1998 Year of the Ocean Perspectives on Marine Environmental Quality 



programs, and new scientific research into disease causing microorganisms under the BEACH 

 Program, will help all beachgoers enjoy a happier, healthier time at the ocean. 

 Uniform National Discharge Standards 



EPA has established a successful partnership with the Department of Defense to develop 

 Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS) for liquid discharges from armed forces vessels. 

 Currently, vessel discharges are regulated throughout the country under varying state water 

 quality standards. These regulations will enable the Armed Forces to design vessels to one 

 protective uniform standard, instead of attempting to conform to a diverse array of state 

 standards. 



The aim of the UNDS regulations is three-fold. First, uniform, environmentally protective 

 standards will enhance the operational flexibility of Armed Forces vessels. Second, the Navy has 

 an extensive research and development program aimed at constructing environmentally sound 

 ships for the 21st century; the UNDS development process will stimulate irmovative pollution 

 prevention and control technologies that will help the Navy achieve this goal. Third, most of the 

 innovative pollution prevention technologies developed for UNDS eventually will be available 

 for transfer to the private sector. 



Accidental Spills 



The Oil Pollution Act has led to increased post-spill monitoring and improved restoration 

 of affected habitats by facilitating recovery of damages by state and federal natural resource 

 trustees from responsible parties. Money recovered by trustee agencies goes directly to restoring 

 the resource or acquiring the equivalent resource on behalf of the public. Improvements in 

 understanding how and when to use physical, chemical, and biological treatment of oil have 

 helped to minimize the environmental damage caused by large oil spills. Improved response time 

 to spills and technological advances have increased the opportunities for response agencies to 

 limit the injury to marine resources. However, despite significantly reducing the risk, large-scale 

 releases of oil continue to occur in the marine environment. There is an ongoing need to support 

 research and development, and the training required to respond to oil spills. In addition, there is a 

 recognized need to share technical capabilities with the international community through 

 govemment-to-government requests or through the International Maritime Organization. 



Research Programs 



While progress is being made in identifying solutions to the complex problems 

 confronting coastal waters, further progress requires fundamental research in a number of areas 

 to address threats such as widespread over-enrichment and habitat degradation. Presently, 

 research programs concerned with coastal systems and related processes/effects/controls are not 

 guided by a comprehensive national framework. Such a framework could assess scientific 

 priorities related to the most serious problems and optimize cooperation and coordination among 

 federal agencies, states, local communities, and the academic community. Although significant 

 advances in the scientific understanding of coastal ecosystems has been generated from 



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