525 
ploitation on the shelf was fragmented among numerous agencies, 
such as the Ministry of Geology, the Ministry of Defense, the Commit- 
tee of State Security, the Hydrometeorological Service, and the Minis- 
tery of Fisheries.® With respect to legislation relating specifically to 
pollution control, Butler notes that a joint Government-Communist 
Party decree instructs ministeries and departments at all levels “to 
implement a vast range of environmental measures, including marine 
pollution. Presumably, disputes among state agencies in this area are 
handled by State Arbitrazh, a system of tribunals. These tribunals 
have ‘“‘issued instruction that financial claims linked with the rational 
use of natural resources are to be heard with full regard to the 
applicable conservation law as well as to the civil merits.” Butler 
also notes a February 1974 law which appears to put teeth into 
the Soviet effort to control pollution of internal sea and territorial 
waters ‘“‘as a consequence of navigation.” But this appears not to 
apply to land-based sources of pollution, and falls more into the 
category of laws and regulations designed to conform U.S.S.R. 
shipping and port procedures to national commitments to international 
oil pollution agreements. 
As noted in a previous study, the U.S.S.R. over the past decade 
or more has given increased attention to the protection of territorial 
waters and coastal regions.1! These measures included treatment plants 
in the principal river basins to reduce land-based pollution, rules and 
regulations relating to construction and operation of installations on 
the continental shelf, and programs relating to shipping and port 
operations. Most of the latter appear to be designed to conform 
U.S.S.R. shipping and port procedures to its commitments under the 
oil pollution conventions of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consulta- 
tive Agency.” 
There is little in the literature that suggests the existence of a 
comprehensive policy for the coastal environment. The reason for 
this may be found within the context of overall Soviet attitudes toward 
the environment, combined with some peculiarities of that govern- 
ment’s system of management. As to the former, the Soviet attitude 
is not markedly different from that demonstrated in most industrialized 
countries; the latter—the organization of government—provides oppor- 
tunities for the formulation and implementation of such a policy, 
as well as the downgrading of an effort, depending on priorities set 
by the government. 
Keith Bush, in a paper written in 1974, describes in considerable 
detail Soviet attitudes toward the environment in general, and from 
his observations, one may infer its position on its coastal zones." 
Several factors must be considered. Basic to understanding is the 
fact that economic growth has historically been a prime objective 
of Soviet policy, and, as Bush states it: 
® Butler, W. E. Soviet Continental Shelf and Anti-Pollution Legislation. International and Compara- 
tive Law Quarterly, Vol. 25, January 1975. 
10 Tbid. 
1 See: Soviet Marine Pollution Programs. In: 94th Cong., Ist. sess. Senate. Soviet Ocean Activities: 
A Preliminary Survey. Committee on Commerce—the National Ocean Policy Study. Washington, 
U.S. Govt. Print. Off. April 30, 1975. (Committee Print). 
12 Belichenko, Yu. P. et al. The protection of ocean waters against pollution. Rybnoye Khozyaystvo 
No. 12. (Moscow) 1973. (JPRS No. 61111); Translations of Environmental Quality No. 8. 
13 Bush, op. cit. 
