Chapter V — International 



group of experts — the Committee for Environmental 

 Protection — to provide advice on measures necessary 

 to effectively implement the various provisions of the 

 protocol. During the XVIIIth Consultative Meeting, 

 it was agreed that a transitional environmental work- 

 ing group would be established and that, at future 

 consultative meetings, this working group would 

 consider agenda items likely to be referred to the 

 Committee for Environmental Protection once the 

 protocol enters into force. 



The transitional environmental working group was 

 constituted and met during the first week of the XlXth 

 Consultative Meeting. It considered and provided 

 advice to the plenary on a variety of environment- 

 related issues, including implementation of environ- 

 mental impact assessment procedures, the environmen- 

 tal impacts of tourism and other non-governmental 

 activities, data and environmental monitoring require- 

 ments, and the Antarctic protected area system. A 

 member of the Marine Mammal Commission staff 

 participated in this working group. Actions taken by 

 the plenary on these issues are described below. 



During the discussion of environmental impact 

 assessment procedures, a number of delegations 

 indicated a belief that environmental impact assess- 

 ments required by Annex I should be subject to 

 review and approval by both the transitional environ- 

 mental working group and the Committee on Environ- 

 mental Protection to be established when the protocol 

 enters into force. The U.S. delegation noted that, 

 under the terms of the protocol, all parties are to be 

 given the opportunity to review and comment on draft 

 comprehensive environmental evaluations (CEEs), 

 which are comparable to environmental impact state- 

 ments prepared under the U.S. National Environmen- 

 tal Policy Act, but the decision to proceed or not is to 

 be made by the party or parties contemplating the 

 activity in question. Final CEEs would be subject to 

 review by the Committee on Environmental Protection 

 and Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings only if 

 one or more parties question whether their comments 

 on the draft had been addressed satisfactorily or 

 whether the activity in question is inconsistent with 

 the provisions of the protocol. 



Although the U.S. view prevailed, some parties 

 continued to believe that both initial and comprehen- 



sive environmental evaluations should be subject to 

 review and approval by the Committee on Environ- 

 mental Protection and, pending entry into force of the 

 protocol, the transitional environmental working 

 group. These parties likely will continue to advocate 

 this point of view. If they prevail, it would mean that 

 neither the United States nor any other Antarctic 

 Treaty Party could undertake activities that might have 

 more than a minor or transitory effect on the Antarctic 

 environment without the prior approval of all Antarc- 

 tic Treaty Consultative Parties. 



Liability for Damage to the Antarctic Environ- 

 ment — Article 16 of the Protocol on Environmental 

 Protection calls on the parties to elaborate rules and 

 procedures to determine liability for damage to the 

 Antarctic environment arising from activities in the 

 Antarctic Treaty area. Toward this end, a group of 

 legal experts met during the XlXth Consultative 

 Meeting to discuss possible provisions for the annex. 

 The group attempted to reach consensus on (1) what 

 should be viewed as damage to the Antarctic environ- 

 ment, (2) the types of damage for which parties 

 should be liable, (3) whether there should be any 

 defenses or limits to liability, and (4) the mechanisms 

 that might be used to determine damage and liability 

 for damage to the Antarctic environment. 



Although some progress was made, the group was 

 unable to reach consensus on all related issues. The 

 group met again in Brussels from 27 November to 1 

 December 1995. Again, while some progress was 

 made, the group was unable to reach consensus on all 

 related issues. The group will meet again during the 

 XXth Consultative Meeting, to be held in the Nether- 

 lands from 29 April to 10 May 1996. 



Tourism and Non-Governmental Activities — 



Until 1966 nearly all expeditions to the Antarctic were 

 for scientific purposes and either were organized or 

 had some measure of backing by one or more of the 

 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. In 1966 the 

 first commercially organized tourist expedition oc- 

 curred. Since then, there has been a steady increase 

 in tourism and other non-governmental activities (e.g., 

 yachting and mountain climbing). In recent years the 

 number of tourists and adventurers visiting Antarctica 

 has surpassed the number of scientists and support 

 personnel working there. 



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