130 



Ms. CoMPTON. Well, under section 403 of the Clean Water Act, 

 EPA or the State in some cases, the permitting authority has to 

 make an assessment of what adverse impacts would result from the 

 discharge of pollutants. In order to make that assessment we ask 

 the applicant for a permit, to supply us with data that will enable 

 us to make that assessment. So the burden really lies with industry 

 to give us enough data to show we should issue that company a 

 permit to allow them to discharge those pollutants. 



Mr. Breaux. You could only deny a permit if it is shown that 

 whatever is attempted to be permitted would, in fact, cause some 

 harm or potential harm to the environment? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Well, there are several criteria under section 403 

 of the act which we have to use in assessing whether there would 

 be harm or degradation of the waters as a result of the discharge. 



Mr. Breaux. There is no legislative problem in EPA obtaining 

 the information necessary to find out what chemicals or potential 

 toxics if any, would be contained in drilling fluids, is there? 



Ms. CoMPTON. No, there is not. There have been some comments 

 made with regard to the confidentiality of the contents of drilling 

 muds. However, we can obtain from industry the toxics that are in 

 the drilling muds and their concentrations. That which is propri- 

 etary is the percentage of elements that are in these particular 

 muds and there is no need for us to have that information. We do 

 have such authority under section 308 of the Clean Water Act to 

 obtain the data on drilling muds that we need to make a decision. 



Mr. Breaux. Do your biologists tell you that the percentages of 

 the various chemicals are necessary in order to make a determina- 

 tion whether it could be potentially harmful or not? 



Ms. CoMPTON. What is important is the concentration of the 

 toxics; for example, whether they are 10 milligrams per liter, of 

 whatever is discharged. 



Mr. Breaux. I see. So if you have the concentrations your scien- 

 tists tell you that is sufficient to make a projected decison on the 

 potential harm? 



Ms. CoMPTON. That is what I have been advised. 



Mr. Breaux. So it is clear from EPA's perspective that one of the 

 conditions prior to granting a permit for the discharge of anything 

 at an offshore drill site, that EPA has sufficient authority to re- 

 quire of the applicant to disclose to EPA the type of chemicals that 

 the permit would cover as well as the concentration of those chemi- 

 cals? 



Ms. CoMPTON. That is correct. 



Mr. Breaux. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I would like 

 if we could include for the record, it is just a page and a half letter 

 I referred to from Secretary Andrews with regard to the subjects 

 that I referred to. 



Mr. Studds. Without objection. 



[The information follows:] 



U.S. Department of the Interior, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Washington, D.C., August 19, 1980. 

 Hon. J. Bennett Johnston, 

 U.S. Senate, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dear Senator Johnston: I have reviewed the new amendment to S. 2119 regard- 

 ing the protection of fisheries on the Georges Bank which is now before the Senate 



