556 



II. Global Responsibilities 

 A. Legal Issues 



In addition to multilateral arrangements, sub-seabed disposal must 

 be evaluated from the perspective of the general international institutional 

 framework which is evolving both with respect to environmental matters in 

 general and specifically the new provisions on marine pollution and the 



regime of the seabed being developed by the Third United Nations Conference 



47 

 on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) . In terms of general environmental 



obligations, there are now no clear standards of a substantive or proce- 

 dural nature to guide States. Commentators have nevertheless noticed a 

 trend toward a "shared resource/common heritage" approach in which States 

 would be obliged to undertake certain procedures before commencing activi- 

 ties that would be likely to cause severe environmental problems outside 

 national jurisdiction and also to ensure that their activities do not 



cause significant harm to the environment or interfere with the equitable 



48 

 interests of other States. Conceptually speaking, these procedural and 



substantive duties are primary rules of obligation which impose require- 

 ments on the conduct of Stages, regardless of the difficulty of ascribing 



49 

 these rules a definite content at the present time. For example, recent 



work on the allocation of shared resources {in this case, international 



rivers) emphasizes the importance of prior notification of actions likely 



to affect the interests of other States, environmental assessment, and . 



the need to consult with a view toward an equitable solution of resource 



conflicts. Similarly, decisions of the OECD Council have recommended 



both substantive and procedural standards for proposed actions which could 



, .. 51 



have a transfrontier environmental effect. 



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