Chapter IV — International 



In 1996 the Environmental Protection Agency 

 established an interagency working group to help 

 identify legal, policy, and practical matters meriting 

 consideration in the development of the regulations. 

 This group also reviewed and provided comments to 

 the agency on environmental impact assessments for 

 non-governmental activities planned to be carried out 

 in the Treaty Area during the 1997-1998 and 1998- 

 1999 austral summers. A member of the Marine 

 Mammal Commission's staff represented the Commis- 

 sion on this interagency working group. 



Recognizing that final regulations could not be 

 promulgated before the 1997-1998 Antarctic field 

 season, the Environmental Protection Agency pub- 

 lished interim final regulations in the Federal Register 

 on 30 April 1997. The final regulations were expect- 

 ed to be completed by October 1998. However, 

 representatives of the Antarctic tourist industry and 

 non-governmental envirorunental organizations with 

 related interests requested that promulgation of the 

 final rule be delayed for at least one year to assess 

 and determine how the interim rule should be revised 

 to best meet the intent of the Protocol and the U.S. 

 implementing legislation. The agency, in consultation 

 with the other involved federal agencies, determined 

 that the requested delay would be beneficial. On 15 

 April 1998 the agency published in the Federal 

 Register an amendment extending the interim regula- 

 tions through the 2000-2001 austral summer. 



Pursuant to the regulations, non-governmental 

 organizations planning activities in Antarctica during 

 the 1998-1999 austral summer prepared and provided 

 environmental assessments to the agency. The assess- 

 ments addressed the following activities; 



• ship-based tours planned to be conducted in the 

 Antarctic Peninsula, South Orkney, and South 

 Shetland Islands between November 1998 and 

 March 1999 (submitted jointly by Ambercrombie 

 & Kent/Explorer Shipping, Oak Brook, Illinois; 

 Clipper Cruise Lines, St. Louis, Missouri; Moun- 

 tain Travel-Sobek, El Cerreto, California; Quark 

 Expeditions, Darien, Connecticut; Society Expedi- 

 tions, Seattle, Washington; Special Expeditions, 

 Seattle, Washington; and Zegrahm Expeditions, 

 Seattle, Washington); 



• the 1998-1999 Antarctic cruise programs for the 

 Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov (submitted 

 by Quark Expeditions) and the M/V Marco Polo 

 (submitted by Orient Lines, Fort Lauderdale, 

 Florida); and 



• research planned to be carried out in 1998-1999 to 

 continue characterizing and monitoring selected 

 tourist sites in the Antarctic Peninsula (submitted 

 by Oceanites, Inc., Washington, D.C.). 



In 1999 the Commission will continue to work with 

 the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department 

 of State, the National Science Foundation, other 

 federal agencies, and affected non-governmental 

 organizations to facilitate implementation of the 

 provisions of the Protocol and the Antarctic Science, 

 Tourism, and Conservation Act regarding prior 

 assessment of the possible environmental impacts of 

 activities in Antarctica. 



The First Meeting of the Committee for Envi- 

 romnental Protection — As noted earlier, the Proto- 

 col on Environmental Protection provides for the 

 establishment of a group of scientific and technical 

 experts — the Committee for Environmental Protec- 

 tion — to provide advice to the Antarctic Treaty 

 Consultative Parties on measures necessary to effec- 

 tively implement the Protocol and its annexes. The 

 first meeting of the Committee was held in conjunc- 

 tion with the 22nd Antarctic Treaty Consultative 

 Meeting in Troms0, Norway, on 25 May-5 June 1998 

 (see the next section for information regarding the 

 Consultative Meeting). As its first order of business, 

 the Committee established rules of procedure and 

 elected a chair and two vice chairs. 



The Committee provided advice to the Treaty 

 Parties on a variety of issues, including submission of 

 documents for consideration, development of manage- 

 ment plans for Antarctic Specially Protected Areas, 

 the protected areas system, development of a State of 

 the Antarctic Environment Report, and future opera- 

 tion of the Committee. With respect to documents, 

 the Committee agreed that papers to be considered at 

 meetings should be forwarded to the host country at 

 least 75 days before the meeting and be translated and 

 circulated by the host country at least 60 days before 

 the meeting. It also agreed that papers should be sent 

 to the Committee Chairman at that time. 



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