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more apparent under the Ocean Dumping Regulations , where the 

 key screening tests relate to the intrinsic toxicity and 

 bioaccumulation potential of ocean-dumped wastes , independent 

 of dumping location.) Similarly, the London Dumpina 

 Convention bars the dumping of wastes containing "Annex I" 

 constituents "as other than trace contciminants" — without 

 regard to dumping location. The LDC also specifies (in 

 Annex III (A) ) a number of factors to be employed in the 

 evaluation of materials proposed for ocean dumpina (even 

 where Annex I constituents are not present) that revolve 

 around the "characteristics and composition of the matter 

 [to be dumped] . " 



This is not, of course, to say that an otherwise 

 acceptable material might not be rendered unacceptable for 

 ocean dumping by virtue of a proposal to dump it in an 

 inappropriate location. It is simply to emphasize that the 

 threshold determinant is and must be the characteristics and 

 properties of the material itself. 



The relevant point is that a sewage sludge whose 

 properties made it unacceptable for ocean dumping at the 

 12-Mile Site (e.g., by virtue of flunking the toxicity tests 

 under the Ocean Dumping Criteria) would, as a rule, not 

 suddenly become acceptable for ocean dumping as a matter of 

 law simply by shifting the location of the dumping to another 

 ocean site. Consequently, our premise is that sewage sludge 

 to be considered for relocation to a deep ocean site must first 

 satisfy applicable screening tests and legal requirements. 



