706 
permit and solicit public comment on the City's request to redesignate 
the 12-Mile site for sewage sludge disposal. EPA also will solicit 
public comment on designating the 106-Mile site for such disposal. 
Until EPA takes final action on the City's requests, the City will be 
allowed to continue to dump its sewage sludge at the 12-Mile site. 
One issue not considered by the Court is the impact of the Convention 
on the Prevention of Marine Pollution By Dumping of Wastes and Other 
Matter otherwise known as the London Ocean Dumping Convention (Convention). 
The Convention prohibits the dumping of wastes listed in Annex I such as 
organohalogens like PCBs, and mercury and requires the issuance of a 
special permit for the dumping of wastes listed in Annex II. A permit 
can be issued only after consideration of the factors listed in Annex III - 
which are similar to the MPRSA factors. EPA cannot issue a permit to 
allow the dumping of material found in Annex I unless such material is 
found as a trace contaminant or meets one of the other limited exceptions 
to this provision in the Convention. No balancing of factors for the 
dumping of these materials is permitted under the Convention. 
In summary, the 1981 dumping ban does not prohibit the dumping of 
all sewage sludge as this term is commonly defined. In determining 
whether sewage sludge can be dumped in the ocean, EPA must consider all 
relevant statutory factors and determine whether the dumping will 
unreasonably degrade the environment. Any dumping, however, must be 
consistent with the provisions of the Convention. 
4. DISCUSSION 
When open and unpriced access to common property resources is 
permitted, the tendency to overuse and degrade these resources by many 
institutions is common experience (Kamlet, 1981b). The waters, 
sediments, and fishes of the Bight although valuable, are not owned by 
anyone person or group and no single user has much incentive to protect 
these marine resources. Degradation of the marine environment of the 
New York Bight apex has led to a narrower range of available uses. For 
instance, shellfishing is prohibited in the inner Bight and beaches are 
continually fouled by objectionable, floatable wastes. 
