circumstance should be a sufficient condition for 

 discontinuing them or withJiolding Federal sup- 

 port. Moreover, Federal contracts, loans, grants, 

 leases, licenses and permits should require their 

 holders to conform with water quality standards. 



If an agency does not have the authority for the 

 above actions, it should be given in appropriate 

 legislation. 



This panel notes that Section 7 of Executive 

 Order 1 1 288 has in general been used with great 

 timidity by the various Federal agencies. We urge 

 these agencies to use more aggressively the powers 

 given them under this Order and other authori- 

 ties. Holders of Federal grants, loans, contracts 

 and other devices certainly can be called upon to 

 arrange their activities to conform with State 

 water quality standards. And there is obvious 

 precedent for effective provisions to be included in 

 Federal instruments to help attain various National 



goals. This is evidenced by the minimum wage 

 provisions called for in the Davis-Bacon Act and 

 with the civil rights provisions that have become 

 standard in Federal contracts. 



V. PRIORITIESIN WASTE MANAGEMENT 



Solutions to the pollution problem require 

 consideration of factors well beyond the charge of 

 this Commission. We agree with others who have 

 considered this problem that prevention is more 

 effective than abatement. The best solution to 

 pesticides finding their way into our Nation's 

 streams is not to devise a method of removing 

 them from the water, but to develop degradable 

 and less lethal pesticides, better controls on their 

 use, and, ultimately, alternative methods of insect 

 control that will not contaminate our environ- 

 ment. 



Figure 8. A dump at a Navy installation at Indianhead, Maryland. An often overlooked 

 Presidential Order directs Federal agencies to comply with the goals of water pollution con- 

 trol. (National Park Service photo) 



III-57 



