The Nation - News from July 10, 1987

A House committee voted to create a blue-ribbon panel to conduct a two-year study of coastal problems and recommend major new policies for the nation’s oceans and Great Lakes. Rep. Walter B. Jones (D-N.C.), chairman of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, said that the proposed 17-member National Oceans Policy Commission is based on the Stratton Commission of the 1960s, which led to the establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The panel will focus on developing and preserving coastal resources with limited federal funding and the expanding role of states in governing and managing their coastal areas.