control the discharge of litter, garbage, sludge, and 

 other related solids into navigable waters of the 

 United States. Presently the only applicable Fed- 

 eral law is the Refuse Act (33 U.S.C. 407) of 

 1899, intended to control potential obstructions 

 to navigation. Proposed legislation to accomplish 

 this was introduced into the 90th Congress.'^ The 

 panel concurs that controls beyond the purview of 

 existing regulations are necessary and endorses 

 legislation to alleviate the soUd waste disposal 

 problem of coastal waters. 



—The control of pollution in the zone contiguous 

 to our territorial sea. The report recommends 

 legislation to control pollution, including oil, 

 within the nine-mile contiguous zone established 

 by Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial 

 Sea and the Contiguous Zone. This recommenda- 

 tion is intended to fill a gap brought about by the 

 increasing activities in this zone outside State 

 jurisdiction. As we have pointed out in an earlier 

 chapter, the establishment of the contiguous zone 

 has placed the responsibility for management 

 clearly on the Federal Government. We strongly 

 endorse regulations to control pollutions from 

 vessels as well as from other installations in the 

 contiguous zone. Oil pollution is more fully 

 discussed in the next section. 



Oil Pollution: A Special Study by the Secretary 

 of the Interior and the Secretary of Transporta- 

 tion, 1967. The panel has not attempted to 

 duphcate the effort of the Departments of the 

 Interior and Transportation in responding to the 

 President's request of May 1967 for a thorough 

 assessment of existing technical and legal resources 

 and for recommendations for an effective National 

 and international program to combat the pollution 

 of water by oil and other hazardous substances. 



The Oil Pollution Report convincingly estab- 

 lishes the seriousness of water pollution by hazard- 

 ous substances, including oU. It presents a possible 

 action program to protect health, safety, and 

 natural resources from this menace. The recom- 

 mendations are not included in the panel report 

 but are summarized as they impact marine activi- 

 ties: 



Figure 3. Before any major engineering changes 

 are done, there must be adequate research such 

 as this being performed at the U.S. Army Engi- 

 neer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, 

 Mississippi, to understand the consequences. 

 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo) 



TTjUse of existing legislative authority to develop 

 improved regulations for not only cleanup of 

 hazardous discharges but spill prevention as well. 



—Legislation strengthening Federal authority to 

 prevent and control spills and to expand the 

 geographic limits of this authority. 



—Strengthened and extended oil pollution control 

 and related aspects of international conventions 

 and treaties. 



—A coordinated research and development pro- 

 gram to improve the capabiUty to prevent, control, 

 and clean up spills of oil and other hazardous 

 substances. 



The Oil Pollution Report does not contain cost 

 estimates except for $10 million over a five-year 

 period for research and development and a $20 

 million revolving fund to support the Federal oil 

 removal authority. 



One result of this report is that the administra- 

 tion has generated a multi-agency contingency 

 plan' ^ for coping with oil spills and other hazard- 

 ous material. At the time of this report it is too 

 early to know if this contingency plan will be 

 effective in handling emergency situations. In 

 addition, legislation has been proposed'" to carry 



'^S. 2525 et al of the 90th Congress proposed 

 significant measures in the control of pollution. Legisla- 

 tion was reported out of committee by both Houses of 

 Congress but failed to complete conference action prior 

 to adjournment. 



National Multi-Agency OU and Hazardous Materials 

 Contingency Han, September 1968. See Chapter 4. 



'"^Proposed legislation of the 90th Congress (S. 2760 et 

 ah) provided stronger oil pollution controls and enforce- 

 ment including increased jurisdiction and liability of 

 polluters. It was reported out of both Houses of Congress 

 but was not enacted prior to adjournment. 



III-137 



