The Data Buoy Project Office manages the National Data Buoy Develop. ment Project. It is developing a national system of automatic ocean buoys for obtaining essentially con. tinuous marine environmental data. This work is closely associated with satellite and sensor developments elsewhere in NOAA. The Marine Minerals Technology Center at Tiburon, Calif., is concerned with the development of marine mining and related technology, with emphasis on the assessment of environmental impact of mining systems. A related activity is to develop the necessary tools and techniques for accurate delineation and economic evaluation of marine minerals deposits. The National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center provides the Nation with a focal point for knowledge of technology related to instrument measurement, evaluation, and the reliability of sensing systems for ocean use. The Center performs laboratory and field testing and calibration, sponsors standards development, and enhances the quality of ocean systems by the dissemination of operational results and technical information. A STATEMENT OF MISSION NOAA will explore, map, and chart the global oceans, their geological cradles, their geophysical forces and fields, and their mineral and living resources. New physical and biological knowledge will be translated into systems capable of assessing the sea's po tential yield, and into techniques which the Nation and its industries can employ to manage, use, and conserve these animal and mineral resources. NOAA will monitor and predict the characteristics of the physical environment-the protean changes of atmosphere and ocean, sun and solid earth, gravity and geomagnetism-in real time, given sufficiently advanced knowledge and technology. It will warn against impending environmental hazards, and ease the human burden of hurricane, tornado, flood, tsunami, and other destructive natural events. NOAA will monitor and predict such gradual and inexorable changes as those of climate, seismicity, marinelife distributions, earth tides, continental position, the planet's internal circulations, and the effects of human civilization and industry on the environment and oceanic life. To accomplish these objectives, NOAA will draw upon the talent and experience of its personnel, the wide range of its facilities, and mutually important links between government, universities, and industry. NOAA and its institutional partners will develop the technology and the systems with which to comprehend this broad province of service and investigationsystems leading to effective resource assessment, utilization of environ. mental data, environmental monitoring and prediction, and, possibly, environmental modification and control. Here, the growing family of satellites, sensors, ships, data buoys, computers, and simulators, which have enriched scientific understanding and provided the base for essential environmental services in recent dec. ades, will find their best achievement. In these ways, NOAA will improve the safety and quality of life, the efficiency and timing of oceanic hunts and harvests, and man's comprehen. sion, use, and preservation of his planetary home. Economic Development Economic Development Administration Robert A. Podesta, Assistant Secretary for Economic Development The Regional Program George J. Pantos, Special Assistant for Regional Economic Coordination Federal Cochairmen: G. Fred Steele, Jr., Coastal Plains Regional Commission Alfred E. France, Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission George Sharrock, Chairman, Federal Field Committee for Development This program promotes the economic development of those regions of the United States that lag behind the Nation as a whole. The basic premisesions of this program is that certain regions of our Nation are faced with common economic problems which extend beyond several State boundaries and which require region-wide solutions. The regional organizations are engaged in analyzing the problems of their regional economies and developing overall strategies for enhancing the growth of their regions. They do this by identifying opportunities for economic growth, determining the overall development goals for their regions, developing programs for reaching their goals, identifying what can be done by private enterprise and working with Federal and State governments for the implementation of their recommendations. Through the development of strategies and programs to overcome the causes of economic lag, the Commisseek to integrate regional and national economies, strengthening both. In the process, of course, they are helping to assure that the people| in these regions will share in the Nation's prosperity. Providing opportunities for human development and achievement is, after all, the ultimate goal of the Commissions. Regional commissions have been formed for all of New England and portions of the States in the following regions: Coastal Plains (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia), Four Corners, (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah), Upper Great Lakes (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin), Ozarks (Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma), and Appalachia (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia). A regional-type organization also has been established to coordinate Federal programs in the State of Alaska. With the concurrence of the interested States, the Secretary of Commerce designates regions which have lagged behind the Nation in economic development. After the region has thus been designated, the Federal Government nominates a Federal executive to be Federal Co-chairman of the region. This appointment is subject to the confirmation by the Senate. Each Governor then appoints a State member of the commissionusually the Governor himself-and the commission is declared in existence for carrying out its assigned mission. |