186 



resources for this environmental goal as opposed to other 

 environmental programs of great importance, such as hazardous 

 waste cleanup. 



A third and related observation is that legal and institutional 

 restraints could cause some misallocation of effort in dealing with 

 Bight pollution problems. The City has been applying its resources 

 to those solutions which we feel will result in the greatest 

 environmental benefit, within the legal restraints of the various 

 Federal statutes, and within the limits of our jurisdictional 

 authority and responsibilities. First and foremost, we are in the 

 process of constructing our North River and Red Hook sewage treat- 

 ment plants to eliminate the discharge of raw sewage. We will 

 continue to make improvements in our existing treatment plants. 

 We have established an industrial pretreatment program and we have 

 been working on plans for abating our stormwater runoff problems. 

 We have made substantial progress over the last ten years. But 

 restoration of the Bight is a massive undertaking that will require 

 the strict control of hundreds of pollutant sources on a regional 

 basis. It will require a carefully studied regional waste management 

 strategy that will result in the greatest environmental benefit 

 given the available local, regional, and Federal resources and 

 legal authorities. 



Ultimately, such a plan may lead to a rethinking .of the 

 fragmented coverage of Federal environmental statutes. Over the 

 last ten years Congress has put in place the basic outlines of 

 a Federal program to manage our society's wastes. Congress has 

 systematically called for cleanup and protection of our air, our 

 inland and coastal waters, our oceans, our active landfills, and 



Page 10 



