The tragedy of the oceans--The 1981 deadline revisited

The past year has seen a major shift with regard to federal ocean dumping policy.The Congressionally--mandated 1981 deadline on the ocean dumping of harmful sewage sludge and industrial wastes has not been implemented due to a Court order in response to a legal challenge to EPA´s ocean dumping regulations. At the same time, a number of municipalities and advisory groups have been calling for greater use of the oceans as a waste disposal alternative. Congress, in reauthorizing Titles I & II of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 is presently considering a number of legal, public policy, and scientific issues relevant to the future use of the oceans to assimilate society´s wastes. The authors review the current legislative proposals and summarize several policy options which have been proposed with regard to reauthorizing the Ocean Dumping Act.