nor presently is conducting two similar studies by 

 different agencies of that Department. These 

 studies should supplement one another to achieve 

 the foregoing goals and the broad purposes of their 

 legislation. 



2. A National Port Survey should be conducted by 

 the Department of Transportation in cooperation 

 with the Departments of Army, Commerce, and 

 Housmg and Urban Development to define the 

 Nation's requirements in terms of major ports, 

 offshore terminals, and other facilities for mari- 

 time conunerce. On the basis of this National Port 

 Survey, a rational scheme for port and harbor 

 development can be established against which the 

 real needs of this country can be measured. 



3. The National Port Survey should examine 

 closely the Federal-local cost sharing relationships 

 to determine whether the local government should 

 be a stronger participant in the development of its 

 port facilities. 



4. Much of our Nation's shorelines are eroding, 

 and are inadequately protected. The causes are 

 both natural and man made. There is required a 

 thorough survey of our beach resources and the 

 practices which endanger them. The Corps of 

 Engineers has been authorized to conduct such a 

 study. Funding is required. Such a study should 

 include a review of Federal-local funding arrange- 

 ments and set standards for shoreline protection 

 and regulation. 



5. The water quality problems and the effects of 

 eutrophication are becoming increasingly apparent 

 in the Great Lakes and especially Lake Erie. 

 Urgent and immediate action ranging from pollu- 

 tion abatement to lake restoration is required. 

 Abatement is under way under the leadership of 

 the Department of the Interior and local authori- 

 ties. Restoration is not. Experimental programs in 

 lake restoration should be explored and a project 

 undertaken leading to an attempt to restore Lake 

 Erie. 



IV. THE NEED FOR A SYSTEMATIC AP- 

 PROACH TO WASTE MANAGEMENT 



The coastal zone is the ultimate sink for many 

 of our waste products. The capacity to receive 

 these wastes is being exceeded. In many of the 

 coastal zone areas pollution is the single most 



important problem. It is the one problem in which 

 there is the greatest public awareness, and it is one 

 problem about which there is the most action at 

 all levels of goverrmient. It is evident that the 

 people of this Nation are upset about pollution 

 and they aim to do something about it. The 

 problems of pollution, however, are more than 

 marine problems. While manifestly acute in our 

 estuaries, Great Lakes, and nearshore waters, the 

 problem is a total National one wherein water, 

 land, and air pollution should be treated together 

 and at the sources which often lie far from the 

 coastal zone. 



Recommendations: 



1 . Municipal sewage is one of the greatest sources 

 of pollutants in estuaries. Only through modem, 

 efficient sewage treatment plants can this be 

 abated. Federal funding has been proposed and 

 authorized by Congress but the money is not being 

 appropriated as authorized. As a matter of Na- 

 tional urgency. Federal funds for assistance in 

 waste treatment works should proceed without 

 delay at full authorized levels. 



2. The advent of secondary and tertiary treatment 

 in sewage disposal plants requires greater profi- 

 ciency of operator capability. Present problems are 

 often traced to careless and inexperienced opera- 

 tion. State health agencies should aid in training of 

 and require certification for operators of waste 

 treatment plants. 



3. Although the oceans' capacity to assimilate 

 wastes is inunense, it must not be considered the 

 ultimate solution. The fuU effects of dumping 

 wastes at sea or the use of ocean outfalls for 

 disposal must be better understood. The Corps of 

 Engineers, which regulates dumping at sea; State 

 health agencies; and the Federal Water Pollution 

 Control Administration should take immediate 

 steps to study these effects and institute adequate 

 controls. 



4. The Secretary of the Interior should prepare 

 biennial reports of the pollution level of each of 

 the Nation's estuaries and tell how it relates to the 

 progress the various States are making in their 

 pollution abatement programs under the Water 

 Quality Act of 1965. 



5. In final analysis, pollution of coastal waters is 

 only one part of a National waste management 



III-4 



