V-188 

 regulatory authority, this may be more apparent than realj for 

 it can compel a polluter to take corrective action only if its 

 order to that effect receives assent from a majority of the 

 commissioners from each member State. Thus, a decision by the 

 commission to order abatement of pollution, or to enforce com- 

 pliance with such an order, is really a decision by the State 

 in which the polluter is located, and the role of the interstate 

 commission can more properly be described as ministerial in 

 nature. 



Unlike the agencies already discussed, the Delaware River Basin 

 Commission is multipurpose in nature. Moreover, in developing a 

 more comprehensive approach to water resource management, it can 

 employ a broad range of authority, including regulation and 

 operation of its own facilities. It also can exercise regulatory 

 authority on the basis of a simple majority decision by its 

 commissioners. Federal membership in the commission also enables 

 it to coordinate Federal and State activities in the basin. To 

 date, however, its concern with the estuarine resources of the 

 basin appear to have been quite limited. It includes adoption of 

 water quality standards for the estuarine portion of the river, 

 the development of a 10-year fisheries research program, the 

 inclusion of certain estuarine resources under its comprehensive 

 development olan for the basin, and the preparation of plans for 

 a broad study of Delaware Bay, leading to the development of a 



