490 
But to our mind, that should be done and our agencies are not 
only prepared to do it, but prepared to share with the Federal Gov- 
ernment in doing so and that is one of our bedrocks. 
Although our statement does not talk about user fees since we 
have really addressed the subcommittee staff working draft that 
was circulated, may I say that we really are opposed to the notion 
of user fees. We were when it first appeared last year and we are 
now. There are two basic reasons that I think underlie that posi- 
tion. 
The first is that so far as we know there is no governmental 
action for which a fee is being charged. No Federal governmental 
body, the sewer agencies say, has facilities or other activities to 
prepare the ocean for sludge. Nobody has built any equipment 
there that has anything to do with the putting of sludge in the 
ocean. So it truly is not truly a user fee. It is a charge. It is an 
excise tax and in our judgment, one that has no legitimate basis. 
Second, all of these agencies are local government agencies. 
There is no profit. There are no beneficiaries who are going to, in a 
sense, have to be equalized. This burden will pass directly to the 
users of the service, the citizens and the taxpayers of the various 
agencies that are served. 
Insofar as the committee draft that has been circulated, the posi- 
tion of CCA, our conference, is that it is not a useful change at this 
time and in answer to the question that the chairman raised 
before, our group, if asked that question, would say we believe that 
the existing language is satisfactory and more, that it ought to be 
implemented. Our belief is, and one of the problems is that if you 
take a look at the language you will see that it was pretty well 
crafted and pretty well drafted and does the trick. 
We believe that it ought to be implemented and that no change 
is required at this point in time. 
That, I think, hits the high spots, Mr. Chairman. I might ask Dr. 
Segar if he would like to supplement or, if necessary, even correct 
what I have said. 
That then is our presentation, Mr. Chairman. 
[The statement of Mr. Harper follows:] 
