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Nowhere does the Act ban the ocean dumping of all municipal treatment 

 residues, only those which "unreasonably degrade." 



"Unreasonable degradation" is a term of art. How is the term 

 "unreasonably degrade" defined? EPA's ocean dumping regulations, 

 promulgated in January 1977, contains a conclusion that the dumping of any 

 material which passes the environmental impact criteria found at 40 CFR Part 

 227, Subpart B does not "unreasonably degrade." Judge Sofaer, as most of 

 you are aware, in the City of New York v. EPA , held that the Agency's 

 conclusive presumption that materials which fail the environmental impact 

 criteria will "unreasonably degrade" was arbitrary and capricious and not in 

 accord with the Act. While some members of Congress have objected to the 

 Agency's decision not to appeal Judge Sofaer's decision, to the best of our 

 knowledge, there has been no expressed disagreement in the assertion that 

 materials which pass the criteria can be ocean dumped, given a demonstrated 

 need and unavailability of environmentally sound alternatives. 



It is our best judgment that most, if not all, sludges presently ocean 

 dumped will be able to demonstrate compliance with EPA's 1977 environmental 

 impact criteria if dumped at an appropriate dump site. Because of the 

 significant volume of sludge dumping, the relative toxicity of the sludges 

 dumped, the limited size of the dump site, significant concern for 

 navigational hazards, and other technical reasons, it will not be possible 

 for all dumpers, or even a majority, to comply with EPA's environmental 

 impact criteria at the 12-Mile Site. However, it is expected that many of 



