109 



enactment will help to curtail the use of our coastal waters for waste disposal 

 and contribute to the development of feasible land-based alternatives. 



The Office of Management and Budget has advised that this report is in accord 

 with the program of the President. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Hakeison Loesch, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Interior. 



U.S. Department of the Interior, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Washington, B.C., April 5, 1911. 

 Hon. Edward A. Garmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, Washington, B.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : We respond to your request of February 19 for comment 

 on H.R. 336 and H.R. 548, identical bills "To require the Council on Environ- 

 mental Quality to make a full and complete investigation and study of national 

 policy with respect to the discharging of material into the oceans." 



H.R. 336 and H.R. 548 would require that the Council on Environmental Qual- 

 ity make an investigation and study of national policy with respect to the dis- 

 charge of all materials into the territorial sea and contiguous zone of the United 

 States. Upon completion of its study, the Council would be required further to 

 report its findings, both to the President and the Congress, together with its rec- 

 ommendations for a national policy concerning such discharges. 



Commenting last year on similar legislation pending before the 91st Congress, 

 we noted that President Nixon had already directed the Council to conduct such 

 a comprehensive study of ocean dumping, and to recommend such action as may 

 be appropriate to the establishment of a national policy on ocean dumping. Those 

 recommendations of the Council, "Ocean Dumping — A National Policy," were 

 endorsed by the President and transmitted to the Congress on October 7, 1970 

 {Congressional Record, Oct. 7, 1970, p. H97S0 ; H. Doc. 91-399). Further, a legis- 

 lative proposal to implement the Council's recommendations, the "Marine Pro- 

 tection Act of 1971," has been submitted to the 92nd Congress by the Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency as part of the President's environmental program. 



Thus, while we feel there is no longer a need for enactment of H.R. 336 or 

 H.R. 548, we urge that your Committee give prompt and favorable consideration 

 to the "Marine Protection Act of 1971." We agree with EPA Administrator 

 Ruckelshaus that "this legislation would provide a comprehensive framework for 

 regulating the transportation and dumping of materials and forestalling pres- 

 sures to dispose of a vast new influx of wastes in the oceans, coastal waters and 

 the Great Lakes." 



The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection 

 to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's 

 program. 



Sincerely yours, 



Harrison Loesch, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Interior. 



U.S. Department of the Interior, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Washington, B.C., April 5, 1971. 

 Hon. Edward A. Garmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representa- 

 tives, Washington, B.C. 

 Dear Mr. Chairman : We respond to your recent requests for comment on 

 H.R. 337, H.R. 549, H.R. 4217 and H.R. 4584, similar bills that would require 

 certification either by the Council on Environmental Quality, the Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 

 tration prior to ocean disposal of military waste material. 



