710 
of waste disposal for many years, overall contaminant levels appear 
to be neither rising nor falling. Thus, even "poorly" dispersive 
sites may be able to dissipate large quantities of toxicants. It 
is also possible that an increasing trend in contaminant levels 
does exist, but has not yet been detected. 
5.3 Institutional Factors: 
Given the tendency for institutions to minimize waste manage- 
ment costs, additional incentives or penalties are necessary to 
achieve more equitable waste management strategies. Economists 
suggest that fees should be imposed on those who create external 
public costs. In this context, user fees have been proposed for 
the dumping sewage sludge which degrades public property. User 
fees could constitute a revolving fund used specifically to develop, 
update, and implement a strategy for the rational management of 
sewage Sludge. Fees would be in proportion to the degradation 
likely to be inflicted by the various sludges, and could be based 
upon the value of uses lost in the Bight. Fees should be less than 
the incremental costs of translocating sewage sludge dumping to the 
106-Mile site lest the fees encourage such movement. This approach 
would foster two separate mechanisms for resolving the sewage 
sludge issue: a desire on the part of individual dumpers to find a 
non-degradative solution to avoid the fee, and a fund with which to 
explore and implement innovative waste management strategies. 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
Issues of disposal of harmful sewage sludge should be resolved 
regionally; all available disposal options, such as atmospheric inciner- 
ation, land disposal, and ocean dumping, should be considered, including 
environmental, social, and economic factors involved. 
The Federal agencies should work with the regional, state, and 
municipal authorities to develop a regional waste disposal management 
strategy for the New York-New Jersey region. This strategy must consider 
