146 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



would set a basic level of secondary treatment as a national floor for 

 sewage and industrial waste treatment subject to the following im- 

 portant provisions : 



(a) Effective State and interstate agency enforcement of the na- 

 tional basic requirement; 



( b ) States or interstate agencies to require more sewage and waste 

 treatment where necessary; and to provide for States to allow a lesser 

 degree of sewage and waste treatment, where it can be demonstrated 

 that a lesser degree of treatment will suffice, for a specified and limited 

 time period subject to periodic review by the State; 



(c) State and interstate agencies to submit a new type of State 

 plan, under section 5 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

 which presently requires the submission of a plan, and which should 

 outline a practicable program including a timetable for meeting the 

 basic national sewage and waste treatment requirements; 



(d) The agency administering the Federal Water Pollution Con- 

 trol Act to continue the present practice of cooperating with the 

 States and interstate agencies in the development of an effective plan ; 



(e) Effective backup enforcement by the Federal Government to 

 assist State and interstate enforcement efforts. 



It should be clear from the foregoing that the idea of a national 

 policy establishing a minimum floor for sewage and waste treatment, 

 subject to the specified qualifications, is merely the extension of a 

 practice widely used and represents no major innovation. It would, 

 in fact, be closing a gap already initiated by the States for a majority 

 of the Nation's towns and cities. 



Finally, when we realize that secondary treatment represents the 

 practical upper limit for most communities and industries during the 

 next decade, the value of the use of a basic treatment requirement 

 or floor as a practical and relatively simple administration device 

 becomes increasingly evident. 



Questions will arise in connection with the effect of this suggestion 

 upon industry. Industrial wastes are not comparable in all respects 

 to municipal wastes. The variety and number of the components 

 of industrial waste make it impossible to relate secondary treatment 

 to all industrial wastes. This should not deter us from requesting 

 compliance with a minimum treatment floor for settieable solids 

 and organic, oxygen-consuming wastes. Specifications for the bal- 

 ance of industrial waste treatment will need to be worked out with 



