475 



-12- 



Doinestically , the Ocean Dumping Act allows ocean placement 

 of low-level wastes upon issuance of a permit by the EPA (33 

 U.S.C. §1412). The EPA must, likewise, establish criteria for 

 permit review, considering certain statutory factors enumerated 

 in the Act. 

 B. Concerns and Recommendations 



EPA is currently developing regulations for issuance of 

 low-level dumping permits and expects that site selection, 

 packaging criteria and monitoring regulations will be completed 

 by 1985. EPA is also conducting a scientific investigation of 

 past U.S. dumping operations and of the effects of such dumping 

 on the marine environment. As discussed at the House hearings 

 concerning the effects of past dumping in the Farallon Islands 

 area, the general scientific assessment, although by no means 

 unanimous, was that no human health hazard currently exists. 

 Nonetheless, the entire range of scientific viewpoints represented 

 at the hearings concurred in the need for continued monitoring. 



Internationally, the U.S., under EPA's leadership, has been 

 an active participant in the consultative and intersessional 

 meetings of the London Dumping Convention. As the report of 

 the fifth consultative meeting, held in September 1980, demon- 

 strates, the U.S. continues to be the major force addressing 

 environmental concerns. In the past, the U.S. has succeeded in 

 incorporating into the LDC provisos a minimxim ocean disposal 

 depth of 4,000 meters for low-level radioactive waste, a 

 strenghened IAEA definition of blacklisted high-level wastes, 

 and requirements that an environmental assessment be made in 

 connection with proposed dumping operations. 



