5. RELATION BETWEEN LOCAL SHORT-TERM USES AND LONG-TERM PRODUCTIVITY OF 



THE ENVIRONMENT 



Both in the short and long terms, this proposed legislation would bring jurisdic- 

 !tions within the water quality management and planning process and is intended 

 to provide for the enhancement of water resources in those areas. 



6. IRREVERSIBLE AND IRRETRIEVABLE COMMITMENTS OP RESOURCES 



The proposed hill makes no commitments of natural resources. Rather than 

 committing resources, the proposal is intended to make high quality water re- 

 sources available in an area where they are presently suffering degradation. 



Proposed Marine Protection Act op 1971 Prepared in Compliance With Sec- 

 tion 102(2) (C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 

 91-190), February 8, 1971 



A. nature of the proposal 



The proposed legislation would regulate the dumping of material into the 

 oceans and coastal and other waters. It would bar the transportation of material 

 from the United States for dumping in the oceans, coastal waters, and the Great 

 Lakes and the actual dumping of material in our territorial waters or in the 

 Contiguous Zone, except as authorized by permits issued by the Administrator 

 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Administrator would es- 

 tablish and apply criteria for evaluating dumping applications, and in establish- 

 ing such criteria would consider specified environmental considerations. Addi- 

 tionally, the Administrator would be empowered to ban ocean dumping of cer- 

 tain materials and to designate recommended safe disposal sites. Transportation 

 for dumping or dumping without a permit or in violation of a permit would be 

 subject to civil and criminal penalties. The Coast Guard would perform surveil- 

 lance and other appropriate enforcement activity. 



B. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING AND HISTORY OF THE PROPOSAL 



The proposed legislation would implement the recommendations of the report 

 "Ocean Dumping — A National Policy." That report, requested by the President 

 in his April 15, 1970, message on waste disposal, was prepared by the Council on 

 Environmental Quality and made public by the President on October 7, 1970. The 

 Council was materially assisted in preparing the report by the members of a 

 Federal Task Force, established to provide guidance in formulating the rec- 

 ommended policy. Helpful assistance was also received from agencies and indi- 

 viduals in State and local government and from scientists and academicians, in- 

 cluding the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engi- 

 neering. 



C. ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES 



(1) The environmental impact of the proposed legislation 



(a) The proposed bill would establish for the first time a comprehensive, uni- 

 fied Federal regulatory scheme to meet the serious threat of pollution in the 

 oceans and similar waters. It would permit implementation of an anti-dumping 

 policy which has its focus on prevention of damage, and would allow action to be 

 taken before the problem of ocean dumping becomes acute. 



The Council report points out that there is a critical need for a national policy 

 on ocean dumping. Many of the wastes now being dumped are heavily concen- 

 trated and contain materials that have a number of adverse effects. Many are 

 toxic to human and marine life, deplete oxygen necessary to maintain the ma- 

 rine ecosystem, reduce populations of fish and other economic resources, and 

 damage aesthetic values. In some areas such as the New York Bight, the envi- 

 ronmental conditions created by ocean disposal of wastes are serious. 



The Council study indicates that the volume of waste materials dumped in the 

 ocean is growing rapidly. Because the capacity of land-based waste disposal sites 

 is becoming exhausted in some coastal cities, communities are looking to the 

 ocean as a dumping ground for their wastes. Faced with higher water quality 

 standards, industries may also look to the oceans for disposal. The result could 

 be a massive increase in the already growing level of ocean dumping. If this oc- 

 curs, environmental deterioration will become widespread. 



