10 
or gas) cannot be safely discharged. No designation shall be made by the Secre- 
tary during the one year period beginning on the date of enactment of this sec- 
tion. 
It is unclear in H.R. 18454 whether inland navigable waters are covered by 
the standards. Also, it seems that the standards provided for in all three bills 
would apply only to the coastal waters of the United States. Dumping of waste 
in the waters of the benthic areas should also be regulated with respect to United 
States citizens or United States flag ships engaging in such activity. There is 
no reason why the risk of contaminating our ocean resources stops at the con- 
tinental shelf. 
In view of the responsibilities of the Federal Water Quality Administration 
in the Department of the Interior, and the transfer of this Administration and 
its function to the new Environmental Protection Agency, we question whether 
authority such as that proposed in all three bills should be tied specifically to the 
Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior. Such a provision 
might result in undesirable fragmentation of the Federal water pollution control 
program. 
These proposed bills cover only a small portion of the total solid waste load 
now finding its way into the marine environment. On October 7, the President sub- 
mitted to the Congress a study by the Council on Environmental Quality on 
the total problem of ocean dumping of waste materials. (See House Document No. 
91-3899). The President endorsed the Council’s recommendation for legislation to 
ban the unregulated dumping of all materials in the oceans and to prevent or 
rigorously limit the dumping of harmful materials. The President promised to 
submit legislation to the next Congress implementing the Council’s reeommenda- 
tions and calling for a system of permits by the Administrator of the Environ- 
tal Protection Agency for the transportation and dumping of all materials in the 
oceans and in the Great Lakes. In view of the comprehensive nature of the 
Council’s study and recommendations and of the legislation to be submitted by 
the Administration, we would recommend against further consideration of these 
bills. 
We are advised by the Office of Management and Budget that there is no 
objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Admin- 
istration’s program. 
Sincerely, 
ELLiot L. RicHarpson, Secretary. 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, 
Washington, D.C., July 24, 1970. 
Hon. Epwarp A. GARMATZ, 
Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, the House of Rep- 
resentatives, Washington, D.C. 
Dear Mr. CuairMANn: This responds to your request for the views of this De- 
partment on H.R. 15827, H.R. 15828, and H.R. 15829, identical bills ‘“‘To amend the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the Secretary of the Army 
to terminate certain licenses and permits relating to the disposition of waste ma- 
terials in the waters of the New York Bight, and for other purposes.” 
We recommend that consideration of the bills be deferred pending completion 
A ae study of ocean dumping being conducted by the Council on Environmental 
uality. 
The bills would amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to add 
a new title III requiring the Secretary of the Army to terminate within 30 days 
licenses and permits authorizing the discharge of sewage, sludge, spoil, or other 
waste into the New York Bight or any other waters within 25 miles of the Am- 
brose Lighthouse. The Chief of Engineers would be directed to make a 1-year 
study of the methods by which the waters covered by these bills might be re- 
stored and report the results to the Congress. 
We are aware of the dimensions of the pollution of the New York Bight. The 
tragic destruction of the marine environment in that area is the result of the 
short-sighted assumption that the ocean’s capacity to absorb and dissipate pollu- 
tants is endless. For many years, sludge produced by sewage treatment plants 
in the New York area has been disposed by dumping in the Bight. 
