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informal, cooperative association for the purpose of studying 

 the current state of Arctic contamination from all sources. The 

 Strategy identifies six pollution threats requiring urgent 

 attention, including radioactive substances, persistent organic 

 pollutants, oil, heavy metals, noise, and acidification and 

 there are four AEPS working groups addressing issues of 

 contamination. 



One of the principal working groups under the AEPS is the 

 Arctic Monitoring and Assesment Program (AMAP) . AMAP's first 

 report is due in late 1996 or 97. It will be a comprehensive 

 survey of the state of pollution in the Arctic, and will include 

 coverage of persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals and 

 radionuclides. NOAA is the agency responsible for coordination 

 of U.S. data input. The U.S. has also supplied funding for 

 general data compilation related to AMAP. 



Another important working group under AEPS is that on 

 Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) . PAME's 

 final report, including U.S. data coordinated by NOAA, is due in 

 March, 1996. The report is a survey of Arctic sources of Arctic 

 marine contamination and existing legal mechanisms to address 

 such contaminants. It is noteworthy that in both of these 

 international scientific working groups, Russian scientists have 

 been very forthcoming about their national problems. A third 

 AEPS working group is devoted to studying the need for Emergency 

 Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) . The U.S. Coast 

 Guard is playing a leading role in the development of this 

 group's report. The group has used the recent oil spill in the 

 Komi Republic of Russia as a real-life case study for 

 monitoring. The subsequent clean-up effort is being used as a 

 model for planning purposes. 



One aspect of Arctic pollution which will not be addressed 

 in detail in the AEPS reports is that of contaminants which 

 originate outside of the Arctic, but are transported there by 

 various means. The study of the transport mechanisms for 

 pollutants is an area which requires further study, as is the 

 impact of the pollutants on the plant, animal and human 

 inhabitants of the Arctic. 



Bilateral Efforts with Russia: 



There are a variety of bilateral channels through which we 

 seek to address issues of Arctic pollution, obviously most 

 importantly with Russia. Many of the specific initiatives of 

 this nature will be addressed by my fellow witnesses. I will 

 refer to several of those directly relevant to Arctic 

 contaminants . 



