472 



coastal Avaters. And finally, we believe it would be desirable to leave 

 the permit authority for disposal of dredging spoil within the U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers. 



Consequently, we urge that the bill be amended to exclude from its 

 coverage the deposit of dredging spoil in waters to which State or 

 Federal- State w^ater quality standards apply. 



The reasons for our position are that we believe that : 



( 1 ) Dredging spoil disposal is already adequately regulated by the 

 States and the Army Corps of Engineers. 



(2) Transferring the Federal permit authority for dredging spoil 

 disposal from the Corps of Engineers to the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency will increase the time involved in processing applications 

 for such permits, and thereby impede navigation channel projects. 



With respect to the adequacy of the present regulatory setup : 



(1) At the State level, deposit of dredging spoil requires compli- 

 ance with the water quality standards which have been established 

 by the States, or where a State has not established such standards, 

 compliance with standards established by the Enviromiiental Pro- 

 tection Agency. 



(2) At the Federal level, dumping of dredging spoil requires a 

 permit from the Corps of Engineers which, under current Federal 

 statutes and regulations, requires: 



(a) Certification that State water quality standards are complied 

 with. 



(b) Compliance with the Corps of Engineers "section 403*' criteria 

 regarding environmental and ecological efTects as required by : 



The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Acts, 16 U.S.C. 661 and 16 

 U.S.C. 742-A ; The National Environmental Policy Act, Public Law 

 91-90; The Water Quality Improvement Act, Public Law 91-224. 



The reason we fear delay in the processing of applications for per- 

 mits as a result of shifting the permit authority from the Corps of 

 Engineers to the Environmental Protection Agency is that the Corps 

 of Engineers is equipped for the job with personnel experienced in 

 this field and 40 district offices, whereas the Environmental Protection 

 Agency does not have a comparable staff and, as we understand 

 it, envisions only 10 field offices. We believe there is a significant ad- 

 vantage in the more decentralized organization of the Corps of En- 

 gineers which brings the application and permit process much closer 

 to the applicant. 



Since we are recommending changes in the bill involving dredging 

 spoil and the Corps of Engineers, we would like to offer some com- 

 ments on these two subjects. 



First, as to dredging spoil. This is not necessarily the ogre that 

 it is frequently considerecl to be, in spite of the unpleasant connota- 

 tion of the word "spoil." There is "good" spoil and "bad" spoil. Typical 

 of the former is natural uncontaminated bay or river bottom. Moving 

 it from one location on the bottom to another nearby location on the 

 bottom can hardly be considered as polluting the body of water 

 involved. 



