CHAPTER IV 



PROTECTING THE QUALITY OF THE 

 MARINE ENVIRONMENT 



Pollution of the marine environment can occur anywhere in the 

 ocean, but is is most pervasive in coastal waters. Municipal and in- 

 dustrial wastes are discharged or dumped directly into coastal waters or 

 reach them from discharge points in rivers and streams. Accidental oil 

 spills in shipping lanes and harbors threaten coastal water quality. 

 Offshore oil development operations compound this threat, especially as 

 oil production is extended to new areas on the Outer Continental Shelf 

 (OCS). The potential for damage to the marine environment, however, 

 has been reduced by a number of Federal programs designed to control 

 the introduction of pollutants into marine waters. Both the Environmen- 

 tal Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have 

 issued regulations to reduce the likelihood of oil discharges into coastal 

 waters. EPA also regulates ocean dumping and discharges from point 

 sources of industrial, municipal, and other wastes. 



These regulatory programs are supplemented by surveillance infor- 

 mation produced by environmental quality assessment studies and by 

 the development of technology to prevent, detect, and remove pollution. 



POLLUTION SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL 



Since the late 1960's, incidents of oil pollution have engendered a 

 growing public awareness of the hazards posed by large oil slicks to 

 beaches and shorelines, and sea birds and other marine life. In 1972, the 

 USCG was charged, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

 (I-'WPCA), as amended, with the responsibility for issuing and enforcing 

 regulations for the prevention of oil discharges by vessels and transpor- 

 tation facilities, such as those for the transfer of oil. The act also author- 

 izes USCG activities to control and, if possible, remove oil pollutants and 

 other hazardous substances discharged into the marine environment. To 

 carry out this mission, USCG has become deeply involved in the 

 development of pollution spill detection, identification, measurement 



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