in fishery products and interacts closely with the continuing heavy metals 

 program of FDA. 



The EPA effort produced a comprehensive technical review and critical 

 appraisal of present techniques of water quality modeling as applied to 

 estuaries for pollution-control program planners and managers. Procedures 

 were developed to predict concentrations of wastes from outfalls in coastal 

 situations and also to assess the limitations and effects of such waste disposal 

 in coastal shelf waters. 



As part of EPA's toxicological effects studies, bioassays on shrimp were 

 conducted to determine the rates of absorption and effects of polychloro- 

 byphenyls (PCB) introduced in wastes, food, water, and sediments. Con- 

 centrations as low as 1 part per billion of PCBs were lethal to juvenile 

 shrimp over a period of 1 month, and concentrations of 5 parts per billion 

 were lethal in acute (short-term) tests. Other work sponsored by NSF, 

 primarily through IDOE, (see chapter VI) has shown that PCBs have 

 reached levels of physiological significance in many organisms of the North 

 Atlantic. 



In the Department of the Interior, USGS continued its collection and 

 analyses of data on dynamic processes and water quality in 40 estuarine 

 systems. The information derived from these studies is stored in the joint 

 USGS/EPA STORET (storage and retrieval) data management system for 

 use in local management decisions. The Department's Office of Water 

 Resources Research initiated several new investigations in its program to 

 determine the transport mechanisms and ecological effects of pollutants, 

 including heat and excess nutrients. 



The Corps of Engineers completed waste water studies for five metro- 

 politan areas — Chicago, 111., Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., San Fran- 

 cisco, Calif., and the Merrimack Basin. Follow-on studies with the assistance 

 of EPA and other agencies will develop alternative plans for efficient waste 

 water management systems that will substantially improve the quality of 

 the receiving waters and the environment in general. 



The Coast Guard started pilot studies in 1971 directed toward determining 

 the source and concentration of oily wastes on beaches. The first beach 

 being examined is Golden Beach, midway between Miami and Fort Lauder- 

 dale, Fla. This effort will provide a comparison with the study jjerf ormed 1 2 

 years earlier by the American Petroleum Institute. Studies of ofTshore con- 

 centrations of oily waste have also been initiated using specially developed 

 nets towed from Coast Guard ocean station vessels in transit and on station. 



In addition to these, substantial progress was made in regional cooperative 

 programs, and financial support was provided to environmental quality 

 studies by State governments under the NOAA-administered Federal Aid 

 Program. 



Regulatory Measures 



Pursuant to the Water Quality Act of 1965, each State, after full public 

 hearings, adopted water quality standards and submitted them to the Fed- 

 eral Government for approval. Once approved at the Federal level, water 

 quality standards become enforceable by the State and by EPA. The en- 

 forcement procedures, however, are time consuming. 



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