Environmental politics and policy chapter 1 page 10

The 1970s was the decade spanning the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy
Carter, it remains the most remarkably creative legislative period in the history of American
environmentalism.
During this decade, almost all of the major environmental laws, federal environmental regulatory
institutions, and environmental interest groups that now define the contours of the nations
environmental politics and policy appeared. One of the many acts passed during this time was
the Coastal Zone Management Act (1972), creating federal grants to the states to establish
coastal zone management plans under federal guidelines.

http://coast.noaa.gov/czm/act/?redirect=301ocm
The U.S. Congress recognized the importance of meeting the challenge of continued growth in
the coastal zone by passing the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in 1972. This act,
administered by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) , provides for the
management of the nations coastal resources, including the Great Lakes. The goal is to
preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the
nations coastal zone.
The CZMA outlines three national programs, the National Coastal Zone Management Program,
the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and the Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation Program (CELCP). The National Coastal Zone Management Program
aims to balance competing land and water issues through state and territorial coastal
management programs,
the reserves serve as field laboratories that provide a greater understanding of estuaries and how
humans impact them,
and CELCP provides matching funds to state and local governments to purchase threatened
coastal and estuarine lands or obtain conservation easements.

www.epa.gov/agriculture/lzma.html
The Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) encourages states/tribes to preserve, protect,
develop, and where possible, restore or enhance valuable natural coastal resources such as
wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, barrier islands, and coral reefs, as well as the
fish and wildlife using those habitats. It includes areas bordering the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic
Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, and Great Lakes.

A unique feature of this law is that participation by states/tribes is voluntary. To encourage

states/tribes to participate, the act makes federal financial assistance available to any coastal
state, tribe, or territory, including those on the Great Lakes, that is willing to develop and
implement a comprehensive coastal management program. Most eligible states/tribes are, or will
be, participating in the program.
In its reauthorization of the Coastal Zone Management Act in 1990, Congress identified nonpoint
source pollution as a major factor in the continuing degradation of coastal waters.
Congress also recognized that effective solutions to nonpoint source pollution could be
implemented at the state/tribe and local levels.
Therefore, in the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA), Congress
added Section 6217, which calls upon states/tribes with federally approved coastal zone
management programs to develop and implement coastal nonpoint pollution control programs.
The Section 6217 program is administered at the federal level jointly by EPA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution refers to both water and air pollution from diffuse sources.
Nonpoint source water pollution affects a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from
agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind-borne debris blowing out to sea.
http://www.boem.gov/Coastal-Zone-Management-Act/
Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) to protect
the coastal environment from growing demands associated with residential, recreational,
commercial, and industrial uses (e.g., State and Federal offshore oil and gas development). The
CZMA provisions help States develop coastal management programs (Programs) to manage and
balance competing uses of the coastal zone. Federal Agencies must follow the Federal
Consistency provisions as delineated in 15 CFR part 930.

What is "Federal Consistency"?

The CZMA requires that Federal actions that are reasonably likely to affect any land or water use
or natural resource of the coastal zone be consistent with enforceable policies of a State's
federally-approved coastal management program. The "effects test" is used to determine whether
an activity is subject to Federal consistency provisions:

Will the activity directly, indirectly, or cumulatively affect any natural resources, land uses, or
water uses in the coastal zone?
If yes, then the activity is subject to Federal consistency.
What are the different "Federal Consistency" standards?
Federal Agency activities must be "consistent to the maximum extent practicable" with
enforceable policies (e.g., OCS lease sales) (Subpart C).
Private activities requiring a Federal license/permit must be "fully consistent" with enforceable
policies (e.g., geological & geophysical permits) (Subpart D).
OCS plan activities must be "fully consistent" with enforceable policies (exploration,
development & production activities) (Subpart E).
Federal assistance to State and local governments must be "fully consistent" with enforceable
policies (e.g., grants) (Subpart F).