An Act to provide for a comprehensive, long-range, and coordinated national program in marine science, to establish a National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, and a Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources, and for other purposes
PL 89-454 (S.944), enacted 06/17/1966

80 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 89^54-JUNE 17, 1966 
203 
filing with the Governor of the State where the land is situated a 
notice of such relinquishment, which shall take effect upon acceptance 
thereof by the State in such manner as its laws may prescribe. 
Approved June 17, 1966. 
Public Law 89-453 
AN ACT 
June 17, 1966 
Amending sections 2 and 4 of the Act approved September 22, 1964 (78 Stat. 
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990), providing for an investigation and study to determine a site for tlie 
construction of a new sea level canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. 
Atlantic-Pacific 
Interoceanic Canal 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Repi'esentatives 
of the 
United States 
of America 
in Congress assembled^ That, the Act 
approved September 22, 1964 (78 Stat, 990), is hereby amended as stud'y cTmmis-
folloWS: 
^'punds 
(1) delete section 2 in its entirety and substitute the following 
therefor: 
"SEC. 2. (a) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act, the 
Commission may— 
" (1) utilize the facilities of any department, agency, or instru-
mentality of the executive branch of the United States Gov-
ernment ; 
"(2) employ services as authorized by section 15 of the Act 
of August 2, 1946 (5 U.S.C. 55a), at rates for individuals not in 
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excess of $100 per diem; 
"(b) The members of the Commission, including the Chairman, 
shall receive compensation at the rate of $100 per diem. The members 
of the Commission, including the Chairman, shall receive travel 
expenses as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 73b-2) for persons employed 7/°^^*^V/Q°^' 
intermittently." 
(2) The following is added after the word "appropriated" in 
section 4: ", without fiscal year limitation,". 
Approved June 17, 1966. 
Public Law 89-454 
AN ACT 
June 17, 1966 
To provide for a comprehensive, long-range, and coordinated national program 
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in marine science, to establish a National Council on Marine Resources and 
Engineering Development, and a Commission on Marine Science, Engineering 
and Resources, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted l)y the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemMed^ That this Act may 
Marine Re-
be cited as the "Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act gi'nJering'oevriop-
Of 1966". 
"^ent Act of 1966. 
DECLARATION OF POLICY AND OBJECTIVES 
75 Stat. 339. 
SEC. 2. (a) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United 
States to develop, encourage, and maintain a coordinated, compre-
hensive, and long-range national program in marine science for the 
benefit of mankind to assist in protection of health and property, 
enhancement of commerce, transportation, and national security, 
rehabilitation of our commercial fisheries, and increased utilization of 
these and other resources. 
204 
PUBLIC LAW 89.454-JUNE 17, 1966 
[80 STAT. 
(b) The marine science activities of the United States should be 
conducted so as to contribute to the following objectives: 
(1) The accelerated development of the resources of the marine 
environment. 
(2) The expansion of human knowledge of the marine 
environment. 
(3) The encouragement of private investment enterprise in 
exploration, technological development, marine commerce, and 
economic utilization of the resources of the marine environ-
ment. 
(4) The preservation of the role of the United States as a 
leader in marine science and resource development. 
(5) The advancement of education and training in marine 
science. 
(6) The development and improvement of the capabilities, 
performance, use, and efficiency of vehicles, equipment, and in-
struments for use in exploration, research, surveys, the recovery 
of resources, and the transmission of energy in the marine 
environment. 
(7) The effective utilization of the scientific and engineering 
resources of the Nation, with close cooperation among all inter-
ested agencies, public and private, in order to avoid unnecessary 
duplication of effort, facilities, and equipment, or waste. 
(8) The cooperation by the United States with other nations 
and groups of nations and international organizations in marine 
science activities when such cooperation is in the national interest. 
THE NATIONAL (X)UNCIL ON MARINE RESOURCES AND 
ENGINEERING 
DEVELOPMENT 
SEC. 3. (a) There is hereby established, in the Executive Office of 
the President, the National Council on Marine Resources and En-
gineering Development (hereinafter called the "Council") which 
shall be composed of— 
(1) The Vice President, who shall be Chairman of the Council, 
(2) The Secretary of State. 
^3) The Secretary of the Navy. 
(4) The Secretary of the Interior. 
(5) The Secretary of Commerce. 
(6) The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. 
(7) The Director of the National Science Foundation. 
(8) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. 
(9) The Secretary of the Treasury. 
(b) The President may name to the Council such other officers and 
officials as he deems advisable. 
(c) The President shall from time to time designate one of the 
members of the Council to preside over meetings of the Council during 
the absence, disability, or unavailability of the Chairman. 
(d) Each member of the Council, except those designated pursuant 
to subsection (b), may designate any officer of his department or 
agency appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate to serve 
on the Council as his alternate in his unavoidable absence. 
(e) The Council may employ a staff to be headed by a civilian execu-
tive secretary who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive 
compensation at a rate established by the President at not to exceed 
5\js*c*2 2n^ 
that of level I I of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule. 
The execu-
tive secretary, subject to the direction of the Council, is authorized to 
80 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 89-454-JUNE 17, 1966 
205 
appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel, including not 
more than seven persons who may be appointed without regard to civil 
service laws or the Classification Act of 1949 and compensated at not 
"u?c*io^^^ 
to exceed the highest rate of grade 18 of the General Schedule of the note. 
Classification Act of 1949, as amended, as may be necessary to perform 
^^^t, p. 28 8 
such duties as ma^ be prescribed by the President, 
(f) The provisions of this Act with respect to the Council shall 
expire one hundred and twenty days aft«r the submission of the final 
report of the Commission pursuant to section 5(h). 
RESPONSIBILITIES 
SEC. 4. (a) In conformity with the provisions of section 2 of this Act, 
it shall be the duty of the President with the advice and assistance of 
the Council to— 
(1) survey all significant marine science activities, including 
the policies, plans, programs, and accomplishments of all depart-
ments and agencies of the United States engaged in such activities; 
(2) develop a comprehensive program of marine science activ-
ities, including, but not limited to, exploration, description and 
prediction of the marine environment, exploitation and conser-
vation of the resources of the marine environment, marine en-
gineering, studies of air-sea interaction, transmission of energy, 
and communications, to be conducted by departments and agen-
cies of the United States, independently or in cooperation with 
such non-Federal organizations as States, institutions and in-
dustry ; 
(3) desi^ate and fix resj)onsibility for the conduct of the fore-
going marine science activities by departments and agencies of the 
United States; 
(4) insure cooperation and resolve differences arising among 
departments and agencies of the United States with respect to 
marine science activities under this Act, including differences as 
to whether a particular project is a marine science activity; 
(5) undertake a comprehensive study, by contract or other-
wise, of the legal problems arising out of the management, 
use, development, recovery, and control of the resources of the 
marine environment; 
(6) establish long-range studies of the potential benefits to 
the United States economy, security, health, and welfare to be 
gained from marine resources, engineering, and science, and the 
costs involved in obtaining such benefits; and 
(7) review annually all marine science activities conducted 
by departments and agencies of the United States in light of 
the policies, plans, programs, and priorities developed pursuant 
to this Act. 
(b) In the planning and conduct of a coordinated Federal pro-
gram tihe President and the Council shall utilize such staff, inter-
agency, and non-Government advisory arrangements as they may 
find necessary and appropriate and shall consult with departments 
and agencies concerned with marine science activities and solicit 
the views of non-Federal organizations and individuals with capa-
bilities in marine sciences. 
COMMISSION ON MARINE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND RESOURCES 
SEC. 5. (a) The President shall establish a Commission on Marine 
Science, Enginering, and Resources (in this Act referred to as the 
"Commission"). 
The Commission shall be composed of fifteen mem-
65-300 0-67—16 
206 
PUBLIC LAW 89-454-JUNE 17, 1966 
[80 STAT. 
bers appointed by the President, including individuals drawn from 
Federal and State governments, industry, universities, laboratories 
and other institutions engaged in marine scientific or technological 
pursuits, but not more than five members shall be from the Federal 
Government. 
In addition the Commission shall have four advisory 
members appointed by the President from among the Members of 
the Senate and the House of Representatives. 
Such advisory mem-
bers shall not participate, except in an advisory capacity, in the 
formulation of the findings and recommendations of the Commis-
sion. 
The President shall select a Chairman and Vice Chairman 
from among such fifteen members. 
The Vice Chairman shall act 
as Chairman in the latter's absence. 
(b) The Commission shall make a comprehensive investigation and 
study of all aspects of marine science in order to recommend an over-
all plan for an adequate national oceanographic program that will 
meet the present and future national needs. The Commission shall 
undertake a review of existing and planned marine science activities 
of the L^nited States in order to assess their adequacy in meeting the 
objectives set forth under section 2(b), including but not limited to 
the following: 
(1) Review the known and contemplated needs for natural 
resources from the marine environment to maintain our expand-
ing national economy. 
(2) Review the surveys, applied research programs, and ocean 
engineering projects required to obtain the needed resources from 
the marine environment. 
(3) Review the existing national research programs to insure 
realistic and adequate support for basic oceanographic research 
that will enhance human welfare and scientific knowledge. 
(4) Review the existing oceanographic and ocean engineering 
programs, including education and technical training, to deter-
mine which programs are required to advance our national 
oceanographic competence and stature and which are not ad-
equately supported. 
(5) Analyze the findings of the above reviews, including the 
economic factors involved, and recommend an adequate national 
marine science program that will meet the present and future 
national needs without unnecessary duplication of effort. 
(6) Recommend a Governmental organizational plan with esti-
mated cost. 
(c) Members of the Commission appointed from outside the Gov-
ernment shall each receive $100 per diem when engaged in the actual 
performance of duties of the Commission and reimbursement of travel 
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized in 
section 5 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946, as amended 
75^stfr339°34o 
(^ U.S.C. 73b-2), for persons employed intermittently. 
Members of 
the Commission appointed from within the Government shall serve 
without additional compensation to that received for their services to 
the Government but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including 
per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized in the Act of June 9, 
63 Stat. 166. 
1949, as amended (5 U.S.C. 835-842). 
(d) The Commission shall appoint and fix the compensation of 
such personnel as it deems advisable in accordance with the civil serv-
Tus'c^io^^''' 
^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^® Classification Act of 1949, as amended. 
In addition, 
note. 
the Commission may secure temporary and intermittent services to 
the same extent as is authorized for the departments by section 15 of 
5 use 55a. 
the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 810) but at rates 
not to exceed $100 per diem for individuals. 
80 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 89-454-JUNE 17, 1966 
207 
(e) The Chairman of the Commission shall be responsible for (1) 
the assignment of duties and responsibilities among such personnel 
and their continuing supervision, and (2) the use and expenditures of 
funds available to the Commission. 
In carrying out the provisions 
of this subsection, the Chairman shall be governed by the general 
policies of the Commission with respect to the work to be accomplished 
by it and the timing thereof. 
(f) Financial and administrative services (including those related 
to budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, personnel, and procure-
ment) may be provided the Commission by the General Services Ad-
ministration, for which payment shall be made in advance, or by reim-
bursement from funds of the Commission in such amounts as may be 
agreed upon by the Chairman of the Commission and the Adminis-
trator of General Services: Provided^ That the regulations of the Gen-
eral Services Administration for the collection of indebtedness of per-
sonnel resulting from erroneous payments (5 U.S.C. 46d) shall apply to 
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the collection of erroneous payments made to or on behalf of a Com-
mission employee, and regulations of said Administrator for the ad-
ministrative control of funds (31 U.S.C. 665(g)) shall apply to 
64 stat. 767. 
appropriations of the Commission: Arid provided further. That the 
(Commission shall not be required to prescribe such regulations. 
(g) The Commission is authorized to secure directly from any execu-
tive department, agency, or independent instrumentality of the Govern-
ment any information it deems necessary to carry out its functions 
under this Act; and each such department, agency, and instrumentality 
is authorized to cooj^erate with the Commission and, to the extent per-
mitted by law, to furnish such information to the Commission, upon 
request made by the Chairman. 
(h) The Commission shall submit to the President, via the Council, , Report to Presi-
and to the (Jongress not later than eighteen months after the establish-
ment of the Commission as provided in subsection (a) of this section, a 
final report of its findings and recommendations. The Commission 
shall cease to exist thirty days after it has submitted its final report. 
INTERNATIONAL 
COOPERATION 
SEC. 6. The Council, under the foreign policy guidance of the 
President and as he may I'equest, shall coordinate a program of inter-
national cooperation in work done pursuant to this Act, pursuant to 
agreements made by the President with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. 
REPORTS 
SEC. 7. (a) The President shall transmit to the Congress in 
January of each year a report, which shall include (1) a compre-
hensive description of the activities and the accomplishments of all 
agencies and departments of the United States in the field of marine 
science during the preceding fiscal year, and (2) an evaluation of 
such activities and accomplishments in terms of the objectives set 
forth pursuant to this Act. 
(b) Reports made under this section shall contain such recom-
mendations for legislation as the President may consider necessary 
or desirable for the attainment of the objectives of this Act, and shall 
contain an estimate of funding requirements of each agency and 
department of the United States for marine science activities during 
the succeeding fiscal year. 
dent and Congress. 
208 
PUBLIC LAW 89-455-JUNE 18, 1966 
[80 STAT. 
DEFINITIONS 
SEC. 8. For the purposes of this Act the term "marine science" 
shall be deemed to apply to oceanographic and scientific endeavors 
and disciplines, and engineering and technology in and with relation 
to the marine environment; and the term "marine environment" shall 
be deemed to include (a) the oceans, (b) the Continental Shelf of the 
United States, (c) the Great Lakes, (d) seabed and subsoil of the 
submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of the United States to the 
depth of two hundred meters, or beyond that limit, to where the 
depths of the superjacent waters admit of the exploitation of the 
natural resources of such areas, (e) the seabed and subsoil of similar 
submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of islands which comprise 
United States territory, and (f) the resources thereof. 
AUTHORIZATION 
SEC. 9. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act, but sums appropriated for 
any one fiscal year shall not exceed $1,500,000. 
Approved June 17, 1966. 
June 18, 1966 
[H. R. 11748] 
Public Law 89-455 
AN ACT 
To amend section 111 of title 38, United States Code, to authorize the prepay-
ment of certain expenses associated with the travel of veterans to or from a 
Veterans' Administration facility or other place, in connection with vocational 
rehabilitation or counseling, or for the purpose of examination, treatment, 
or care. 
Veterans. 
Travel allow-
ances. 
72 Stat. 1113. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatioes 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That subsection 
lll(b^ of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
"(b) Payment of the following expenses or allowances in connec-
tion with vocational rehabilitation, counseling, or upon termination 
of examination, treatment, or care, may be made before the completion 
of travel: 
"(1) the mileage allowance authorized by subsection 
(a) 
hereof; 
"(2) actual local travel expenses; 
"(3) the expense of hiring an automobile or ambulance, or the 
fee authorizecT for the services of a nonemployee attendant." 
Approved June 18, 1966. 
June 20, 1966 
[H. R. 706] 
Public Law 89-456 
AN ACT 
To amend the Railway Labor Act in order to provide for establishment of 
special adjustment boards upon the request either of representatives of 
employees or of carriers to resolve disputes otherwise referable to the 
National Railroad Adjustment Board, and to make all awards of such Board 
final. 
Railway labor. 
Special adjust-
ment boards. 
48 Stat. 1193. 
45 u s e 153. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That section 3, 
Second, of the Railway Labor Act is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following: 
"If written request is made upon any individual carrier by the rep-
resentative of any craft or class of employees of such carrier for the 
establishment of a special board of adjustment to resolve disputes 
otherwise referable to the Adjustment Board, or any dispute which