In the future, I foresee more interest and attention being paid to the 

 total impact concept, especially with the realization that major oil spills 

 will be a problem for some time to come. Moreover, it is particularly pertinent 

 for damage assessment studies to be conducted to "get a handle" on the immediate, 

 as well as the long-term, impact (i.e., biomass contamination via hydrocarbon 

 incorporation and movement through the food web). 



I foresee a dichotomy of function among the agencies to allow each agency 

 to serve in its respective capacity as members of the response team. This 

 means that EPA biologists will be doing less with oiled waterfowl and will 

 be concentrating their talents and resources more on assessing the impact 

 to the total ecosystem, using techniques and response criteria that have been 

 developed for just such purposes. 



Nevertheless, it is imperative to maintain communication among the repre- 

 sentatives of the various agencies to insure that the information and advice 

 being given to the OSC is pertinent and meaningful. 



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