344 



the draft impact statement also was held in Arlington, Virginia, on October 26, 

 1972. While no formal comments were offered by any witnesses, officers of the 

 Department of State employed that occasion to answer some informal questions 

 that the attendees at the hearings, including a number of environmental groups, 

 had concerning the then proposed convention. 



It should be noted tliat many of the comments which were received on the 

 draft impact statement, urged that particular positions or provisions should 

 be reflected in the then prospective convention and did not confine themselves 

 to an evaluation of the environmental impacts of new international restraints 

 on ocean dumping. This was a reflection of the fact that the draft impact 

 statement was circulated publicly prior to the London Conference that produced 

 the Convention now open to ratification. 



//. Background 



The Ocean Dumping Convention which is the subject of this impact state- 

 ment, represents the culmination of many months of effort on the part of the 

 United States and otlier nations to restrict and regulate dumping in tiie interest 

 of preserving the marine environment. 



On April 15, 1970, President Nixon announced in a message to Congress, 

 that he had directed the Council on Environmental Quality to conduct a com- 

 prehensive study on the effects of the disposal of wastes into the oceans, and 

 the adequacy of existing legal controls over such disposal. In October 1970 the 

 Council responded with a report which concluded that ocean dimiping presented 

 a very serious and growing threat to the marine and coastal environments, 

 and which advocated a variety of measures to control dumping. In particular, 

 the CEQ report recommended that the United States take the initiative to 

 achieve international agreement to study, monitor and control ocean dumping. 



In his environmental message to Congress of February 8, 1971, the President 

 recommended domestic legislation that would regulate U.S. ocean dumping and 

 instructed the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Council on Environ- 

 mental Quality, to develop and pursue international initiatives directed toward 

 this objective. 



Preparations for the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environ- 

 ment included the creation of several Intergovernmental Working Groups 

 (IWG), one of which dealt with marine pollution. The IWG on Marine Pollu- 

 tion held its first meeting at London during June 1971. At that session, the 

 United States tabled a draft convention on the regulation of the transportation 

 of wastes for ocean dumping. A revised draft of the convention was considered 

 at the second session of the IWG on Marine Pollution held at Ottawa, Novem- 

 ber 8-12, 1971. The draft articles produced were to serve as the core of a 

 convention. As no further IWG meetings were scheduled, the Government of 

 Iceland invited interested States to a meeting at Reykjavik in April 1972 to 

 develop further the draft convention on ocean dumping. Agreement on a final 

 text was not possible at this meeting, and it was agreed to forward the draft 

 articles to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment for 

 further consideration and appropriate action. In an effort to resolve the few 

 remaining disagreements on tlie text of the convention prior to the Stockholm 

 meeting, the United Kingdom hosted a technical meeting in late May 1972 

 which reported to the Stockholm Conference certain agreed alternative sections 

 of the convention. 



The Stockholm Conference recommended that governments refer the draft 

 articles as develoi)ed at the April Reykjavik and the May I>ondon meetings to a 

 Conference of Governments to be convened by the Government of the United 

 Kingdom in consultation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations be- 

 fore November 1972 for further consideration with a view to opening the pro- 

 posed convention for signature at a place to be decided by that Conference, pref- 

 erably before the end of 1972. This Conference of Governments, as already noted, 

 was held at London, October 30 to November l.S and text was adoptt'd and sub- 

 mitted to governments with the recommendation that it be opened for signa- 

 ture beginning December 29, 1972. 



Domestically, IT.S. legislation to provide for the monitoring and regulation of 

 dumping into U.S. waters and the contiguous zone, and of the transjKtrtation of 

 material from the United States for dunqtiiig into the high seas was enacted into 

 law on October 23, 1972. This legi.slation, known as the "^Marine Protection Re- 

 search and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (PL 92-532)" requires Federal permits for 



