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AUTHORIZATION INCREASE-GRANT ALLOCATION

FLEXIBILITY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1974

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE

COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:10 a.m., in room 1334, Longworth Office Building, Hon. Thomas N. Downing, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding.

Mr. DOWNING. The Subcommittee on Oceanography is meeting today to hear testimony on H.R. 16215, a bill to amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, to provide more flexibility in the allocation. of administrative grants to coastal States, and for other purposes.

The purpose of the basic act is to provide assistance, both financial and technical, to State and local governments in their efforts to protect and use more wisely the Nation's coastal areas.

While action in funding the act was slow, funding ultimately became available in December 1973, and I am pleased to note the enthusiastic acceptance of the program by the States and the rapid progress which has been made.

Later this fall the subcommittee will be making an in-depth evaluation of the act and its implementation, and it is entirely possible that some changes in the legislation may be necessary.

However, the bill today concerns itself with only three rather routine changes which appear to be desirable, based upon the experience gained in the early administration of the act.

[H.R. 16215 and departmental reports follow:]

[H.R. 16215, 93d Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, to provide more flexibility in the allocation of administrative grants to coastal States, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (86 Stat. 1280) is amended as follows:

(1) Subsection (b) of section 306 is amended by deleting all after "relevant factors:", and by inserting in lieu thereof “Provided, That no annual grant made under this section shall be in excess of $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, in excess of $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1976, nor in excess of $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1977: Provided further, That no annual grant made under this section shall be less than 1 per centum of the total amount appropriated to carry out the purposes of this section.".

(2) Subsection (a) of section 315 is amended

(A) by amending item (1) to read as follows:

"(1) the sum of $9,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1973, and June 30, 1974, and the sum of $12,000,000 for each of the three succeeding fiscal years, for grants under section 305, to remain available until expended;" and

(B) by inserting, in item (3), after "fiscal year ending June 30, 1974," the following: "and for each of the three succeeding fiscal years,”.

GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE Department oF COMMERCE,
Washington, D.C., November 25, 1974.

Hon. LEONOR K. SULLIVAN,

Chairman, Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MADAM CHAIRMAN: This is to inform you of a modification of the Department's position with respect to the authorization levels now contained in the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. Our earlier position was stated in testimony before your Committee on September 18, 1974, in connection with hearings on H.R. 16215.

In view of the fact that the President has recently announced his decision to request increased funding under the terms of the Coastal Zone Management Act for coastal states impacted by accelerated Federal oil and gas leasing activities, the Administration is preparing legislation increasing the Act's authorization level to $12 million per year for Section 305. The legislation will also deal with several minor technical matters.

We have been advised by the Office of Management and Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of our report to the Congress from the standpoint of the Administration's program.

Sincerely,

KARL E. BAKKE,

General Counsel.

GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
Washington, D.C., September 24, 1974.

Hon. LEONOR K. SULLIVAN,

Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MADAM CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of this Department with respect to H.R. 16215, a bill

To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, to provide more flexibility in the allocation of administrative grants to coastal states, and for other purposes.

This bill proposes revisions to three separate provisions of the Coastal Zone Management Act. The first proposed change would remove the 10 percent limitation on the amount of money that can be granted to applicant states under the Administration Grant program (Section 306) of the Act. This limitation, built into the present Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, prevents adequate funding under Section 306 which will occur in the first and last years of that program when less than 10 states will apply for management program administrative grants. Thus, in fiscal year 1975, it is conceivable that three or four times as much money as would be required would have to be appropriated in order that the size of individual grants to the several states be large enough to cover administration of the management programs envisaged under Section 306. Moreover, the 10 percent limitation prevents expenditure of the entire appropriation for that fiscal year when less than 10 states apply.

In place of the 10 percent limitation, it is recommended that monetary amounts be proposed: $2 million for FY 1975; $2.5 million for FY 1976; and $3 million for FY 1977. This obviously will eliminate the need to request a greater appropriation than is actually needed in order to meet the demands under Section 306 of the Act.

The second provision in the bill would raise the authorization level available to the states under the management program development grant portion of the Act (Section 305). The amount requested for this program in the 1975 budget is within the current authorization level. Given the overriding need to control Federal spending the Administration believes that an increase in the 1975 level is not desirable and therefore these higher authorization levels are not necessary or appropriate at this time. In developing the fiscal 1976 budget request, consideration will be given to the possible need for an increase in the funding level. If it is determined that an increase is appropriate, the Administration will then propose an increase in the authorization level.

Finally, the third provision of this bill seeks to extend funding beyond FY 1974 for the Estuarine Grant provision (Section 312) of the Act. The estuarine sanctuary program has evoked considerable positive response from at least 20 coastal states. The Office of Coastal Zone Management and the Department are

now studying alternative overall national plans for the Nation's estuarine sanctuary needs to provide the basis for decisions on the scope of the Federal program. When those studies are completed and evaluated we will then be in a position to propose specific legislative changes. Meanwhile, the Administration believes that it would be premature to extend the current authorization level for three years.

In summary the Department recommends against enactment of the provisions of H.R. 16215, except for the proposed amendment to Section 306 with respect to the 10 percent limitation on the amount which can be granted to any one state.

We have been advised by the Office of Management and Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of our report to the Congress from the standpoint of the Administration's program.

Sincerely,

KARL E. BAKKE,

General Counsel.

Hon. LEONOR K. SULLIVAN,

COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES,
Washington, D.C., October 16, 1974.

Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries,
House of Representatives.

DEAR MADAM CHAIRMAN: Concerning your letter of August 12, 1974, requesting a report on H.R. 16215, a bill to amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, to provide more flexibility in the allocation of administrative grants to coastal States, this is to advise that we have no comment to make.

Sincerely,

ROBERT F. KELLER,

Deputy Comptroller General of the United States.

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE,

Washington, D.C., September 24, 1974.

Hon. THOMAS N. DOWNING, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oceanography, House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN DOWNING: Speaking for the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere (NACOA), we should like to express support for H.R. 16215, amending the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (86 Stat. 1280). As you will recall in our first Annual Report, 30 June 1972, we recorded our strong support for the House and Senate bills, then pending, which later became the Coastal Zone Management Act, and in our second Report, 29 June 1973, we strongly urged the Administration to reconsider its decision not to fund the program in FY '73 and '73, a decision which was ultimately reversed.

Our interest in this program continues strong and we addressed recommendations for its further improvement in our third Report, dated 28 June 1974. We are pleased to note that H.R. 16215 speaks to some of these recommendations. Most importantly it amends Section 315 by extending the funding of the Estuarine Sanctuaries Program provided by Section 312 of the Act beyond the original single year, FY '74, to apply to the succeeding three fiscal years, 1975-77. We also support the provision of the bill increasing the level of the funding authorized for management program development grants, Section 305.

Although not all our recommendations are satisfied in this particular legislation, we recognize the practical problem of time-phasing the development of such a relatively new program. We do support this legislation as an important step in the right direction.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM A, NIERENBERG,
Chairman.
WILLIAM J. HARGIS, Jr.,
Vice Chairman.

Mr. DOWNING. I will not go into detail as to what the specific changes are at this time in the bill but for the record, I would like to

submit a copy of the statement which I made on the floor of the House on August 1, 1974, when I introduced the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the statement be included at this point in the record.

[The remarks of Mr. Downing follow:]

PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1972

Mr. DOWNING. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing today a bill to make certain needed changes in the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972.

The purpose of the Coastal Zone Management Act is to provide assistance, both financial and technical, to State and local governments in their efforts to protect and use more wisely the Nation's coastal areas. In addition to the financial incentives provided in the act, the legislation also calls on the Federal Government to aline Federal activities that affect State coastal zones with State coastal zone management programs. The third important provision of the legislation authorizes grants to States for the purposes of acquiring and maintaining estuarine sanctuaries to serve as natural field laboratories to assist in the development of coastal zone management programs.

Although the act was passed almost 2 years ago, it was not until 6 months ago that the administration allowed the program to be funded. And this minimum funding only came about as a result of pressure from the Congress. In any event, funding was made available in December 1973, and I am pleased to note the enthusiastic acceptance of the program by the States and the rapid progress which has been made.

During fiscal year 1974, in only 6 months, grants for developing coastal zone management programs consistent with the legislation were made to 28 State. These are the States of Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina. Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. All together, $7.2 million of Federal grants have been made available to the States for the purpose of assisting them and their subdivisions in developing programs for the management of their valuable coastal areas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, administering the program, indicates that an additional three States will receive grants during early fiscal 1975. Thirty-one of the 34 eligible States and territories of our Nation are now actively involved in the coastal zone management program. and two of the remaining three have filed letters of intent to submit grant requests shortly.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, another important provision in the Coastal Zone Management Act authorizes the Federal Government to give grants to States to assist them in acquiring and operating estuarine sanctuaries for research purposes. This provision was viewed as an important adjunct to States' ability to develop a meaningful and scientifically sound coastal zone management program. The first such grant was awarded to the State of Oregon during the month of June and at least six more States are expected to submit grant applications within the next 12 months.

Those of us who were involved in sponsoring the original legislation anticipated the growing importance of our coastal zones and the need to move promptly to provide a mechanism to assist in resolving coastal zone problems. The emergence of the energy crisis is only the latest manifestation of the pressing need for rational coastal zone management in both the State and national interest.

At the present time, the Coastal Zone Management Act is the primary mechanism available for bringing about the necessary State and Federal coordination regarding location and operation of energy related facilities in the coastal zone. However, the funding levels authorized in the legislation are extremely low, considering the magnitude of the problems that States have to confront, and we want shortly to consider whether to provide additional funding authorization to meet coastal zone needs.

However, the bill I am introducing today addresses itself to only three areas in making the act more flexible and more responsive to program needs. The first involves the needs to extend the authorization for the estuarine sanctuaries

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