9 
dumping to be submitted to him by September 1, 1970. That study will recommend 
further research needs and appropriate legislation and administrative actions, 
and will include: 
Effects of ocean dumping on the environment, including rates of spread 
and decomposition of the waste materials, effects on animal and plant life, 
and long-term ecological impacts. 
Adequacy of all existing legislative authorities to control ocean dumping, 
with recommendations for changes where needed. 
Amounts and areas of dumping of toxic wastes and their effects on the 
marine environment. 
Availability of suitable sites for disposal on land. 
Alternative methods of disposal such as incineration and re-use. 
Ideas such as creation of artificial islands, incineration at sea, transport- 
ing material to fill in strip mines or to create artificial mountains, and 
baling wastes for possible safe disposal in the oceans. 
The institutional problems in controlling ocean dumping. 
We recommend that consideration of H.R. 17603 be deferred pending com- 
pletion of this study, which will include recommendations for legislation, where 
needed, to control ocean dumping. 
The Office of Management and Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the 
Administration’s program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report 
for the consideration of the Committee. 
Sincerely, 
STANLEY R. Resor, 
Secretary of the Army. 
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, 
Washington, D.C., November 23, 1970. 
Hon. Epwarp A. GARMATZ 
Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representa- 
tives, Washington, D.C. 
Dear Mr. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request of July 15, 1970, for 
a report on H.R. 17608, a bill “To amend the Fish and Wildlife Coordination 
Act to provide additional protection to marine and wildlife ecology by requiring 
the designation of certain water and surmerged land areas where the depositing 
of certain waste material will be permitted, to authorize the establishment of 
standards with respect to such deposits, and for other purpose’; H.R. 18454, a 
bill “To amend the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to provide additional 
protection to marine and wildlife ecology by providing for the orderly regulation 
of dumping in the coastal waters of the United States’; and H.R. 19359, a bill 
“To amend the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to provide additional pro- 
tection to marine and wildlife ecology by requiring the designation of certain 
water and submerged land areas where the depositing of certain waste materials 
is prohibited, to require the establishment of standards with respect to such 
deposits in all other areas, and for other purposes.” 
H.R. 17603 would instruct the Secretary of the Interior to designate portions 
of the navigable waters of the United States and portions of the waters above 
the Outer Continental Shelf, including the submerged lands, where sewage, 
sludge, spoil, or other wastes can be safely discharged. The Secretary would 
make no such designation for at least two years during which the Department 
of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers would conduct a complete in- 
vestigation of suitable sites. 
H.R. 18454 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service and in consultation with the Chiefs of 
the Army Corps of Engineers, to establish standards which apply to “the deposit 
or discharge into the coastal waters of the United States of all industrial wastes, 
sludge, spoil, and all other materials that might be harmful to the wildlife or 
wildlife resources or to the ecology of these waters”. The standards would be to 
provide that no damage to the natural environment and ecology of the navigable 
waters of the United States will result from any such activity. 
H.R. 19359 would instruct the Secretary of the Interior to designate portions 
of the navigable waters of the United States and portions of the waters above 
the Outer Continental Shelf including the submerged lands where sewage, sludge, 
spoil, landfill, heated effluents, or any other waste or substance (solid, liquid, 
