225 



scription wliatever except as approved by the Administrator of the Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency. 



HR 807 is far more specific in its approach. It identifies the waters to he pro- 

 tected including the oceans, gulfs, bays, salt-water lagoons, and other coastal 

 waters where the tide ebbs and flows, the Great Lakes, and all waters in a zone 

 contiguous to the United States extending twelve miles seaward from the base- 

 line of the territorial seas as provided for in the Convention of the Territorial 

 Sea and Gontiguous Zone. 



Like HR 4218, this bill declares that the Administrator of the Environmental 

 Protection Agency shall be responsible for administering this act. The Admin- 

 istrator will, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior, and in consulta- 

 tion with the Secretary of the Army, establish standards for the deposit or dis- 

 charge of waste materials into the coastal waters of the United States. The kinds 

 of materials which will be regulated include dredge spoil, sewage sludge, indus- 

 trial wastes, building rubble, and all other materials which might be harmful 

 to the quality of the receiving waters or to its inhabitants. The purpose, of 

 course, of the standards program is to guarantee that disposal of waste materials 

 will cause no damage to the natural environment. 



In the administration of this act, the person seeking to discharge waste will 

 bear the burden of proof that his action will not violate the standards estab- 

 lished, and he must present evidence to this effect before any permit can be 

 granted. The Administrator may, at his discretion, include additional require- 

 ments that he feels are necessary for the orderly regulation of ocean dumping. 



These standards will be adopted and enforced by any arm of the Federal 

 and State Governments issuing any license, permit, or any other authorization 

 which regulates dumping into coastal waters. Further, these standards will be 

 applicable to all the departments, agencies and other instrumentalities of the 

 Federal Government, the various State governments involved, and to any person 

 operating under any kind of license or permit from any of these authorities. 



Unless the State standard is more stringent than the one established by the 

 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal standards 

 will apply in all coastal waters. The decision as to which standard applies in the 

 various State jurisdictions will be made by the Administrator. The actual legal 

 jurisdiction shall fall to the District courts of the United States. Violation of the 

 standards vsdll make a person liable to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 nor 

 less than $5,000. In the case of a continuing violation, each day counts as a sepa- 

 rate offense. 



Upon the effective date of this Act, all licenses, permits, and authorities which 

 have been issued under any other provision of law shall be terminated. 



Mr. Chairman, I feel that there is real need for the Congress of the United 

 States to enact strong legislation establishing a national policy on ocean dump- 

 ing and establishing an effective mechanism for regulating this common and 

 widespread method of waste disposal. There is no doubt of the destructiveness 

 of promiscuous ocean dumping. Within the last year, several excellent reports 

 have been released documenting the extent of environmental damage being 

 wrought. An example of the extent of this abuse may be inferred from just one 

 statistic taken from the report submitted to the Secretary of Interior on June 24, 

 1970, entitled : "Evaluation of Influence of Dumping in the New York Bight." On 

 page 26 of this report, the following statement is made : "During fiscal year 1968 

 disposal of materials in dumping grounds amounted to 17.110,144 cubic yards . . ." 

 For purpose of comparison, this volume is almost exactly four times that of 

 Hoover Dam on the Lower Colorado River. Bearing in mind that this is the 

 amount of material dumped into the New York Bight alone, it is disheartening 

 to note that the report on Ocean Dumping prepared by the Council on En- 

 vironmental Quality identified 246 dumping sites off the coasts of the United 

 States. And even at the present vast levels of dumping, the Council felt that 

 ocean dumping is not a serious nationwide problem now but could become one 

 within the next few years because of the rapid rate of increase in ocean dumping. 



I urge this Committee to move quickly in the direction of effective le.gislation 

 which will control this growing threat to the marine ecosystems of the United 

 States. It is imperative that legislation be enacted promptly which will provide 

 for strong and effective regulation of ocean dumping. 



Mr. Dtngell. Onr next witness will be the gentleman from Cali- 

 fornia, Hon . Don E d wards. 



