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ocean disposable activities along with other waste disposal options, 
while at the same time protecting our marine resources from un- 
reasonable degradation. 
We support reauthorization of the act and see no need to sub- 
stantially amend the current statute beyond providing the Admin- 
istrator the discretion in adopting a financial management system 
to recover the program costs for ocean disposal which I will discuss 
in a few minutes. 
However, I would like to share with you for a moment the evalu- 
ation of the Agency’s ocean dumping program in terms of where 
we have been, our current status regarding what we know and do 
not know about the ocean in ocean disposal, and our future direc- 
tion. 
In the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the Nation and the Congress 
became increasingly aware and concerned that the quality of the 
environment was deteriorating. There was particular concern to 
adequately protect the marine ecosystems of which little was un- 
derstood. The ocean was perceived to be fragile, and, because of its 
vast size and mysterious complexity, the ocean was given special 
attention by Congress. 
In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act and the Marine 
Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act. These acts, among other 
things, sought to regulate the indiscriminate dumping and dis- 
charge of materials into marine waters. Both acts encouraged the 
removal of waste from the water, the recycle and reuse, and ulti- 
mate of disposal of sludges on land. 
In 1977, Congress amended the Marine Sanctuaries Act. The 
amendment placed a ban on dumping sewage sludge which would 
unreasonably degrade the marine environment. In 1980, that ban 
was extended to industrial waste, the dumping of which would un- 
reasonably degrade the ocean environment. 
EPA shares the concerns with Congress, and it has worked hard 
at getting municipal and industrial dumpers out of the ocean. 
From 1973 to 1980, over 300 applicants or permittees were either 
denied permits or had permits phased out of the ocean. 
Concurrent with our efforts at reducing the ocean dumping of in- 
dustrial and municipal wastes, there was a general agreement by 
scientists and policymakers that we could use the ocean as an ap- 
propriate site for disposal of most dredged material and inciner- 
ation of wastes. These activities were carried out with substantial 
studies and analyses by EPA, NOAA, the Coast Guard, the Mari- 
time Administration, and the Army Corps of Engineers. 
During this 10-year period, studies have also been conducted re- 
garding the ocean disposal of municipal and industrial wastes. 
These studies have been conducted by many organizations, includ- 
ing EPA, NOAA, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and the 
Scripps Institute of Oceanography, as well as Canadian and Euro- 
pean scientists. 
There has been an increase in knowledge concerning the capac- 
ity of the ocean to assimilate certain types of waste materials with- 
out becoming unreasonably degraded. In particular, a great deal 
has been learned about the impacts of municipal sludge composed 
primarily of domestic wastes as distinguished from sludges of a 
high industrial contribution. These studies indicate that the ocean 
