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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1431. Findings, purposes, and policies; establishment of system
(a) Findings
The Congress finds that -
(1) this Nation historically has recognized the importance of
protecting special areas of its public domain, but these efforts
have been directed almost exclusively to land areas above the
high-water mark;
(2) certain areas of the marine environment possess
conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, scientific,
educational, cultural, archeological, or esthetic qualities which
give them special national, and in some cases international,
significance;
(3) while the need to control the effects of particular
activities has led to enactment of resource-specific legislation,
these laws cannot in all cases provide a coordinated and
comprehensive approach to the conservation and management of
special areas of the marine environment; and
(4) a Federal program which establishes areas of the marine
environment which have special conservation, recreational,
ecological, historical, cultural, archeological, scientific,
educational, or esthetic qualities as national marine sanctuaries
managed as the National Marine Sanctuary System will -
(A) improve the conservation, understanding, management, and
wise and sustainable use of marine resources;
(B) enhance public awareness, understanding, and appreciation
of the marine environment; and
(C) maintain for future generations the habitat, and
ecological services, of the natural assemblage of living
resources that inhabit these areas.
(b) Purposes and policies
The purposes and policies of this chapter are -
(1) to identify and designate as national marine sanctuaries
areas of the marine environment which are of special national
significance and to manage these areas as the National Marine
Sanctuary System;
(2) to provide authority for comprehensive and coordinated
conservation and management of these marine areas, and activities
affecting them, in a manner which complements existing regulatory
authorities;
(3) to maintain the natural biological communities in the
national marine sanctuaries, and to protect, and, where
appropriate, restore and enhance natural habitats, populations,
and ecological processes;
(4) to enhance public awareness, understanding, appreciation,
and wise and sustainable use of the marine environment, and the
natural, historical, cultural, and archeological resources of the
National Marine Sanctuary System;
(5) to support, promote, and coordinate scientific research on,
and long-term monitoring of, the resources of these marine areas;
(6) to facilitate to the extent compatible with the primary
objective of resource protection, all public and private uses of
the resources of these marine areas not prohibited pursuant to
other authorities;
(7) to develop and implement coordinated plans for the
protection and management of these areas with appropriate Federal
agencies, State and local governments, Native American tribes and
organizations, international organizations, and other public and
private interests concerned with the continuing health and
resilience of these marine areas;
(8) to create models of, and incentives for, ways to conserve
and manage these areas, including the application of innovative
management techniques; and
(9) to cooperate with global programs encouraging conservation
of marine resources.
(c) Establishment of system
There is established the National Marine Sanctuary System, which
shall consist of national marine sanctuaries designated by the
Secretary in accordance with this chapter.
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