Interim EPA Ocean Dumping Regulations

Interim EPA Ocean Dumping Regulations¹

The Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated interim regulations² setting out procedures for obtaining an ocean dumping permit under the Marine Protection. Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.³ The Act makes it unlawful to depart from a port in the United States for the purpose of dumping material other than fish wastes in the ocean or territorial sea, unless the person engaged in the transport or dumping has obtained a permit from EPA. No permit can be issued for the dumping of any radiological, chemical or biological warfare agent or any high-level radioactive waste. The regulations were made immediately effective instead of allowing the usual period for comment and revision, because of the time limitations imposed by the short interval between the Act's effective date and its passage on October 23, 1972.

The regulations provide for both general and special [3 ELR 10066] permits. General permits are issued by the EPA Administrator and published in the Federal Register and provide for the dumping of certain materials in designated sites over a specified length of time. Special permits are required for all dumping not covered by general permit, and are issued to applicants for terms up to one year.

An application for a special permit must include the following information:

(a) Name and address of applicant;

(b) Name of person or firm (if not the applicant) which will use the permit, and name and location of the conveyance to be used;

(d) Quantity of material to be dumped;

(e) Means of conveyance and anticipated time of disposal;

(f) Proposed dump site; and if not a designated dumping area, detailed physical information on the nature of the proposed dump site;

(g) Proposed method of disposal at the dump site;

(h) Identification of the specific activity or process giving rise to the production of the material;

(i) Information on the manner in which the type of material in question has been previously disposed of by the applicant;

(j) A description of available alternative means of disposal of the material, with explanation of why each such alternative is thought by the applicant to be inappropriate.

The criteria by which the Administrator will evaluate permit applications have not as yet been promulgated.

A processing fee of $500 must accompany each application for a special permit for dumping in a designated site, and $1000 for dumping in any area other than a designated site. Each application will be acted on within 180 days, and an interim determination by the Administrator as to issuance or denial is required within 10 days. Public notice of each application received must be published in a daily newspaper and mailed to any person or group upon an original or standing request. Notice must also be mailed to the state water polluton control agency for the state contiguous to the dumping site.

Any person can request a hearing within 30 days after publication of the notice. Such a request must be written and must state objections to the issuance of the proposed permit and the issues that should be considered at the hearing. If he determines that the request presents bona fide issues amenable to resolution by public hearing, the Administrator will designate a place for the hearing, if possible in the affected state, and a time, not less than 30 days after receipt of the request, and publish notice of both.

Any person may appear at the hearing, and the presiding officer, appointed by the Administrator, may address to persons involved questions submitted in writing by other participants. Within 60 days after the hearing and 30 days after receiving written recommendations from the presiding officer, the Administrator must make a final determination as to the issuance or denial of the permit, or the imposition of conditions on it.

A permit may be modified or revoked if a term or condition is violated, if misrepresentation or failure to disclose facts is uncovered, or if conditions at the dumping site change or relevant new scientific data is discovered. A permit can be immediately suspended if the Administrator determines that the dumping has resulted or is resulting in imminent and substantial harm to human health or welfare, or the marine environment. The permittee can request a hearing on revocation, modification, or suspension within 30 days after such action has been taken. Each person who engages in dumping must keep records of times, location, and the chemical nature of materials dumped and must submit reports containing such information every six months to the official who issued the permit.

If emergency dumping is done without a permit in order to safeguard life at sea, the ship owner or operator must provide the Administrator with all the information required by a special permit application within 30 days, together with a complete description of the emergency.

For dumping of dredged material, a permit must be obtained under almost the same procedure as is employed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

For violation of these regulations, a fine of up to $50,000 may be assessed against the violator at a trial-type hearing in which the formal rules of evidence do not apply. The fine is payable in 60 days unless the matter is appealed to the courts.

These regulations, in conjunction with the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, offer the prospect of an effective, comprehensive control mechanism for ocean dumping. This noteworthy development in the field long known for a tangle of outdated and ineffectual laws, of course, must now meet the test of practice, with the burden squarely upon EPA to make its proposal work.

1. See also Comment, Recent Federal and International Measures to Protect Wildlife, 3 ELR 10040 (April 1973).

2. The Regulations appear in 38 Fed. Reg. 8725 (April 5, 1973), and are available from ELI Digest Facsimile Service (Dig. [4-A] 6 pp. $0.60).

3. 33 U.S.C.A. § 1401 (1973), ELR 41821.

Interim EPA Ocean Dumping Regulations1

Interim EPA Ocean Dumping Regulations¹