345 



any such dumping and empowers the Administrator of the Environmental Pro- 

 tection Agency to prohibit all dumping of certain materials and to designate safe 

 disposal sites for others. The Act also provides that the Secretary of the Army 

 (through the Corps of Engineers) shall be responsible for issuing permits govern- 

 ing the ocean dumping of dredged materials, provided that such permits con- 

 form to criteria established by EPA. 



The Environmental Protection Agency also has been accorded an expanded 

 role in matters related to ocean dumping under the terms of the Federal Water 

 Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. Section 403(c) of the Act provides for 

 the promulgation, within one hundred and eighty days, of guidelines for deter- 

 mining degradation of the territorial seas, the contiguous zones and the oceans. 



The text of the proposed convention is compatible with the new domestic 

 legislation. 



Moreover, if the convention is broadly adhered it should do a great deal to 

 regulate and harmonize ocean dumping practices throughout the world, make 

 foreign practices compatible with those adopted by the United States and most 

 importantly, contribute to the preservation of the marine environment. 



Minor additional U.S. legislation is required in conjunction with the conven- 

 tion to extend the domestic law and regulation to (a) all U.S. flag vessels 

 transi>orting wastes for dumping from ports of non-party states and (b) the vari- 

 ous forms of oil referred to in Annex I, the dumping of which is prohibited. 



SOURCES 



Council on Environmental Quality, Ocean Dumping: A National Policy (1970). 



Hearings on Ocean Waste Disposal Before the Sub-Committee on Oceans and 

 Atmosphere of the Senate on Commerce, 92d Cong., 1st Sess. (1971). 



Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1971, S.R. 9727, 92d Cong., 

 1st Sess. 



Report of the Intergovernmental Meeting on Ocean Dumping, Reykjavik, 10- 

 15 April 1972. 



Report of the Intergovernmental Meeting on Ocean Dumping, London, 30 and 

 31 May 1972. 



Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held at 

 Stockholm 5-16 June 1972, A/Conf. 48/14. 



Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, 92d Cong., 2nd Sess. 

 Public Law 92-532, October 23, 1972. 



Amendments of 1972 to The Federal Water Pollution Control Act. 



III. Provisions of the Convention 



The product of the recent London Conference, was a Final Act which con- 

 tained a resolution recommending that the Convention be opened for signature in 

 depository capitals for one year (beginning December 29, 1972). Annexed to the 

 Final Act is the text of the Convention, a Technical Memorandum of Agreement 

 of the Conference, and a resolution of the Conference on assistance for training 

 of personnel, supplying of equipment and other measures of assistance. All of 

 the.se documents may be found in Attachment I to this statement. 



The Convention is designed to regulate dumping at sea from vessels, aircraft, 

 platforms or other man-made structures. Dumping is defined as the deliberate 

 disposal of wastes or other matter, including the deliberate di-sposal at sea of 

 vessels, aircraft, platforms, or other lyan-made structures at sea. It does not 

 include the disposal at sea of wastes or other matter incidental to. or derived' 

 from the normal operations of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made 

 structures at sea. and their equipment. Neither do the prohibitions against dump- 

 ing or the requirements for ijermits apply where the safety of human life or a 

 vessel or aircraft at sea is threatened. Also the Convention does not apply to the 

 disposal of wastes or other matter directly arising from or related to the ex- 

 ploration, exploitation or off-shore processing of seabed mineral resources. 



"Vessels and aircraft" under the convention means waterborne or airborne 

 craft of any type whatsoever. This expression includes air cushioned craft and 

 floating craft, whether self-propelled or not. "Sea" means all marine waters other 

 than the international waters of states. 



Annex I. — Article IV of the Convention prohibits the dumping of any matter 

 contained in Annex T to the Convention. Annex I includes organohalogen com- 

 I)ounds, mercury and cadmium and their compounds, persistent plastic and 



