Legal, Policy, and Scientific Apects of the 1981 Ocean Dumping Deadline

The 1977 amendments to the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (the Ocean Dumping Act) required the phasing out of ocean dumping of harmful sewage sludge be December 31, 1981. New York City, along with several other New York and New Jersey municipalities has challenged the deadline in court and hopes ta continue dumping at the 12-mile site in the New York Bight Apex. With recent changes in the Administration and with the 1981 deadline quickly approaching, Congress is once more being asked to reexamine the sludge dumping issue. In light of recent federal agency workshops and the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere´s Report on the Role of the Oceans in a Waste Management Strategy, EPA and NOAA are reevaluating present ocean dumping policy. Legal, policy, and scientific aspects of the ocean dumping issue are examined and future directions are discussed.