2.1 Encircling the Beginning: Where (I)CZM Started
15
land reclamation and filling of former tidal areas and marshes. If it was decided to fill on
areas for a certain reason the Bay Plan asks for safety measurements to secure people and
the infrastructure against various hazards. Although the Bay Plan is not directly dealing
with the reasons and effects of water pollution either by point or by diffuse sources, this
point is addressed by making links to existing regulations and responsible organizations
and administrative bodies.
Acknowledging the various triggers on the situation in the San Francisco Bay and the
consequences if envisaged developments will not happen the BCDC consists of a variety
of interest groups and representatives of different governmental and administrative levels.
The BCDC has jurisdiction over a certain area that does not only include the water body of
the Bay, but also a 100 feet buffer landward the mean high tide line (for an exact definition,
see BCDC 1969). The BCDC and the Bay Plan are still working.
On national US level, starting in the late 1950s, the view of politicians and researchers
turned from land to sea side. The ocean got more and more into the focus: We are just at
the threshold of our knowledge of the oceans . . . (This) knowledge is more than a matter of
curiosity. Our very survival may hinge upon it. (Letter to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1961 cited in Merrell et al. 2001)
This statement was an important stimulation to raise the funding for ocean and marine
investigations. Several years later, in 1966, the Act on the marine resources and engineering development was signed by President Johnson and came into force. Based on this
Act the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources was established. This
Commission, known as “Stratton Commission,” released a report on Our Nation and the
Sea “that was a comprehensive, forward-looking report that reviewed the status of most
areas of American Ocean policy and offered 126 recommendations . . . ” (Merrell et al.,
2001, p. 14). Besides the recommendation to establish a national agency for the administration of the ocean and atmosphere (known as NOAA) the Stratton Commission recommend
to develop a national Coastal Zone Management (CZM) program. Finally, in 1972 the USA
enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).
(The) Congress declared four basic national Coastal Zone Management policies in the CZMA
(Archer and Knecht, 1987, pp. 104–105):
• To preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the
coastal zone of the United States
• To encourage and assist the states to develop and to implement CZM programs meeting
specified national standards
• To encourage the preparation of “special area management plans” to protect nationally
significant natural resources, to ensure “reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth”
and to provide “improved protection of life and property in hazardous areas and improved
predictability in governmental decision-making”
• To encourage the participation and the cooperation of public, state and local governments,
interstate and other regional agencies, and federal agencies in achieving the purpose of the
CZMA.
15
land reclamation and filling of former tidal areas and marshes. If it was decided to fill on
areas for a certain reason the Bay Plan asks for safety measurements to secure people and
the infrastructure against various hazards. Although the Bay Plan is not directly dealing
with the reasons and effects of water pollution either by point or by diffuse sources, this
point is addressed by making links to existing regulations and responsible organizations
and administrative bodies.
Acknowledging the various triggers on the situation in the San Francisco Bay and the
consequences if envisaged developments will not happen the BCDC consists of a variety
of interest groups and representatives of different governmental and administrative levels.
The BCDC has jurisdiction over a certain area that does not only include the water body of
the Bay, but also a 100 feet buffer landward the mean high tide line (for an exact definition,
see BCDC 1969). The BCDC and the Bay Plan are still working.
On national US level, starting in the late 1950s, the view of politicians and researchers
turned from land to sea side. The ocean got more and more into the focus: We are just at
the threshold of our knowledge of the oceans . . . (This) knowledge is more than a matter of
curiosity. Our very survival may hinge upon it. (Letter to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1961 cited in Merrell et al. 2001)
This statement was an important stimulation to raise the funding for ocean and marine
investigations. Several years later, in 1966, the Act on the marine resources and engineering development was signed by President Johnson and came into force. Based on this
Act the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources was established. This
Commission, known as “Stratton Commission,” released a report on Our Nation and the
Sea “that was a comprehensive, forward-looking report that reviewed the status of most
areas of American Ocean policy and offered 126 recommendations . . . ” (Merrell et al.,
2001, p. 14). Besides the recommendation to establish a national agency for the administration of the ocean and atmosphere (known as NOAA) the Stratton Commission recommend
to develop a national Coastal Zone Management (CZM) program. Finally, in 1972 the USA
enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).
(The) Congress declared four basic national Coastal Zone Management policies in the CZMA
(Archer and Knecht, 1987, pp. 104–105):
• To preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the
coastal zone of the United States
• To encourage and assist the states to develop and to implement CZM programs meeting
specified national standards
• To encourage the preparation of “special area management plans” to protect nationally
significant natural resources, to ensure “reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth”
and to provide “improved protection of life and property in hazardous areas and improved
predictability in governmental decision-making”
• To encourage the participation and the cooperation of public, state and local governments,
interstate and other regional agencies, and federal agencies in achieving the purpose of the
CZMA.