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posal of such wastes; we would be willing to join New York City and other munici- 
palities with which we are in litigation in seeking a solution which authorizes the 
continued dumping of sludge while data are developed to determine whether ocean 
disposal of municipal wastes may be authorized under Agency regulations; the ap- 
propriate method to implement such a solution is a consent judgment which re- 
stricts the ocean dumping of municipal wastes to the “106 mile ocean dump site,” is 
for a limited period of time, and contains schedules for development of additional 
data; the Agency believes that this is the appropriate resolution for all municipal- 
ities currently disposing of wastes at the “12 mile” site and which will not have 
ceased ocean dumping by December 31, 1981; and in the absence of an appropriate 
resolution, EPA will commence enforcement actions against municipalities which 
are ocean dumping wastes without an approved ocean dumping permit. 
Mr. D’Amours. You may proceed in whatever order you would 
like. 
STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN V. BYRNE, ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL 
OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
OF COMMERCE, ACCOMPANIED BY CAPT. LARRY SWANSON, 
NOAA OFFICE OF MARINE POLLUTION ASSESSMENT 
Dr. Byrne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am accompanied by 
Capt. Larry Swanson who heads the NOAA Office of Marine Pollu- 
tion Assessment. 
There is a statement which has been prepared which I would like 
to submit for the record. 
Mr. D’Amours. I appreciate that. Your testimony will be made a 
part of the record. 
[Statement of Dr. Byrne follows:] 
PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN V. BYRNE, ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL OCEANIC 
AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittees, I am pleased to be here today 
at this hearing on reauthorization of Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, 
and Sanctuaries Act. 
In my statement I will, as requested in the Chairman’s letter, review NOAA’s ac- 
tivities related to ocean pollution, including ocean disposal, during the period fiscal 
year 1980-82 and make an assessment as to how the proposed fiscal year 1983 
budget reductions will affect our ocean pollution research program. 
The overall NOAA program addressing ocean pollution is comprised of 16 differ- 
ent activities carried out by 9 major program elements in NOAA. The President’s 
fiscal year 1983 budget would allow us to continue with 12 activities with a total 
budget of $13.0 million. NOAA will defer a number of lower-priority projects and 
will address the highest priorities in the area of ocean pollution, including the prob- 
lem of ocean dumping. I shall address this point more fully later in my statement. 
RECENT FISCAL YEAR 1980-82 AND PLANNED FISCAL YEAR 1983 ACTIVITIES 
In response to the Subcommittee’s request for a description of NOAA’s fiscal year 
1980-82 activities pertaining to ocean disposal and marine pollution and planned ac- 
tivities in fiscal year 1983, I will first discuss Title II activities, which are the pri- 
mary concern of this reauthorization hearing, and then describe in brief form the 
other ocean pollution-related activities we carry out in response to other legislation. 
We recently prepared for internal purposes a descriptive summary of the NOAA 
ocean pollution program focussing on fiscal year 1981-82. I will be pleased to make 
that document available to the Subcommittees, if desired. 
TITLE II 
The Ocean Dumping Program was established by NOAA in 1976 to implement 
Section 201 of the Act. It is currently funded at $2,470,000 and its purpose is to in- 
crease understanding of the environmental consequences of ocean dumping and to 
transfer that understanding in useful forms to regulatory and resoruce managers at 
all levels of government. The program consists of investigations of specific wastes or 
specific dumpsites and a complementary laboratory research effort. 
