364 



Subsection (b) provides that the : 



Secretary of the Army, acting through the Cliief of Engineers, shall establish; 

 the contained spoil disposal facilities authorized in subsection (a) at the earliest 

 practicable date, taking into consideration the views and recommendations of 

 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency as to those area* 

 which, in the Administrator's judgment, are most urgently in need of such facili- 

 ties and pu,rsuant to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 

 Act of 1969 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. 



In addition, subsection (i) of section 123 of the River and Harbor 

 Act of 1970 stipulates that : 



The Chief of Engineers, under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, is 

 hereby authorized to extend to all navigable waters, connecting channels, tribu- 

 tary streams, other waters of the United States and waters contiguous to the- 

 United States, a comprehensive program of research, study, and experimentation 

 relating to dredged spoil. This program shall be carried out in cooperation with 

 other Federal and State agencies, and shall include, but not be limited to, inves- 

 tigations on the characteristics of dredged spoil, and alternative methods of its 

 disposal. To the extent that such study shall include the effects of such dredge- 

 spoil on water quality, the facilities and personnel of the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency shall be utilized. 



Accordingly, in view of the above provisions of section 123 (i) of the 

 River and Harbor Act of 1970, and for reasons set forth in this state- 

 ment, the American Institute of Merchant Shipping strongly urges 

 that H.R. 4723 be amended to provide that the authority to issue per- 

 mits for the transportation and disposal of dredged material resulting 

 from waterway improvement projects shall be retained by the Secre- 

 tary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, taking into 

 consideration the views and recommendations of the Administrator 

 of the Environmental Protection Agency in respect to criteria and 

 guidelines to be followed in the selection of disposal areas. 



Legislation similar to that contained in section 123 (a) and (b) for 

 the Great Lakes should also be enacted to authorize the Secretary of 

 the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to construct, oper- 

 ate, and maintain contained land spoil disposal facilities on other 

 U.S. waterways, taking into consideration the views and recommenda- 

 tions of the EPA Administrator. 



Our proposal for retention of the permit authority in the Secretary 

 of the Army and Chief of Engineers is in accord with the delegation 

 of authority made by the President himself to the Secretary of the 

 Army in Executive Order 11574 issued under date of December 23, 

 and published in the Federal Register of December 25, 1970. 



Under the terms of this Executive order, the President specifically 

 delegated to the Secretary of the Army the authority to administer 

 the permit program under section 13 of the act of March 3, 1899^ 

 commonly known as the Refuse Act, 33 U.S.C. 407. Section 2(a) (1) 

 of the President's Executive order stipulates that the Secretary of the 

 Army: 



After consultation with the Administrator [of the EPA] respecting water 

 quality matters, issue and amend, as appropriate, regulations, procedures, and 

 instructions for receiving, processing, and evaluating applications for permits 

 pursuant to the authority of the Act. 



Paragraph (2) provides that the Secretary of the Army "shall be 

 responsible for gxanting, denying, conditioning, revoking, or suspend- 

 ing Refuse Act permits." 



