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 part of the site designation process. Under the federal consistency provisions of the 

 Coastal Zone Management Act, EPA also provides a consistency determination to 

 states with federally approved coastal management programs. In addition, further 

 opportunities for public involvement are provided through the notice and comment 

 rulemaking used to designate sites. 



Once a site has been designated, the placement of material at the site must be 

 properly managed and monitored in order to protect the marine environment. The 

 1992 WRDA amendments to the MPRSA placed increased emphasis on the 

 importance of site management and monitoring. WRDA requires that EPA and the 

 Corps develop long-term site management plans, with opportunity for public 

 comment. The statute provides that these management plans must be revised and 

 updated at periodic intervals. EPA already has developed site management and 

 monitoring plans for some of the sites it designated prior to the October 1992 

 enactment of WRDA, and will continue to develop such plans within its available 

 resources. In addition, EPA and the Corps have been developing new guidance for the 

 ocean dumping program to address technical and procedural aspects of site 

 designation, management, and monitoring. That document also will provide guidance 

 on the new site designation, management, and monitoring provisions contained in 

 WRDA. 



With this general overview of the ocean dumping regulatory regime, I would 

 now like to turn to the Subcommittee's request that I briefly address the current 



