355 



Under Public Law 566, watershed projects provide effective control 

 and stabilization of sediment source areas that could otherwise con- 

 tribute harmful deposits into estuarine areas. 



The Forest Service has Federal leadership in the forestry phases of 

 watershed protection. Twelve national forests, which involve lands that 

 drain directly into estuarine areas, have land management activities 

 that directly affect the estuarine resource. 



Research directed toward pesticide residues in silt and the use of 

 brackish water for irrigation will contribute to an increase in knowl- 

 edge of the estuaries, their uses, and problems. 



Here again is an example of programs directed toward land use and 

 the preservation of that land contributing also to the preservation of 

 the estuarine zone. In that they do so, the planning of such activities 

 should be related to any comprehensive estuarine management plan. 



Department of Healthy Education^ and Welfare 



The relationship of this Department to estuarine zones and manage- 

 ment includes its concern about the fitness or suitability of these areas 

 for human use and the resulting impact on human health and well- 

 being. The Public Health Service of the Department has jurisdiction 

 over its estuarine-related activities through the Consumer Protection 

 and Environmental Health Service ; namely, the pesticides and shell- 

 fish sanitation programs of the Food and Drug Administration and the 

 Bureaus of Solid Waste Management, Water Hygiene, and Radiologi- 

 cal Health of the Environmental Control Administration. 



Food and Drug Administration activities include the evaluation of 

 food additives and pesticides in seafoods, conducting studies on flora 

 and fauna of certain estuaries, the development of fish protein concen- 

 trate, ecological studies of Clostridia (botulism), toxicity, and carcino- 

 genicity of smoked fish, salmonella in fishery products, virus in marine 

 foods, and toxicological screening. The Food and Drug Administration 

 is also responsible for administering the national shellfish sanitation 

 program, which is primarily concerned with the sanitary production 

 of safe shellfish from high quality estuarine waters. 



The Bureau of Water Hygiene conducts studies on health aspects 

 of the water quality of the marine environment as it relates to shellfish 

 production, recreation, and water resources planning. 



The Bureau of Radiological Health conducts projects on reactor 

 effluent radionuclides in marine ecosystems, radiological surveillance 

 of marine environments, and the passage of radioelements through 

 subtropical marine environment and biota. 



The Bureau of Solid Waste Management is surveying through con- 

 tract, the ocean disposal problem and expects to produce pollution 

 potential data. A research project in Boston, Mass., is studying the 

 effect upon the marine ecosystem of incinerator residue. 



