This model statute sets out a mechanism for the management of the coastal zone by the coastal states. It provides a possible state response to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. The authors recognize that most states presently have some form of management or legal control over their coastal zone, and the model statute has been written with the intention that all or parts of it could be adapted to the wide variety of state regulatory schemes with the aim of providing unitary management to the valuable resource of the coastal zone.