101 



holm, Sweden between June 5 and 16, 1972, over 2,000 delegates from 113 countries 

 discussed and agreed to 1U9 recommendations for international action and recom- 

 mended the creation of a United Nations Environmental Secretariat, a Governing 

 Council (which is now made up of 58 countries and is holding its first meeting this 

 week and next week at Geneva), and the establishment of a voluntary Fund on 

 the Environment. Several of the recommendations dealt with work in the marine 

 pollution control area and it is the considered position of this government that a 

 significant part of the United Nations Environment Fund should be devoted to 

 work in the marine area. 



The keystone activity from the United States' viewpoint of the United Nations 

 Fund on the Environment is the global pollutant monitoring aspect of the pro- 

 gram known as "Earthwatch". The oceans are a vital link in the chain of the 

 processes of life on this earth. The level and distribution of certain pollutants 

 and the rate of change of those levels and distributions are of particular sig- 

 nificance. Earthwatch includes a number of activities concerned with developing 

 data generating systems for ocean pollutants, such as GIPME, the Global In- 

 vestigation of Pollution in the Marine Environment, and IGOSS, the Integrated 

 Global Ocean Station System. I am happy to say that these programs and several 

 othei's are in various stages of early initiation. It will be a future task of the 

 United Nations Environment Secretariat to determine what programs are in 

 need of alteration or expansion, where new initiatives are needed to ensure cov- 

 erage of the most important aspects, and to what areas portions of the United 

 Nations Fund on the Environment should be applied to meet the princii)al ob- 

 jectives of Earthwatch. 



The specific recommendations for international action approved at Stockholm 

 concerning marine pollution urged : that attention be given to GIPME and IGOSS : 

 that the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) be strengthened: 

 that a series of statements or so called "principles" on marine pollution control 

 be considered by the International Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) 

 and by the Conference on the Law of the Sea ; that governments conclude the 

 draft Convention on Ocean Dumping participate fully in the implementation of 

 existing conventions (such as the various IMCO conventions) and of meetings 

 developing new coventions such as the 1973 IMCO convention and the Law of the 

 Sea ; and that a number of other efforts be made. For the Committee's use, I am 

 making availalile a copy of the recommendation of the Stockholm Conference 

 dealing with marine pollution. 



During the two years of intensive preparations for the Stockholm Conference, 

 a number of international meetings were held to develop materials for the June 

 1972 Conference. One of the major activities undertaken during this period was 

 the work of an Intergovernmental Working Group on Marine Pollution which met 

 at London during June 1917, at Ottawa during November 1971 and at Reykjavik 

 during April 1972. This Group spent a great deal of time developing the now com- 

 pleted Ocean Dumping Convention and significant attention to the other recom- 

 mendations on marine pollution that were considered at Stockholm. Although 

 we started in June 1971 with the idea that a completed convention on Ocean 

 Dumping could be made available for signature at the Stockholm Conference, the 

 nature of these early negotiations lead us to recommend at Stockholm that final 

 action be taken after Sto<'kholm and, through the generous offer of the Govern- 

 ment of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, to complete the text of the 

 treaty at a meeting at London held during the period October .30 to November 13. 

 1972. I would sincerely like to thank the committee for making a member of its 

 staff available as an advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the London meeting. It was 

 and has been very helpful to us. 



The text and history of the Ocean Dumping Convention has been documented 

 for the purpose of requesting the consent of the Senate to United States ratifica- 

 tion of the Convention.^ At the present time, 45 countries have signed the Con- 

 vention which has opened for signature on December 29, 1972 at the capitals of 

 the four depositary governments : London, IMexico City, Moscow and "Washington. 

 Our domestic ocean dumping legislation, PL 92-532, was signed into law in Oc- 

 tober 1972 and the text of the international convention on the same matter was 

 completed on November 13, 1972. Future hearings of this Subcommittee will 

 address the proposed legislation which will bring our domestic legislation com- 

 pletely into line with the scope of the international convention. This proposed 

 legislation, S. 1351, deals principally with extending the existing United States 

 regulations on ocean dumping to United States flagships anywhere in the world. 



1 ETfPCutive r. Spnatft Document, O.^rd Concress. 1st Session. ■Vfossns'P from the Prpsirlpnt 

 transmittinff the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes 

 and Other Matter. 



