§ 1222. — General study and inventory of estuaries and their natural resources.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1222]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 26--ESTUARINE AREAS
Sec. 1222. General study and inventory of estuaries and their
natural resources
(a) Estuaries included; considerations; other applicable studies
The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation and in cooperation
with the States, the Secretary of the Army, and other Federal agencies,
shall conduct directly or by contract a study and inventory of the
Nation's estuaries, including without limitation coastal marshlands,
bays, sounds, seaward areas, lagoons, and land and waters of the Great
Lakes. For the purpose of this study, the Secretary shall consider,
among other matters, (1) their wildlife and recreational potential,
their ecology, their value to the marine, anadromous, and shell
fisheries and their esthetic value, (2) their importance to navigation,
their value for flood, hurricane, and erosion control, their mineral
value, and the value of submerged lands underlying the waters of the
estuaries, and (3) the value of such areas for more intensive
development for economic use as part of urban developments and for
commercial and industrial developments. This study and inventory shall
be carried out in conjunction with the comprehensive estuarine pollution
study authorized by section 5(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, as amended [33 U.S.C. 1254(n)], and other applicable studies.
(b) Federal or State land acquisition or administration; other
protective methods
The study shall focus attention on whether any land or water area
within an estuary and the Great Lakes should be acquired or administered
by the Secretary or by a State or local subdivision thereof, or whether
such land or water area may be protected adequately through local,
State, or Federal laws or other methods without Federal land acquisition
or administration.
(c) Report to Congress; recommendations; authorization for acquisition
of lands; consultation with States and Federal agencies;
accompanying statement of views, probable effects, and major
trends
The Secretary of the Interior shall, not later than January 30,
1970, submit to the Congress through the President a report of the study
conducted pursuant to this section, together with any legislative
recommendations, including recommendations on the feasibility and
desirability of establishing a nationwide system of estuarine areas, the
terms, conditions, and authorities to govern such system, and the
designation and acquisition of any specific estuarine areas of national
significance which he believes should be acquired by the United States.
No lands within such area may be acquired until authorized by subsequent
Act of Congress. Recommendations made by the Secretary for the
acquisition of any estuarine area shall be developed in consultation
with the States, municipalities, and other interested Federal agencies.
Each such recommendation shall be accompanied by (1) expressions of any
views which the interested States, municipalities, and other Federal
agencies and river basin commissions may submit within sixty days after
having been notified of the proposed recommendations, (2) a statement
setting forth the probable effect of the recommended action on any
comprehensive river basin plan that may have been adopted by Congress or
that is serving as a guide for coordinating Federal programs in the
basin wherein such area is located, (3) in the absence of such a plan, a
statement indicating the probable effect of the recommended action on
alternative beneficial users of the resources of the proposed estuarine
area, and (4) a discussion of the major economic, social, and ecological
trends occurring in such area.
(d) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $250,000 for
fiscal year 1969 and $250,000 for fiscal year 1970 to carry out the
provisions of this section. Such sums shall be available until expended.
(Pub. L. 90-454, Sec. 2, Aug. 3, 1968, 82 Stat. 626.)
References in Text
Section 5(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
referred to in text, was originally classified to section 466c(g) of
Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters. Section 5(g) of the Act was
redesignated as section 5(m) by sec. 105(l) of Pub. L. 91-224, Apr. 3,
1970, 84 Stat. 111, and was reclassified to section 1155(m) of Title 33.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was amended generally by sec. 2
of Pub. L. 92-500, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 816, and the provisions
relating to comprehensive estuarine pollution study are contained in
section 104(n), which is classified to section 1254(n) of Title 33.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 1223 of this title.
