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locations, frequency, and similar variables. An understanding of steady-state condi- 
tions in an area subject to stress—gained through research—is also essential to be 
able to relate the importance of monitoring data. Only in this way may a detectable 
adverse effect be associated with its possible cause. 
Conversely, lack of a detectable increase in degradation may not mean that dump- 
ing is having little effect; natural variation in the environmental state of the area 
may be large enough to mask trends due to dumping. Monitoring alone, for exam- 
ple, might have led to the conclusion that the 1976 oxygen depletion (anoxia) inci- 
dent in the New York Bight was due to ocean dumping of sewage sludge, whereas 
prior and subsequent research was able to demonstrate convincingly that sewage 
sludge dumping played an insignificant role. In another case, we have learned 
through periodic monitoring that some species of fish in the New York Bight con- 
tain measurable amounts of PCBs, petroleum hydrocarbons, and other organic con- 
taminants. Yet this cannot be attributed to a specific waste source in the absence of 
complementary research. Monitoring may also reveal areas where additional re- 
search is required, and monitoring and research are thus coupled elements in pro- 
grams designed to determine the effects of ocean dumping. 
Question 4. Is the NOAA data collection program under the Ocean Dumping Act 
carried out solely for the purpose of determining the effects of ocean dumping or do 
you use the information for other purposes? 
Answer. NOAA collects and interprets data and conducts programs of monitoring 
and research under the Ocean Dumping Act to determine the effects of dumping, 
ascertain the possible long-term effects of pollution, overfishing, and man-induced 
changes on ocean ecosystems, gain important insights on oceanic processes affecting 
dumping, and scientifically assess the potential of ocean use in waste disposal issues. 
Question 5. Does NOAA conduct both research and monitoring pursuant to the 
Ocean Dumping Act? 
Answer. NOAA does conduct both research and monitoring under this Act. The 
answers to questions #1-4 address the nature of these efforts and why they are un- 
dertaken. NOAA’s annual reports to the Congress describe the individual efforts in 
more detail. Additional information on grants and contracts, dumpsites and/or geo- 
graphical area studied, institutions and laboratories with whom work is sponsored, 
costs, etc., can be provided. 
Question 6. What would be the ideal budget for an adequate monitoring program 
and what would be the objectives of such a program? 
Answer. Presumably, any ideal budget would be one that provided for all the nec- 
essary costs: ship time and use of other platforms, instrumentation, data processing 
and assessment, personnel, etc. Carrying this one step further, monitoring could be 
conducted in more than one geographic region simultaneously, and it would be nec- 
essary to structure complementary programs of research. Any realistic assessment 
of budgetary needs must, however, take into account a wide variety of factors; 
among these are program balance and policies to reduce the Federal budget deficit 
and spur economic growth and well-being. We believe that the President’s FY83 
budget provides for an adequate monitoring program, but that recovery of costs 
through an equitable system of user fees deserves serious consideration. The objec- 
tives of one NOAA monitoring program that we consider to be adequate (Northeast 
Monitoring Program, a joint effort by NOAA’s National Ocean Survey and National 
Marine Fisheries Service), are as follows: 
Determine or confirm the existing levels, trends, and variations of contaminants 
in water, sediments, and biota, and effects of these contaminants on living marine 
organisms. 
Establish and maintain an interactive archive of data resulting from other 
marine pollution monitoring programs in the Northeast and foster cooperation and 
coordination of estuarine/shelf environmental monitoring and research efforts off 
the Middle Atlantic and New England States. 
Summarize, in collaboration with other responsible agencies, information on pol- 
luntant inputs and effects to estuarine and coastal water. 
Provide data and relevant information, in a timely manner for planning and man- 
agement, to regulatory organizations and the general public. 
Determine the effects of major activities such as offshore oil exploration, drilling, 
and development; dumping; and toxic waste dischange on the coastal marine envi- 
ronment and its resources. 
Detect, and provide appropriate and early warnings of severe or irreversible 
changes in the coastal marine ecosystem and in its resources. This includes interac- 
tion with agencies responsible for coordination of both routine and crisis response 
activities (oil spills, harmful waste and toxic chemical discharge, etc.). 
