Ill 



in the contiguous zone may affect the territorial sea or territory of the United 

 States. Section 6 provides a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each 

 violation of the prohibition against unauthorized transport or disposal and 

 criminal sanctions for knovs-ing and willful violations. Surveillance would be 

 conducted by the Coast Guard, and legal action taken by the Attorney General 

 upon request of the Administrator. A thorough analysis of its draft bill was 

 transmitted to the Congress on February 10 by the Environmental Portection 

 Agency. 



As your Committee is aware this Department has frequently expressed its 

 opposition to the use of ocean waters for waste disposal. Implicit in our opposition; 

 to all ocean dumping, however, has been the recognition that feasible alternatives 

 are not always available. Our concern for the environmental effects of uncon- 

 trolled dumping led to recent studies of the New York Bight and i)articipation 

 in the review of ocean dumping generally which preceded the issuance on Octo- 

 ber 7, 1970 of "Ocean Dumping — A National Policy", a report prepared by the 

 Council on Environmental Quality. 



We participated, too, in the preparation and review of legislation to implement 

 the Council's recommendations. The bills now pending before your Committee, 

 H.R. 4247 and H.R. 4723, are the end result of close cooperation among those 

 several Federal agencies with responsibility for the protection, conservation and 

 management of our Nation's natural resources. The Department of the Interior 

 will provide whatever assistance it can to the Administrator of the Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency under section 5(a) of the Marine Protection Act of 

 1971. 



President Nixon noted in his environmental message of February 8 that 

 ocean disposal has a number of harmful effects, including destruction of marine 

 life, decreased abundance of fish and other economic resources, modification of 

 marine ecosystems, and impairment of aethetic values. We urge prompt enact- 

 ment of H.R. 4247 or H.R. 4723, as the President suggested, "to assure that our 

 oceans do not suffer the fate of so many of our inland waters, and to provide the 

 authority needed to protect our coastal waters, beaches, and estuaries". 



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

 with the program of the President. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Harrison Loesch, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Interior. 



Department of the Navy, 

 Office of Legislative Affairs, 

 Washington, D.C., April 21, 1911. 

 Hon. Edward A. Garmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : Your request for comment on H.R. 4359, a bill "To amend 

 the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 625), to protect the ecology of estuarine areas 

 by regulating dumping of waste materials, to authorize the establishment of a 

 system of marine sanctuaries, and for other purposes," has been assigned to this 

 Department by the Secretary of Defense for the preparation of a report expressing 

 the views of the Department of Defense. 



The purpose of the bill is to amend the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 625), to 

 provide for the protection of the ecology of estuarine areas by regulating the 

 dumping of waste materials, the authorization of the establishment of a system 

 of marine sanctuaries, and the implementation of these general goals. 



The Department of the Navy, on behalf of the Department of Defense, is 

 deeply concerned about the adverse ecological and environmental effects asso- 

 ciated with the discharge of wastes and other materials into the oceans, coastal, 

 and other waters. We are also concerned, however, that certain features of H.R. 

 4359 could unnecessarily prohibit some important activities not necessarily harm- 

 ful to the marine environment. We are especially concerned that the proposed 

 new section 7(c) (1) to the Act of August 3, 1968, as set forth in section 3 of 



