Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972
Jul. 14, 2005
This act (16 USC 1451-1464, last amended in November 1990), is the Federal legislation that governs the preservation and management of coastal waters in the nation.
In relation to coastal zones, the national policy is (16 USC 145):
- to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance,
the resources of the Nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding generations
- to encourage and assist the states to exercise effectively their
responsibilities in the coastal zone through the development and implementation
of management programs to achieve wise use of the land and water resources of
the coastal zone, giving full consideration to ecological, cultural, historic,
and esthetic values as well as the needs for compatible economic development
- to encourage the preparation of special area management plans which provide
for increased specificity in protecting significant natural resources,
reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth, improved protection of life and
property in hazardous areas, including those areas likely to be affected by land
subsidence, sea level rise, or fluctuating water levels of the Great Lakes, and
improved predictability in governmental decision making
- to encourage the participation and cooperation of the public, state and
local governments, and interstate and other regional agencies, as well as of the
Federal agencies having programs affecting the coastal zone, in carrying out the
purposes of this act
- to encourage coordination and cooperation with and among the appropriate
Federal, state, and local agencies, and international organizations where
appropriate, in collection, analysis, synthesis, and dissemination of coastal
management information, research results, and technical assistance, to support
state and Federal regulation of land use practices affecting the coastal land
ocean resources of the United States
- to respond to changing circumstances affecting the coastal environment and
coastal resource management by encouraging states to consider such issues as
ocean uses potentially affecting the coastal zone
Full Text of Act available here.
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