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2 

 representatives from the Coast Guard, the Environmental 

 Protection Agency (EPA) , the Department of the Army (Corps of 

 Engineers) , the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of 

 State. The primary goal is to prevent the unintentional 

 introduction and spread of exotic species in U.S. waters and to 

 mitigate the impacts of those species that become established. 



The Act assigns a weighty responsibility to the Task Force and 

 NOAA is honored to have been named a co-chair. The Task Force 

 has moved forward to fulfil the mandates of the Act in an 

 approach that has proven to be not only fiscally responsible, but 

 creative as well. We are proud of our achievements to date. I 

 will begin by describing the Task Force's efforts related to 

 ballast water. 



As part of the National Ballast Water Control Program, the Task 

 Force is mandated to conduct Ballast Exchange and Biological 

 Studies. The Ballast Exchange Study is scheduled to begin in the 

 Spring of 1994 to assess the environmental effects of ballast 

 water exchange on the diversity and abundance of native species 

 in U.S. waters and to identify areas, if any, where exchange does 

 not pose a threat. The project is being initiated with funds 

 from EPA's Office of Research and Development and will be 

 conducted at and administered through NOAA's Great Lakes 

 Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) . Additional funds from 

 NOAA and the FWS should allow completion of the study no later 



