343 



5. Agencies From Which Comments Hare Been Received. — Euvironmental Pro- 

 tection Agency, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Defense and 

 Transix)rtation. 



Appropriate agencies in the States of Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, 

 Hawaii, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas 

 and Virginia. 



6. Dates on Which Statement is Made Available. — This final impact statement 

 is being made available on this date to the Council on Environmental Quality in 

 accordance with the Council's Guidelines Concerning statements on proposed 

 federal actions affecting the environment. The document is also being made 

 available to the public through the auspices of the National Technical Informa- 

 tion Service, U.S. Department of Conuuerce, Springfield. Va. 22151. 



ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT 



/. Sum,mary 



This environmental impact statement, prepared in compliance with the 

 requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, deals with the 

 environmental imp.ict of tlie proposed ratification of the Convention on the 

 Prevention of Marine I'ollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter. The 

 text of this Convention was develoi)ed at an Intergovernmental Conference held 

 at London from October 30 to November 13, 1972 which was attended by 80 

 nations. The Convention was opened for signature on December 29, 1972 and 

 signed by 27 nations, including the United States, on that date. A copy of the 

 Convention, together with the Finai Act adopted by the London Conference 

 is included in Attachment 1. 



In summary, the Convention requires the parties to establish national systems 

 to control substances leaving their shores for the purpos^e of being dumped at 

 sea. Annex I of the Convention contains a "black list" of substancs whose 

 dumping would be prohibited under normal circumstances : mercury and cadmium 

 and thir compounds, organohalogen compounds such as DDT and PCBs, persist- 

 ent plastics, oil, high level radioactive wastes and chemical and biological 

 warfare agents. Annex 11 lists substances requiring special permits as well as 

 .special care in each dumping including: heavy metals, lead, copper, zinc, also 

 cyanides and fluorides, waste contniners which could present a serious obstacle 

 to fishing or navigation, and medium and low level radioactive wastes. Sub- 

 stances not listed in Annex I or II reduire a creneral permit and all dumping 

 must be carried out with full consideration given to a list of technical con- 

 siderations contained in Annex III. 



The Convention provides that each party will take appropriate steps to en.sure 

 that the. terms of the Convention apply to its flagships and aircraft and to 

 any ves.sel or aircraft loading at its ports for the purpose of dumping. Full 

 continuous use is to be made of the best available technical knowledge in 

 implementation, which together with i>eriodic meetings and planned participa- 

 tion by appropriate international technical bodies, is designed to keep the 

 contents of the three annexes up-to-date and realistic in meeting the ocean 

 pollution control needs stemming from ocean dumping. No later than three 

 months after the convention comes into effect the contracting parties are to 

 designate a competent organization to perform various secretarial duties. 



A Draft Environmental Impact Statement dealing with this subject was 

 circulated for comment to the interested federal and state agencies on Septem- 

 ber 19, 1972 and a notice as the public availability of the draft was printed 

 in the Federal Register on October 11, 1972. Circulation of the draft impact 

 statement predated the lyondon Conference of October 30 to November 13, 1972. As 

 such, the draft statement focused its attention on the principal issues to be taken 

 up by the Conference as specifically manifested by the draft provisions for 

 a convention which h'<d been produced e^irier by the Intergovernmental 

 Meeting on Ocean Dumping at Reykja\ik, Iceland, from April 10-15, 1972, and 

 the Intergovernmental Meeting on Ocean Dumping at London on May 30, and 31, 

 1972. This final impact .statement differs from the earlier draft in that it 

 addres.ses itself to the product of the recent London Conference rather than 

 the earlier Reykjavik and London draft provisions of April and May 1972. 



Copies of the written comments received on the earlier draft impact state- 

 ment are included in Attachment II to this statement. A public hearing on 



