Senator STEVENS. Mr. Corrada.

STATEMENT OF HON. BALTASAR CORRADA, RESIDENT COMMISSIONER OF PUERTO RICO, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ACCOMPANIED BY GERARD GIL, LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT

Mr. CORRADA. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to share with you this morning my views on S. 2792 and S. 2794, two different versions directed to the implementation of a fund from revenues of the Outer Continental Shelf leasing program for the development and best management of our ocean and coastal marine resources.

Accompanying me today is Mr. Gerard Gil, legislative assistant to me on matters pertaining to marine resources.

Senator Stevens and Senator Weicker should be commended for their individual efforts in drafting these two fine pieces of legislation for the benefit of our valuable marine resource management and resource programs. As has become apparent, these programs face an absence of adequate funding which is detrimental to our coastal States and to the Nation as a whole, including Puerto Rico. I welcome the initiative encompassed in these bills, for I believe that it is imperative that our country continue its work to protect and develop the ocean fisheries and living marine resources. The administration's proposal to terminate Federal support for the coastal zone management program, the coastal energy impact program, and the national sea grant program clearly places in a predicament our national effort to preserve marine resources. Using Outer Continental Shelf revenues as an alternative source of funding to rescue the marine resources protection and development activities is a sound and particularly fitting idea.

The continued funding of the ocean and coastal development activities is of great concern to the people and the government of Puerto Rico. As you know, Puerto Rico has taken a very active role in a broad range of ocean, fishery, and coastal programs, including the national sea grant program.

The coastal zone management program is one of the most important activities since it touches on such a broad range of natural resources affecting the island. Puerto Rico coastal management program was accepted by the Secretary of Commerce in September 1978. It took 4 years in preparation, at a cost of about $2 million, of which $1.4 million represented Federal grants under section 305 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 as amended.

Mr. Chairman, Puerto Rico has a department of natural resources headed by a secretary of the Governor's cabinet, and that department of natural resources is now in the fourth year of implementation of the program, and has received $4.9 million in Federal grants in aid under section 305 of the act toward total program budgets amounting to $6.3 million.

Puerto Rico's coastal management program identified three main problem areas: Coastal hazards-including hurricane floodingcoastal resources, and coastal development. All three areas are being dealt with as elements of the continuing implementation activity. Federal funds enabled the department of natural resources in Puerto Rico to establish and equip a Rangers Corps, which has

since been supported entirely with local funds. The Rangers patrol coastal resource areas on land, at sea, and in the air. As a result of recommendations made to the secretary by the Citizen Advisory Committee on the Coastal Zone, the Rangers are receiving special training to expand their capability well beyond that of simple law enforcement. They can now explain to people they encounter what it is that they are protecting and why it deserves to be protected. In addition, the Ranger Corps is receiving training so that it can assist in emergency management in times of disaster.

The department of natural resources in Puerto Rico is identifying areas subject to special danger from coastal flooding as a result of hurricane tides, as well as from riverine flooding as a result of intense rainfall in the steep mountain valleys that affect coastal development. The hazard mitigation plans prepared by the department's staff are considered exemplary by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They are being implemented with evacuation plans and with action programs to relocate families, using local funds to supplement the Federal programs available for such purposes.

Coastal management funds are being used to explore and evaluate undersea sand deposits, which can substitute for dwindling onshore sources of sand needed for construction. The extraction of sand from offshore areas will require major investment by private enterprise, but it will require a new program of monitoring.

The department has embarked on a long-range program to make the general public more aware of the importance of coastal and marine resource. By special arrangement with the department of education, the science programs at elementary, junior high and senior high school levels will include units on coastal resources and their importance to the island. Coastal funds are being used to develop the curriculums and to provide the training for the teachers who will give the courses. Outdoor classrooms are being designed and developed at several areas around the island to be used for field trips by school children. Members of the Ranger Corps will participate in the educational program during such field trips.

A system of natural reserves is being established. Management plans are being developed for coastal areas that require special consideration. New regulations are being prepared for activities that affect coastal resources such as the use of off-road vehicles, public access to beaches and the management of wetlands. Research is being conducted into the impacts of human activity on reef communities that protect the island's shoreline against wave action. The department also coordinates the many water-related activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The coastal and marine resources management program is important because of Puerto Rico's condition as a tropical island. Almost 72 percent of the island's 3.2 million people live in coastal municipalities, up from 66 percent in 1970. Puerto Rico has 78 towns or municipalities with mayors and city councils, and of those, 45 are coastal municipalities, 33 are not.

The central mountain range is steep and inhibits development, as a result of which most new activity is in the coastal areas. Puerto Rico has one of the highest population densities in the world. Among U.S. jurisdictions, only New Jersey has a higher den

sity. The States of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut follow Puerto Rico in population density.

The dependence of Puerto Rico on ocean shipping increases the propensity for damage from oil spills which affect not only marine life, water birds, and coastal water quality, but also the island's beaches, which are a primary focus of tourism and local recreation. Puerto Rico has a unique concentration of coastal and marine resources, with a rich variety not equaled elsewhere in the United States or the world. The insular waters provide shelter for a number of rare and endangered species of marine mammals and other treasures. The constant interaction between human activity and nature urgently requires a continuing program of monitoring, evaluation, and protection such as is possible under the proposed program.

Puerto Rico also has had the benefit of a sea grant program which started in January 1977, with the granting of a marine advisory services project to the Humacao University College. It has grown rapidly ever since, and in 1980 the program was granted a coherent status. This achievement ratified the importance, usefulness, and potentialities of the sea grant program to the island community, university administrators, educators, and government agencies.

The marine advisory service establishes the university-agency-industry cooperation that needs to be promoted on the island, and it is the first of its kind working with and for fishermen in Puerto Rico. Adviser services are offered in fish harvesting, marine manufacturing, and marine transportation. Approximately 150,000 Puerto Ricans are benefiting from this program.

In addition, given Puerto Rico's geographic location, situated in the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean, the sea grant program in Puerto Rico contributes significantly to the national sea grant program in areas of tropical marine processes investigations. Also, due to its configurations, Puerto Rico can be thought of as a small-scale continent. A great diversity of tropical marine environments are easily accessible, which saves time, expenses, and efforts for a variety of studies.

The sea grant program has been highly successful throughout the Nation as well as complementary to the administration's program for economic recovery. This program has led to or stimulated over $227 million in annual gross revenue or savings for many marine or coastal resource based industries. The total Federal support for sea grant program has been only $270 million since its creation in 1966.

Mr. Chairman, given the continuing importance of the existence of these programs, I prefer the approach taken in S. 2792 of the two bills, because it more realistically provides for any future changes in the program. Under S. 2974, the fund would receive 10 percent of the difference between the base year for fiscal 1981 and each succeeding year with a ceiling of $300 million.

This means that the fund would operate only if there is an increase in revenues over the 1981 level of $9.27 billion. This approach relies too much upon the success of the administration's plans for expanding the OCS program. Under that plan, the OCS would have to raise revenues of at least $12 billion in 1983 and suc

ceeding years in order to have a fairly well funded ocean and coastal development program.

I believe this revenue sharing program must be given every possibility of a long and well-funded life, and the way that S. 2792 envisions the source of income for the fund by merely taking a modest 6 percent of the royalties and 4 percent of the bonuses derived from oil and gas production in the OCS activities seems to me to be a more realistic approach.

Notwithstanding my support of your bill, Senator Stevens, I am puzzled by the differential treatment granted to Puerto Rico and the other territories under the provisions of the bill pertaining to minimum shares for each coastal State and territory. It is my belief that one of the main objectives of this bill, and I quote from Senator Stevens' statement introducing the bill, is to "insure that all States have adequate resources to accomplish their part of the national interest in coastal matters."

Puerto Rico, Mr. Chairman, with 700 miles of tidal shoreline, has a tidal shoreline larger than seven of the coastal States. Our coastal shoreline is larger than Connecticut, Alabama, Rhode Island, Delaware, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, and a general shoreline of 310 miles, which is longer than any State except for Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Alaska, California, and Hawaii.

It does not make any sense not to give State-like treatment to Puerto Rico, at least among the other territories-Puerto Rico is much larger, obviously, than the others-in a bill envisioned and designed in the national interest for the proper development of the Nation's marine resources.

Also, may I say that Puerto Rico provides, right there in the middle of the Caribbean, a very important and critical economic zone area of 200 miles for the United States which, of course, adds immeasurably, at least potentially, to the future development of those areas, with Puerto Rico having, of course, title and control to its submerged lands of three marine leagues under an act passed by Congress in 1980 which is similar to Texas and some portions of the coast of Florida.

As an Island, Puerto Rico devotes a lot of time and effort to the conservation and development of the fishery and living species along our coastal areas. I may add, marine issues are an intrinsic part of our daily lives. What we need is the resources to put a lot of creativity to work for the benefit not only of Puerto Rico but for the permanent and continuing enhancement of our Nation's marine resources.

In sum, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I strongly urge you to amend section 5 of S. 2792 to give equal treatment to Puerto Rico and to enact, of course, this legislation which is so important to the Nation as a whole.

That concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STEVENS. Thank you very much. You have a good point. We will review the bill to see if the committee wishes to amend it as you have suggested.

Senator Mitchell.

Senator MITCHELL. I have no questions.

Senator STEVENS. We will be in touch with you during the markup of the bill so that you can make comments concerning its application to your territory.

Mr. CORRADA. I deeply appreciate that, Senator Stevens, and let me say, there is a provision in your bill that would distribute about 40 percent of the funds to the units of local governments, municipalities, and so on. I think that those units of local government in Puerto Rico would be prepared to manage and administer this wisely. There is a precedent in the case of the community development block grant program. Currently, the small cities in Puerto Rico manage about $47 million allocated to Puerto Rico under the CDBG program, and they have that experience.

Furthermore, the government of Puerto Rico has an agency called the Municipal Services Administration, which is a state agency created solely for the purposes of providing technical assistance and managerial assistance to the 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico in order for them to be able to implement important programs. So, I believe that this feature in your bill should not be a problem in the case of municipalities and local communities in our island.

Senator STEVENS. Good. Well, we are glad to have that information. We thank you, and again, I apologize for keeping you waiting. Mr. CORRADA. Thank you very much, Senator Stevens and members of the committee.

Senator STEVENS. Dr. Van Lopik, representing NACOA.

STATEMENT OF DR. JACK R. VAN LOPIK, MEMBER, NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE

Dr. VAN LOPIK. Mr. Chairman and members of the National Ocean Policy Study, I am pleased to speak today on behalf of NACOA, a non-Federal, 18-member advisory group appointed by the President. Our enabling legislation mandates that we advise both the President and the Congress on marine, atmospheric, and coastal zone policy matters.

We appreciate this opportunity to present our views on OCS revenue sharing, and specifically on the bills introduced this month by Senators Stevens and Weicker.

NACOA has looked at a number of issues in its review of OCS revenue sharing, and we have a detailed position paper that I would like to submit for the record. This morning, I will outline, very briefly, our position and the principles upon which it is based.

Let me say first that NACOA supports the concept of sharing Federal OCS oil and gas revenues with coastal States. We believe that funds should be shared among all coastal States and Territories, including Great Lakes States. A fund of $300 to $400 million a year would be appropriate.

We also believe that it is in the national interest to earmark half of the funds for the continuation of coastal and marine activities, such as resource management, education and research, and living and mineral resource development. The other half of each State's share should be disbursed at the discretion of the State legislature. Passthrough of some funds to local coastal governments should be equired.