149 



Mr. EouNTREE. Now, following up your comments in regard to 

 NEPA, do you see any problems in any of this legislation in regard 

 to the future administration of NEPA ? 



Would the Marine Mammal Commission or the independent scien- 

 tific committee contemplated under H.K. 10420 necessarily have to 

 comply with the requirements of NEPA or would they be exempt 

 from filing statements and provisions under section 102 and 103 of 

 the act ? 



Dr. Talbot. Well, again, this is a legal question which I am not very 

 well qualified to answer. 



I know of no reason at this point why they would be exempt. 



Mr. RouNTREE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Thank you, Mr. Rountree. 



Dr. Talbot, I wish to commend you for a very fine statement and 

 helpful assistance that you have given this committee. Your good work 

 at CEQ and before you went to that agency are well known to this 

 committee and you are held in high regard by this subcommittee. 



Just briefly could I ask a couple of questions. I believe it can be taken 

 as axiomatic in scientific knowledge that the current state of informa- 

 tion on ocean mammals, populations and so forth, is grossly inade- 

 quate ; am I correct ? 



Dr. Talbot. Yes, sir; in fact I would state it considerably more 

 strongly. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Could you give us if you please, either at this time or 

 later an adequate 5 -year program for gleaning the information neces- 

 sary to know enough about population stocks and population dynamics 

 for a good management conservation program in this area ? 



Dr. Talbot. We will be very happy to try to obtain these data and 

 to present them to you. 



Mr. DiNX5ELL. We would need this information in terms of cash 

 money, in terms of numbers of personnel and examples of the kind 

 of programs necessary, both for individual species management and 

 for the whole population of marine mammals together. It may be 

 that you will want to call on other agencies, the State Department 

 perhaps and perhaps the Commerce Department and perhaps Interior 

 for participation in providing the information I am asking for. 



I have the feeling I can say to you that none of the bills before us 

 have an appropriate mechanism for triggering a really adequate re- 

 search evaluation program in this area ; your help to this committee 

 in generating that kind of information for the marine mammals pro- 

 tection bill that -we will come forward with will be greatly appreciated. 



Dr. Talbot. I will be pleased to try. 



(The following was submitted in reference to the above :) 



Given the nature of the program information requested, it has not been pos- 

 sible to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations in the limited time 

 available. However, consultations have been held with representatives of the 

 Department of Interior and Department of Commerce, and we understand that 

 they are submitting separately to the Committee data which applies to their 

 areas of responsibility. 



Mr. DiNGELL. I recognize we have the State Department with us 

 here today but my rather limited association with the International 

 ^Vlialing Commission has led me to believe this is a grossly inadequate 

 mechanism for protection of the whales. 



