382 



The problem is particularly acute when we look into the amount of 

 municipal and industrial wastes being dumped. 



The estuaries of this country are being fed approximately 30 billion 

 gallons of sewage and industrial waste every day. In the New York 

 City area, five of the 18 municipal systems are still pumping raw sew- 

 age into the heavily polluted waters. And, in Boston, five municipal 

 systems dump 400 million gallons a day of only primary-treated sew- 

 age into the harbor. 



The story is the same on the West Coast. In San Francisco Bay, for 

 example, about 700 million gallons a day of effluents are being poured 

 in — with about half of these wastes being treated at the primary level. 



The situation is intolerable now. But the October 1970, Council on 

 Environmental Quality report stated that we can expect an increase of 

 50 percent by the year 2000 in sewage sludge generated in the coastal 

 zone. 



With tougher water quality standards and coastal area industrializa- 

 tion, we can expect a massive increase in pressure for industrial dump- 

 ing at sea. Forty percent of the Nation's industry is in coastal regions 

 right now. 



We cannot duck this issue by omitting these effluents from the legis- 

 lation before us, as does the Garmatz bill. My bill covers all materials 

 harmful to the ecology of the waters. 



But we also cannot expect tlie cities and towns of this country to 

 build waste treatment facilities without additional Federal help. I 

 would, therefore, urge the committee to recommend greater Federal 

 aid to municipalities and industries for waste treatment. 



We cannot legislate standards that are impossible to attain, nor can 

 we be so remiss as to ignore the fact that these wastes are a major 

 source of our ocean's pollution. 



I therefore have two recommendations. First, it is my intention 

 shortl}^ to introduce legislation which will provide for 90 j>ercent Fed- 

 eral funding of municipal waste treatment plants, and which will also 

 provide advance funding for waste treatment planning grants. 



Many of our cities are on the verge of bankruptcy. They cannot af- 

 ford to pay 70 or 60, or even 50 percent of the cost of these treatment 

 facilities. They must receive our help. 



We supply a greater Federal share for urban renewal, mass transit, 

 solid waste disposal, and law enforcement assistance than we do for 

 municipal sewage treatment. 



^Vlien this Nation decided that it required coast-to-coast highways, 

 it did not expect the States or localities to bear the great portion of the 

 cost. Instead, we established a Federal Highway Trust Fund, with the 

 Federal Government putting up 90 percent of the cost. 



We are faced now with a need as great or greater than our need for 

 highways. Without clean water — and I include all inland waters as 

 well as our oceans — we cannot survive. It is time we squarely faced 

 that need and provided the funds required to build these municipal 

 waste treatment plants. Ninety percent is what is needed. 



Second, on January 22, 1971, I introduced the Industrial Wa.ter 

 Pollution Abatement Loan Act, H.R. 806. This bill, presently pending 

 before the Public Works Committee, would provide low-cost loans 

 to marginal industries to l^uild waste treatment facilities beyond their 

 financial abilities. The cost of building a treatment plant in compli- 



