8 
It is not clear whether it was intended that the standard setting authority 
which would be vested in the Secretary of the Interior under these bills be 
transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency when Reorganization Plan 
No. 3 of 1970 becomes effective. To the extent that the functions would not be 
transferred, the enactment of the bills in their present form would result in a 
confusing and burdensome system of dual regulation as between EPA, exercising 
the present functions of the Secretary of the Interior relating to abatement and 
control of water pollution under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 
the functions of the AEC relating to standards for radioactivity in the environ- 
ment under the Atomic Energy Act, on the one hand, and the Secretary of the 
Interior exercising the authority granted him under these bills on the other hand. 
In summary, we believe that enactment of these bills would be unnecessary and 
premature. 
The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection to 
the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration’s 
program. 
Cordially, 
GLENN T. SEaBsoreG, Chairman. 
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, 
Washington, D.C., July 27, 1970. 
Hon. EDWARD A. GARMATZ, 
Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representa- 
tives, Washington, D.C. 
Dear Mr. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request for the views of the 
Secretary of Defense on H.R. 17603, 91st Congress, 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 submerged 
lands areas where the depositing of certain waste materials will be permitted, 
to authorize the establishment of standards with respect to such deposits, and 
for other purposes.” The Department of the Army has been assigned respon- 
sibility for reporting on this bill. 
This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Fish 
and Wildlife Service, to designate those portions of the navigable waters of the 
United States, waters over the Outer Continental Shelf, and the underlying lands, 
where he determines sewage, sludge, spoil, or other wastes can be safely dis- 
charged. In designating such areas, he would be directed to consider all ecological 
and environmental factors including the effect on the marine and wildlife ecology. 
No designation could be made of a discharge area until two years after enact- 
ment. In this two-year period the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with 
the Secretary of the Army, would make a study of potential discharge areas and 
identify those most suitable for discharge operations. 
Discharges of wastes in designated areas would be subject to standards estab- 
lished by the Secretary of the Interior, to insure against pollution and damage 
to wildlife resources. The standards established would apply to the departments 
and agencies of the United States and the States. 
The bill would also terminate all permits for discharge of wastes upon desig- 
nation of discharge areas, to the extent that the permits authorize activities pro- 
hibited by the Act, and provide that no such permits could be issued in the 
future. 
The President, on April 15 of this year sent a message to the Congress an- 
nouncing proposed legislation which would stop the dumping of polluted dredge 
spoil into the Great Lakes and authorize the Secretary of the Army, acting 
through the Chief of Engineers, to extend to all navigable and allied waters a 
program of research, study and experimentation related to dredge spoil. In this 
message he noted that while this legislation represented a major step forward 
in cleaning up the Great Lakes, it also underlined the need to begin the task of 
dealing with the broader problem of dumping in the oceans. 
We are only beginning to find out the ecological effects of ocean dumping and 
current disposal technology is not adequate to handle wastes of the volume now 
being produced. Comprehensive new approaches are necessary if we are to man- 
age this problem expeditiously and wisely. 
The President has directed the Chairman of the Council on Environmental 
Quality to work with the Departments of the Interior, the Army, other Federal 
agencies, and State and local governments on a comprehensive study of ocean 
