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For instance, in the case of the administration bill, H.R. 4723, no 

 dumping of waste materials in our coastal or Great Lakes waters 

 would t^ allowed without a permit from the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency, known as EPA. Many representatives of various port 

 authorities have personally come to me to express their fear over this 

 provision. They are convinced that, if this provision is enacted, it 

 would seriously delay the completion of many dredging projects — 

 such as port and harbor channels — which are vitally needed if these 

 ports are to survive in the fiercely competitive fight for cargo. 



In the past, dredging permits have been obtained from the Corps 

 of Engineers. The administration bill, however, would require the 

 corps to obtain a permit for any dredging in port and harbor areas 

 from the EPA. It is sincerely felt by many that such a requirement 

 would introduce a significant element of delay in processing applica- 

 tions, in gaining firm approval, and in actually completing the chan- 

 nel project. Such delays could be economically disastrous to many 

 American ports. It is also sincerely felt by many that the corps has 

 the expertise, the staff, and the total capability to justify that agency's 

 retention of authority for approving channel-dredging projects, and 

 that the EPA, a newly created agency, has neither the staff, the ex- 

 perience, nor the capability, to do the necessary research and admin- 

 istrative work needed for rapid approvals. 



We all realize the disposal of dredging spoil is a practice which can 

 be harmful to any marine ecology if the spoil is discharged indis- 

 criminately. There have been occasions in the past when the Corps 

 of Engineers has shown a lack of interest or indifference toward the 

 conservation of our great natural resources. But I have recently been 

 impressed with the fact that the corps has been converted to the cause 

 of conservation, and that it now seems dedicated as much to that cause 

 as it is to industrial development. 



I think that Chairman Dingell, who is a staunch conservationist, 

 has done more than his share to convert the Corps of Engineers and 

 T would be happy to hear his expert views upon what I considered to 

 be the corj^s" healthy and sensible approach to this problem by attempt- 

 ing to establish a balance between the need to promote industrial and 

 economic development and the need to protect and preserve our environ- 

 ment. 



Achieving that kind of balance may be difficult, but that is the kind 

 of balance I would like to see personified in the bill that ultimately 

 comes from this committee. I might say there is a precedent for such 

 an approach to this seeming dilemma. Public Law 90-454, which was 

 enacted August 3, 1968, and which calls for the protection of our 

 estuarine areas, says in part, and I quote : 



It is therefore the purpose of this Act to provide a means for considering the 

 need to protect, conserve and restore these estuaries in a manner that adequately 

 and reasonably maintains a balance between the the national need for such pro- 

 tection in the interest of conserving the natural resources and natural beauty 

 of the nation and the need to develop these estuaries to further the growth and 

 development of the nation. 



Mr. Chairman, I am proud to say that this act and this language 

 emanated from our Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Con- 

 servation, which held hearings on the original estuarine legislation and 



