35 



Is there going to be any kind of impact here? Do we have to 

 amend this treaty? Have you worked around that problem? Is it not 

 a problem? 



Ms. Fuller. I'm not familiar with the particular testimony in the 

 past, but what this legislation does is to put in place the high 

 standards that are established in the Protocol and its annexes, and 

 so from our perspective, both the environmental impact processes 

 and the standards that are set for waste disposal, for species pro- 

 tection and so forth are very high and adequate. 



Dr. RUTFORD. I would just comment that the batteries on the bal- 

 loons are not a problem with regard to the Protocol. 



Mr. ROEMER. Has it changed the way you dispose of those bat- 

 teries at all? 



Dr. RuTFORD. Well, I think that on the ice, if I'm not mistaken, 

 you chase them down. 



Mr. ROEMER. Can you find them all? 



Dr. RuTFORD. Well, I think they are finding a very high percent- 

 age of them and picking them up with helicopters if they are close 

 enough to the station, to McMurdo or with C130 if they^re a ways 

 away. But I know when I was there last January, they picked up 

 at least two, one long, long helicopter flight out to pick it up. 



What it has done is increase the sensitivity and it's been done 

 in a very deliberate and a very successful way. 



Mr. ROEMER. Ms. Fuller, in your testimony, you say that indeed 

 this Protocol could encourage more cooperative science programs 

 and reduce the need for multiple facilities. 



Could you explain a little bit more about how that cooperative 

 science could benefit us as well? 



Ms. Fuller. Well earlier, there was a question about how many 

 countries are directly engaged in the science and some reference to 

 the expense associated with scientific research in the region. 



Any strong international agreement of this sort I think, in and 

 of itself, fosters the kinds of linkages that produce joint efforts to 

 do research. 



And so if you have all 26 nations having agreed and ratified this 

 legislation, part of a process of meetings and implementation, then 

 that does foster joint efforts in research and management. 



Mr. RoEMER. Dr. Rutford, my final question would be, from the 

 briefings I've received on this, the implementation of this Protocol 

 will not cost the NSF or the U.S. taxpayer any additional money 

 whatsoever. 



First of all, is that true? 



And secondly, is that true for other countries to implement this, 

 such as Russia? 



Dr. RuTFORD. I think that because the National Science Founda- 

 tion, in anticipation of the eventual implementation of the Protocol, 

 has already begun the process that a lot of the adjustments that 

 are necessary have taken place. 



And so from my point of view, the impact on science or the cost 

 to science is pretty much transparent. 



Now what happens at McMurdo in terms of sorting and that sort 

 of thing, certainly there's an increased cost, but that's been offset 

 by other efficiencies. So that you know the bottom line is the same. 



