266 
Mr. Chairman, it is hardly necessary for us to catalog the tons of 
waste material dumped into our national and international waterways. 
Oil, sewage, garbage, chemical effluents, heavy metals, radioactive 
wastes, trace elements, dry cleaning fluids, chemical warfare agents 
and irritants, detergents, and pesticides are just a portion of what man 
disposes of in the waters, seemingly without regard for, or knowledge 
of, the consequences. Study after study warns that we are systemat- 
ically destroying our water resources. The need for definitive action 
is well established. . 
Last year the Congress followed the lead of this subcommittee and 
the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in enacting the Na- 
tional Environmental Policy Act. The two proposals I have sponsored 
which are under consideration today would strengthen the position of 
the President’s Council on Environmental Quality in preventing the 
further use of our waterways for garbage disposal of all kinds and 
give the Council a clear mandate for a national reappraisal of public 
policy in this area. Each proposal is straight forward and I would like 
to briefly comment on the provisions. 
First, H.R. 18913 would prohibit the discharge into any of the 
navigable waters of the United States or into international waters of 
any military material without a certification by the Council on En- 
vironmental Quality approving such discharge. 
Military material includes any chemical, biological or radiological 
warfare agent, or any other material currently in our arsenal. 
Under existing law, as I understand it, the Department of Defense 
must seek the recommendations of the Council on its disposal plans. 
This is as it should be. My thinking, however, is that the Council 
should have final, unequivocal authority to approve or disapprove any 
disposal plan. The Council’s recommendatory authority should be re- 
placed with approval authority. 
Mr. Chairman, 74 of our colleagues in the House have agreed with 
this proposition and cosponsored legislation identical to H.R. 18913. 
I would like to insert at this point the identical bill numbers and co- 
Sponsors. 
(The list follows :) 
H.R. 18949 
Mr. Annunzio Mr. Hanley 
Mr. Ayres Mr. Helstoski 
Mr. Boland Mrs. May 
Mr. Brasco Mr. Michel 
Mr. Burke of Florida Mr. Moorhead 
Mr. Chappell Mr. Morse 
Mr. Donohue Mr. Ottinger 
Mr. Frelinghuysen Mr. Pepper 
Mr. Friedel Mr. Podell 
Mr. Fulton of Pennsylvania Mr. Tiernan 
Mr. Galifianakis Mr. Tunney 
Mr. Gibbons Mr. Zablocki 
H.R. 18965 
Mr. Fuqua Mr. Waldie 
Mr. Hanna Mr. Findley 
Mr. Kluczynski Mr. Biaggi 
Mr. Nix Mr. Hathaway | 
Mr. O’Neill of Massachusetts Mr. Hilberg 
Mr. Rodino Mr. McFall 
Mr. Rosenthal Mr. Brooks 
Mr. Roybal 
