15 
RESPONSE TO COMMITTEE'S FORMAL QUESTIONS 
ConGRESSMAN D'‘AMoURS RAISED FIVE QUESTIONS THAT HE WANTED THE 
AGENCY TO RESPOND TO- THE QUESTIONS FOCUSED ON RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, 
THE WILDLIFE FEDERATION SUIT, COORDINATION EFFORTS AND ALTERNATIVE 
FUNDING MECHANISMS - 
IN THE COURSE OF MY TESTIMONY, I HAVE GENERALLY ADDRESSED OUR 
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES- THE FOLLOWING IS A MORE DETAILED ANSWER TO 
QUESTION 1 DESCRIBING OUR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND FUNDING LEVELS: 
QuesTION 1 on EPA's FY 80-82 MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 
PERTAINING TO OCEAN DUMPING AND DISPOSAL, MARINE WATER QUALITY, 
BIOMONITORING AND OTHER OCEAN POLLUTION PROGRAMS AND EXPECTED 
ACTIVITIES IN 85- 
Ocean DumMPING RESEARCH 
THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP HAZARD ASSESSMENT 
PROTOCOLS FOR THE OCEAN DUMPING OF WASTES- MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THIS 
EFFORT INCLUDE WASTE CHARACTERIZATION, EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND EFFECTS 
ASSESSMENT- THIS EFFORT IS JUST STARTING IN FY~82- 
A. WASTE CHARACTERIZATION 
THE FIRST STEP IN A HAZARD ASSESSMENT SCHEME FOR OCEAN DUMPING IS 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOCOLS FOR WASTE CHARACTERIZATION- JHIS 
CHARACTERIZATION WILL UTILIZE PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL 
SCREENING PROCEDURES- EMPHASIS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE DEVELOPMENT/ 
REVISION OF SHORT-TERM BIOLOGICAL SCREENING PROCEDURES- TIHIS RESEARCH 
WILL BUILD ON EXISTING PROTOCOLS CURRENTLY BEING USED IN THE OCEAN 
