funded report on domestic and international authorities 

 applicable to the problem of entanglement (see Bean, 1985 in 

 Appendix B) . Among other things, the report noted that the 

 Annex had not been ratified by the U.S. and recommended that 

 action be taken to do so. 



On 21 November 1985, the Commission participated in a 

 meeting convened by the U.S. Coast Guard to prepare for U.S. 

 participation in the 22nd Session of the International 

 Maritime Organization's Marine Environment Protection 

 Committee (MEPC) . This Committee is the international 

 organization responsible for implementing the MARPOL Conven- 

 tion. During the preparatory meeting, representatives of the 

 Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 

 tion, and the environmental community all urged that the U.S. 

 take immediate steps to ratify the Convention. In response, 

 it was agreed that following the 22nd Session of the MEPC, 

 which took place on 2-6 December 1985, Federal agencies would 

 meet to consider the appropriate course of action to seek 

 ratification. 



The follow-up meeting of Federal agencies was held on 

 14 January 1986. Representatives of the Commission, the 

 Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the 

 Department of Agriculture participated in the meeting and 

 reviewed the results of the 22nd MEPC meeting (see below) . 

 With respect to U.S. ratification of Annex V, the Commission 

 representative reaffirmed support for the action and this 

 position was shared by the representatives of the other 

 agencies. It was agreed that a summary position expressing 

 the agencies' collective support for this action would be 

 prepared and provided to the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

 for his approval and that, subject to his approval, a public 

 meeting of the Shipping Coordinating Committee would be 

 convened. This Committee is a chartered advisory committee 

 to the State Department established to solicit views from 

 non-governmental groups concerned with international issues 

 related to shipping and maritime activities. The Commandant 

 of the Coast Guard concurred with the recommended position of 

 the agency representatives, and a meeting of the Shipping 

 Coordinating Committee to consider the desirability of 

 ratifying MARPOL Annex V was scheduled for 2 July 1986. 



Prior to the meeting of the Committee and in further 

 support of Annex V, the Commission wrote to the State 

 Department on 5 June 1986. In its letter, the Commission 

 noted that the Annex had not yet been ratified by the U.S. 

 and that, while several countries already had deposited their 

 instruments of ratification, all criteria necessary to bring 

 it into force had not yet been met. The Commission stated 

 its view that implementation of Annex V would provide a 



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