Efforts to better involve the general public in coastal area program development will also take place during second-year program development. As states are better prepared to receive and digest public input, educational efforts will also be stepped up during many second-year state efforts.

The management program review procedure put into effect for the first time for the State of Washington application, including the issuance of an environmental impact statement and the conduct of a public hearing on same, proved to be an instructive process.

The review and comment on the Washington proposal pointed up the necessity of early and close communication between the state and local officials on the one hand and the units of the Federal Government on the other. The fact that future Federal actions would be subject to the policies drawn by state officials is a new concept, which has only gradually been gaining acceptance by Federal officials.

An extensive effort has been mounted, discussed in more detail below, to involve and obtain the views of Federal agencies and their field offices on the progress of states in developing coastal zone programs and the impact of this progress on them.

The State of Washington's coastal program encountered opposition from some Federal agencies that felt their interests were not adequately taken. into account. The additional period given the state to perfect its program will provide time to accommodate these and other points made during the public discussion and evaluation of the program.

The Office of Coastal Zone Management also prepared an environmental impact statement on the coastal zone proposal of Maine dealing with its midcoast region. The process pointed up the necessity of having close working relationships between state officials and local governments.

In its second year, the Maine program is going to concentrate on greater participation by local officials to meet the objections raised by local governments about their roles during the consideration of that state's management proposal.

The two state programs most advanced during Fiscal Year 1975, Washington and Maine, served as reminders of the difficulties of putting the coastal zone management concept into practice.

Not only is control of private and public property decisions involved, but the program entails a restructuring of relationships between state and local units of government dealing with sensitive questions about future land and water uses in the valuable coastal areas.

The experience of Fiscal Year 1975 featured a greatly increased public visibility for the coastal zone program. Fiscal Year 1975 was also a year of growing recognition that successful implementation of the program will take a major effort and give-and-take by all involved parties.

Beyond the increased public attention for the program and the successful processing of a state program to near-final approval, the following major developments took place during Fiscal Year 1975 in the course of administering the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972.

Interagency Coordination

A major effort of the Office of Coastal Zone Management during Fiscal Year 1975 was to develop points of contact in Federal agencies with responsibilities in the coastal zone, obtain their involvement in state programs as they are being developed, and establish written agreements on means of coordinating Federal agency programs with the state activity sponsored by the Office of Coastal Zone Management (OCZM).

The first agreement between OCZM and another Federal entity was perfected and signed during Fiscal Year 1975. Under a joint agreement signed by officials of HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development and the Office of Coastal Zone Management, an approved coastal zone management program will enable a state to satisfy the eligibility requirements for assistance under a planning grant program operated by HUD.

Specifically the agreement, executed February 19, 1975, in the Office of the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, states that HUD will accept an approved coastal zone program as meeting the eligibility requirements for assistance under the 701 Comprehensive Planning Assistance program as of August 1977. Approved coastal zone programs will constitute accepted portions of and will be incorporated into the full HUD land use element required for participation in 701 planning assistance programs. The agreement also specifies certain other means of coordinating the efforts of the two agencies.

In a similar manner, the coastal zone office and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Fiscal Year 1975 worked out an understanding of how state water quality programs administered by EPA will be coordinated with state coastal zone programs, as mandated by the Act (Section 307(f)). A joint letter between the two agencies was issued August 1, 1975, in which it is stated:

"This basic agreement (incorporating the requirements

of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in coastal programs) can only be fulfilled by close and continuing consultation with water programs at the State and substate levels of government during (coastal zone) program development and implementation, and by integrating water quality considerations into the process of designating permissible and priority uses. Water quality agencies must also recognize that their planning, construction and management activities should be carried out in close cooperation with (coastal zone management) programs and that they must be consistent with approved (coastal zone) programs which are consonant with water quality standards."

Beyond these two specific working agreements with key Federal agencies, the coastal zone office organized a listing of contacts with all the

relevant Federal agencies, including their field offices, in order to speed Federal-State discussions during the preparation of state proDuring the consideration given the proposed management program from the State of Washington, the coastal zone office conducted a briefing in Washington for agency representatives to bring them up-todate on the progress of the overall coastal zone program and to discuss the specific submission from the State of Washington.

After assembling and analyzing the Federal agencies' reactions to the State of Washington program, the coastal zone office submitted a detailed response to the comments. Although not specifically required by the Act or the regulations governing the program approval process, the response was felt to be in keeping with the spirit of Section 307(b) of the Act, requiring that adequate consideration be given the views of affected Federal agencies.

The Office of Coastal Zone Management also individually worked with representatives of Federal offices based in Washington to have headquarters acquaint personnel in field offices with the status and possible impact of the coastal zone effort. For instance, the Federal Energy Administration and the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, each sent out instructions about coastal zone management during the fiscal year.

In a similar manner, the coastal zone office has worked closely with the Navy, especially to ensure that adequate consideration is given national defense interests in the development and implementation of coastal zone programs.

Legislative Action

The first amendments to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 were enacted during Fiscal Year 1975. President Ford signed Public Law 93-612 on January 5, 1975.

The Main provisions were an increase in the authorization for program development grants (Section 305) from $9 million to $12 million annually. Congress found and the President agreed that the task of preparing comprehensive coastal zone management programs was a considerable one for state and local governments and that energy-related considerations had added to the complexity. The increased authorization was employed in the enactment of a $3 million supplemental appropriation for Fiscal Year 1975.

The coastal act amendments, sponsored originally in the House of Representatives by Congressman Thomas Downing (D-Va.), also provided an extension of the estuarine sanctuary program (Section 312) until 1977. The extension brings this provision in line with the rest of the program and permits a possible future appropriation beyond that made available previously ($4 million).

The other changes were of a technical nature, replacing percentage limits on how much or how little individual states and territories might receive with dollar limits.

During the year, the Office of Coastal Zone Management participated in a number of congressional hearings, some of which dealt with possible additions to the program because of energy-related impacts and others with questions associated with a proposed expansion of OCS oil and gas operations.

Hearings were conducted in the summer and fall of the fiscal year on OCS matters by the National Ocean Policy Study. The coastal zone office took part, dealing with the problems raised by potential onshore impacts in coastal areas lacking experience in dealing with petroleum industry stimulated activities.

Hearings were conducted by the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in December on a legislative proposal which would give coastal state Governors a veto authority over OCS activity seaward of a sanctuary area. The Office of Coastal Zone Management opposed the veto concept in testimony.

Joint Senate hearings in March on both OCS and coastal zone legislation were addressed by the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) accompanied by the Assistant Administrator for Coastal Zone Management.

Another round of hearings in the House was conducted in April on proposed changes to the coastal zone act. In June, both the Administrator of NOAA and the head of the coastal zone office accompanied Secretary of Commerce Rogers Morton in his initial appearance in that capacity before the House Ad Hoc Select Committee on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Secretary gave strong support to the coastal zone program. Said the Secretary: "I am sure we all share the belief that strong state coastal zone management programs are the key to permitting us to go forward with offshore exploration and production with a minimum of environmental and socio-economic disturbance."