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PUBLIC LAW 92-583-OCT. 27, 1972 Public Law 92-583 -y^q'^ri,vU u,. •>•(.. J |. - ^. - ; 'V-..
October 27, 1972 [s. 3507]
[86 STAT. •
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^^ ACT To establish a nutioiial policy and develop a national program for the management, henetieial use, protection, and development of the land and w a t e r resources of the Nation's coastal zones, and for other purposes.
Be it eiidcfed by the Senate and House of Uepre^entdt'treH of the Marine Re- ^ (^)i}te(I States of America in CongreHH (DineinhletL Thfit the Act entitled neering Devei"if-^ "All Act to provide foi' i\ (•oniprelioiisive, loiio-ranoe, and coordinated ment Act of 1966, iiatioiuil pro<>ram in marine science, to establish a National Couiicil on amendment. Marine Rcsources and Kn^ineerino- Development, and a Commission on Marine Science. En^iiieerin<>- and Resources, and for other purposes'*, approved June 17. 11)()(> (80 Stat.:20;')), as amended (H3 ILS.C. 80 Stat. 998; 1101-1124). is furtliei- amended by adding- at the end thereof the fol84 Stat. 865.
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lo\viii<>- new title: T n LK III—.>LVXA()EMENT O F THE COASTAL ZOXP: SHOUT TITLE
SKC.;^01. This title may be cited as the "Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972". COXGUESSIOXAL riXDlXGS
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SEC. ')02. The Congress finds that— (a) There is a national interest in the effective manaoement, beneficial use, protection, and development of the coastal zone; (b) The coastal zone is rich in a variety of natnral, commercial, recleational. industrial, and esthetic resources of immediate and potential \alue to the present and future well-being of the Nation; (c) The increasing and com))eting demands upon the lands"and waters of our coastal zone occasioned by population growth and economic development. including requirements for industry, commerce, residential development, recreation, extraction of mineral resources and fossil fuels, transportation and navigation, waste disposal, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and other living marine resources. have resulted in the loss of living marine resources, wildlife, nutrient-rich areas, permanent and adxerse changes to ecological systems, decreasing open space for public use, and shoreline erosion; (d) The coastal zone, and the fish, shellfish, other living marine resources, and wildlife therein, are ecologically fragile and conse(piently extremely vulnerable to destruction by man's alterations; (e) Important ecological, cultural, historic, and esthetic values in the coastal zone which are essential to the well-being of all citizens are being irretrievably damaged or lost; (f) Special natural and scenic characteristics are being damaged by ill-planned development that threatens these values; (g) In light of competing demands and the urgent need to protect and to give hioh priority to natural systems in the coastal zone, present state and local institutional arrangements for planning and regulating land and water uses in such areas are inade(iuate; and (h) The key to more effective protection and use of the land and Avater resources of the coastal zone is to encourage the states to exercise their full authority over the lands and waters in the coastal zone by assisting the states, in cooperation with Federal and local governments and other vitally affected interests, in developing land and water use programs for the coastal zone, including unified policies, criteria, standards, methods, and processes for dealing with land and water use decisions of more than local significance.
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