expended for the completion of the study of the Colombia route.

The bill also provides an additional year for final report to the Congress. Previous legislation contained in Public Law 90-244 extended the time for a report to December 1, 1969, and this bill would further extend it to December 1, 1970.

The committee believes that the bill is a meritorious one and urges its enactment. The present Panama Canal will reach the end of its useful life in the foreseeable future, and it will be necessary for the commerce of our country to have a new canal available at that time. The construction of a canal by nuclear means offers an attractive prospect in that the cost will be substantially lower than that of a canal constructed by conventional means. This, in turn, will reduce the burden of tolls upon our commerce and make the canal financially feasible. In any event, the studies in the hitherto unexplored jungle areas in Panama and Colombia are furnishing valuable information concerning not only the geology of those areas but in such differing fields as public health and meterology. Unless the funds authorized by this bill are voted, the research must be cut off and the failure to complete some of the studies will render the previous work of greatly reduced value. In view of the fact that the $17.5 million has already been expended, it would appear that the additional expenditure of $6.5 million is fully justified in order to reap all of the fruits of the work to date. The committee believes that this expenditure is a necessary one and urges eactment of the bill.

COST OF LEGISLATION

Enactment of this legislation would entail the expenditure of $6.5 million.

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DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS

Departmental reports received on the bill are as follows: ATLANTIC-PACIFIC INTEROCEANIC CANAL STUDY COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., January 31, 1968.

Hon. JOHN W. MCCORMACK,

Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Provided herewith is a draft bill "To amend Sections 3 and 4 of the Act approved September 22, 1964 (78 Stat. 990), providing for an investigation and study to determine a site for the construction of a sea-level canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."

We recommend that this draft bill be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration, and we recommend its enactment.

The Atlantic-Pacific Interoceanic Canal Study Commission was established by the act approved September 22, 1964 (Public Law 88-609, 78 Stat. 990), to make a full and complete investigation and study, including necessary onsite surveys for the purpose of determining the feasibility of, and the most suitable site for, construction of a sea-level canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the best means of construction.

When Public Law 88-609 was enacted, the expectation was that site surveys in Panama and Colombia would begin not later than January 1965. This expectation was the basis for the establishment of the June 30, 1968, reporting date and was a factor in fixing the $17.5 million ceiling on appropriations.

On April 18, 1965, the President appointed the five present members of the Commission from private life. After the Commission was appointed, it adopted a plan of study that attempted to adjust the study program schedule to the circumstance that the favorable dry season occurring in fiscal year 1965 had already passed. At that time the Commission had no actual on-the-ground experience on which to base a more accurate time and cost estimate. The new program schedule assumed the start of full-scale data collection beginning in January 1966, with completion of the study by June 30, 1968.

In September 1965, it became apparent to the Commission that the necessary treaties with Panama and Colombia could not be negotiated and ratified before the advent of the 1966 dry season. It, therefore, requested the Department of State to direct its immediate efforts toward achieving early agreements for site surveys only, with the understanding that negotiations for sea-level canal treaties would continue with the hope of agreement at a later date. The negotiations of site surveys initiated with Panama in October 1965 were successfully concluded in an exchange of notes between the United States and Panama on February 15, 1966. A similar exchange of notes with the Colombian Government was made on October 25, 1966.

Although access to the survey route in Panama was achieved prior to the close of the 1966 dry season, only limited work could be accomplished there in the remaining weeks of dry weather. During the negotiation period, every advantage was taken to expedite those functions not requiring actual route access. Supplies and equipment were purchased and stored, but full-scale data collection had to be

H.R. 1222

90-760 O-74-72