This year, a new entry will appear in the legislative branch section of the U.S. Government Organization Manual; the long awaited Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) is now in business. Like the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service or the General Accounting Office, OTA is an arm of the legislative branch. Its assignment is to help congressional committees better assess the impacts of new technologies that Congress is called upon the regulate or finance.

Thank you Professor Murphy, I think. I'm linked in your introduction with the bureaucrats who were going off or on welfare and am given the left-handed compliment of being an experienced person. We have been treated to a very youthful presentation this morning. All of these sallies and circumstances cause me to pull back and reflect. Fred Anderson this morning announced what I suppose will be the battle-cry of this conference—\ stamp out thinking of the 1930s. Somehow that accusation is associated with experience and might even be associated with me.

1. Is there a special role for courts in reviewing NEPA claims that does not obtain in the general run of administrative law cases?

The available time for this brief presentation does not permit any extended discussion of NEPA—the National Environmental Policy Act and the preparation of environmental impact statements pursuant to its provisions. This statute's basic requirements and obligations have been sufficiently outlined by major court decisions.

The Environmental Law Institute has recently been awarded a six-month research contract by the Marine Mammal Commission, which was established by Title II of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

More than one year has passed since the Arab oil embargo threw a complacent America into temporary panic and made it clear that Americans have irrevocably added energy to food, clothing, and shelter as one of life's essentials. While the panic is gone, at least for now, the crisis is likely to be with us for a long time in one form or another. Our appetite for energy, already six times the world per capita average,¹ continues to grow faster than our capacity to develop new sources of supply.

The latest skirmish in the battle for clean air centers around a recently developed device known as the flue gas desulphurization system or "stack gas scrubber." This emission control device utilizes a process by which flue gases are passed through a water suspension, or slurry, of lime or limestone that chemically removes the toxic sulphur oxides from the smoke before it is released into the atmosphere.

In November, the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission for an immediate ban on spray cans using freon (a DuPont tradename) and similar fluorocarbons as a propellant. NRDC cited growing scientific evidence that the gases released from aerosol cans are causing gradual deterioration of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. The ozone layer, about 10 to 20 miles up, shields the earth from ultraviolet radiation, a major cause of skin cancer. A study conducted by Dr.

Five years' experience with NEPA has taught environmentalists many lessons, but one of the most important is the necessity for effective administrative procedures for providing early public notice of proposed governmental actions that might significantly affect the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently contracted with the Environmental Law Institute for a year-long research project entitled "Federal Tax Policy and Depletable Resources: Impacts and Alternatives for Recycling and Conservation." The project, which will join legal and economic talents, is the Institute's first major interdisciplinary venture.