Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, already has shown significant accomplishments in environmental monitoring and prediction, with widespread applications to transportation, resource development, and pollution control. Current research and development programs show promise of further improvements. The remote sensing program is supplemented by an instrumented buoy development program needed to provide data on surface and subsurface environmental variables. Reliable operational prototypes for meteorological sensing are expected to be developed by late FY '74. Efforts to provide a capability to measure parameters indicative of the basic organic productivity of the oceans are also underway.

A program segment with major long-term implications for marine science affairs is the support of basic oceanographic research and education, together with the support of national centers and facilities. This program segment receives the largest funding of all the major categories of the Federal Ocean Program. While this funding decreased in FY '73, in part because of non-recurring expenditures for ships and other facilities in FY '72, the proposed budget for FY '74 resumes the historical increasing trend. The major funding agencies are the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Despite their wide diversity, covering all the major scientific desciplines, the broad outlines of these long-range oceanographic programs do not undergo major changes from year to year. They are not explicitly reviewed in this year's report.

Recent Legislation

More than 20 laws directly affecting marine activities were enacted by the 92nd Congress. Their subject matter includes fisheries, marine mammals, water pollution, maritime safety, federal-state relationships and other institutional matters. The more important fisheries acts serve to implement a number of international agreements, promote conservation and development, and provide financial aid to commercial fishermen. P.L. 92-500, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, has important long-range implications for estuarine and coastal waters, as well as inland waters. P.L. 92-532, The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (the "ocean dumping" bill), provides for regulation of the transportation of wastes to be dumped at sea, and for acceleration of research into dumping and ocean pollution effects. It is closely related to and to some extent anticipates implementation of the Ocean Dumping Convention that was opened for signature at the end of 1972. P.L. 92-340, The Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972, significantly increases the authority of the Coast Guard to control maritime traffic in the interests of safety and pollution control. P.L. 92-583, The Coastal

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Zone Management Act of 1972, provides for the development of land and water use plans by state and local governments under Federal guidelines and support. As mentioned earlier, this planning is a major factor in establishing overall land use management. P.L. 92522, The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, prohibits the taking or importation of marine mammals, except under certain limited conditions. P. L. 92-125 authorized the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, which submitted its first annual report to the President and the Congress in 1972. Summaries of these and the other ocean-related acts will be found in Appendix E.

Level of Effort

Actual and estimated funding levels for the Federal marine science program are tabulated in Appendix A. Overall funding in FY '73 is estimated to be about the same as in FY '72 in keeping with the President's program to curb inflation and avoid tax increases. For FY '74 an increase in funding to permit maintenance of an approximately equal level of effort is proposed. Appendix A-1 shows budget figures by agency, while A-2 summarizes the figures by major purpose. Appendix A-3 provides a more detailed breakdown by subpurpose and agency. Some of the changes, such as the current increase in treaty enforcement and the increase in research for FY '74, have already been noted. Others include increases within the national security program, in the leasing and management program for OCS non-living resources, and in environmental observation and prediction. There have also been of necessity some reductions. As noted at the end of the table, some of these, as in the coastal zone and national facilities programs, are the result of nonrecurring capital expenditures by the Department of Transportation in FY '72 and in FY '73.

Chapter II

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

An essential element in the evolution of a strong federal ocean. program during the 1960's was the strengthening of cooperation between nations engaged in maritime activities. However, international cooperation was insufficient to surmount the problems of the seventies arising from the accelerating competition for resources and increasingly serious ocean pollution. International recognition of these factors has stimulated a new emphasis toward the development of a more orderly regime for governing international ocean activities. The United States has been a leader in this effort and in the effort to improve international cooperation through existing organizations and by the negotiation of new bilateral and multilateral agreements. These efforts are the subjects of this chapter. Some of the scientific and technical aspects of international programs will be discussed elsewhere in the report.

Preparations for the Law of the Sea Conference

During the past year, the United States continued its involvement in the preparatory work for the forthcoming Law of the Sea Conference. In December 1972, the 27th United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an opening organizational session of the Conference to be held at New York, N.Y., during a 2-week period in November and December 1973, to be followed by an 8-week substantive session at Santiago, Chile, beginning in April 1974. The 28th General Assembly, which convenes in the fall of 1973, will review the progress of the preparatory work for the Conference and, if necessary, adopt measures to facilitate the completion of the substantive work of the Conference.

Preparations for the Law of the Sea Conference are being undertaken by the 91 members of the U. N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabed and Ocean Floor Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction (Seabed Committee). The activities of the Seabed

Manganese nodules, rich in copper, nickel, and cobalt, cover large areas of the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction. Commercial development of these resources is linked to current international efforts to establish a legal regime for the seabed.