Volume 94 · 3344
Public Law 96–572
To reauthorize title I of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, and for other purposes.
Approved December 22, 1980
Statutory text
An Act
To reauthorize title I of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1.
Section 111 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act is amended by striking “and” following “1977,” and inserting “not to exceed $2,000,000 for each of fiscal year 1980, fiscal year 1981, and fiscal year 1982,” immediately after “1978,”.
Sec. 2.
Section 4 of Public Law 95–153 (33 U.S.C. 1412a) is amended—
by amending subsection (a)—
by inserting “and industrial waste” immediately after “sewage sludge”,
by striking out “Public Law 92–532” and inserting in lieu thereof “the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972”,
by inserting “, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c),” immediately before in no case”, and
by striking out “the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries” and inserting in lieu thereof “such”; and
by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
“(b) After December 31, 1981, the Administrator may issue permits under such title I for the dumping of industrial waste into ocean waters, or into waters described m such section 101(b), if the Administrator determines—
“(1) that the proposed dumping is necessary to conduct research—
“(A) on new technology related to ocean dumping, or
“(B) to determine whether the dumping of such substance will unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, or economic potentialities;
“(2) that the scale of the proposed dumping is such that the dumping will have minimal adverse impact upon the human health, welfare, and amenities, and the marine environment, ecological systems, and economic potentialities; and
“(3) after consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, that the potential benefits of such research will outweigh any such adverse impact.
Each permit issued pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Administrator determines to be necessary to minimize possible adverse impacts of such dumping. No permit issued by the Administrator pursuant to this subsection may have an effective period of more than six consecutive months.
“(c) After December 31, 1981, the Administrator may issue emergency permits under such title I for the dumping of industrial waste into ocean waters, or into waters described in such section 101(b), if the Administrator determines that there has been demonstrated to exist an emergency, requiring the dumping of such waste, which poses an unacceptable risk relating to human health and admits of no other feasible solution. As used herein, ‘emergency’ refers to situations
“Emergency.”
requiring action with a marked degree of urgency.
“(d) For purposes of this section—
“(1) the term ‘sewage sludge’ means any solid, semisolid, or
“Sewage sludge.”
liquid waste generated by a municipal wastewater treatment plant the ocean dumping of which may unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, and economic potentialities; and
“(2) the term ‘industrial waste’ means any solid, semisolid, or
“Industrial waste.”
liquid waste generated by a manufacturing or processing plant the ocean dumping of which may unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, and economic potentialities.”.
Sec. 3.
Section 102(e) of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1412(e)) is further amended—
by inserting after “transportation of material,” the words “by an agency or instrumentality of the United States or”, and
by striking out “section.” and inserting “section: Provided, That in the case of an agency or instrumentality of the United States, no application shall be made for a permit to be issued pursuant to the authority of a foreign State Party to the Convention unless the Administrator concurs in the filing of such application.”.
Sec. 4.
Section 106 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
Act of 1972 is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection as follows:
“(f) In addition to other provisions of law and not withstanding the
Long Island Sound, dumping.
specific exclusion relating to dredged material in the first sentence in section 102(a) of this Act, the dumping of dredged material in Long
Island Sound from any Federal project (or pursuant to Federal authorization) or from a dredging project by a non-Federal applicant exceeding 25,000 cubic yards shall comply with the criteria established pursuant to the second sentence of section 102(a) of the Act relating to the effects of dumping. Subsection (d) of this section shall not apply to this subsection.”.
Sec. 5.
Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section:
“Sec. 205.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is authorized to conduct a study to assist the city of New York in evaluating the technological options available for the removal of heavy metals and other toxic organic materials from the sewage sludge of the city of New York. The study shall also examine options available to reduce the amount of such pollutants entering the sewage system. The study is to be completed by July 1, 1981.”.
Approved December 22, 1980.