I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4030

To terminate ocean dumping at the Mud Dump Site and other sites within

the New York Bight Apex off of the coast of New Jersey.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 5, 1996

Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mr. TORRICELLI) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To terminate ocean dumping at the Mud Dump Site and

other sites within the New York Bight Apex off of the

coast of New Jersey.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Jersey Marine

5 Ecosystem Protection Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to preserve and restore

8 the fisheries and other marine wildlife of the New York

9 Bight by closing the Mud Dump Site and ending the prac-
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1 tice of disposal of contaminated dredged material within

2 that area.

3 SEC. 3. CLOSURE OF MUD DUMP SITE.

4 (a) TERMINATION OF DUMPING.—On and after Sep5 tember 1, 1997, no person shall transport any dredged

6 material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters

7 at the Mud Dump Site, other than for purposes of remedi8 ation in accordance with subsection (c).

9 (b) CONDITIONS FOR DUMPING BEFORE TERMI10 NATION.—

11 (1) CATEGORY I AND CATEGORY II DREDGED

12 MATERIAL ONLY.—After the date of the enactment

13 of this Act, no person shall transport any dredged

14 material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean

15 waters at the Mud Dump Site, other than Category

16 I dredged material or Category II dredged material.

17 (2) CONDITIONS FOR CATEGORY II DREDGED

18 MATERIAL.—After the date of the enactment of this

19 Act, no person shall transport any Category II

20 dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into

21 ocean waters at the Mud Dump Site, unless the ap22 plicant for a permit for the transport under title I

23 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

24 Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) has certified,
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1 and the Secretary of the Army has published a find2 ing of, the following:

3 (A) The affected States or ports were re4 quested to provide alternative sites for disposal

5 of the material and failed to provide a reason6 able alternative site.

7 (B) Dumping of the material (including

8 necessary capping material) at the Mud Dump

9 Site will not increase the elevation of the ocean

10 bottom at the Mud Dump Site—

11 (i) such that the depth of the ocean at

12 that site is less than 65 feet below the sur13 face of the ocean; and

14 (ii) above an elevation designed, based

15 on scientific evidence, to contain the mate16 rial within the lateral limits of the Mud

17 Dump Site.

18 (c) SITE REMEDIATION.—

19 (1) PLAN.—The Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the

21 Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the

22 Army, shall develop a remediation and restoration

23 plan in accordance with applicable laws and regula24 tions for the Mud Dump Site and surrounding

25 areas.
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1 (2) DESIGNATION OF SITE.—The Administrator

2 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall des3 ignate the Mud Dump Site and surrounding areas

4 that have historically been used for disposal of con5 taminated material as the Historic Area Remedi6 ation Site under part 228 of title 40, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations, effective September 1, 1997.

8 (3) MANAGEMENT OF SITE.—The Historic Area

9 Remediation Site—

10 (A) shall be managed to reduce impacts at

11 that site to acceptable levels in accordance with

12 part 228.11(c) of title 40, Code of Federal Reg13 ulations; and

14 (B) shall be remediated with

15 uncontaminated dredged material that—

16 (i) meets standards for Category I

17 dredged material; and

18 (ii) will not cause significant undesir19 able effects, including such effects through

20 bioaccumulation.

21 (d) MODIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS22 MENT.—The Secretary of the Army and the Administrator

23 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall modify envi24 ronmental assessment activities at the Mud Dump Site as

25 appropriate to reflect the provisions of this Act.
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1 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF OTHER OCEAN DUMPING OF

2 DREDGED MATERIAL OFF OF COAST OF NEW

3 JERSEY.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after September 1, 1997,

5 no person shall transport any dredged material for the

6 purpose of dumping it into ocean waters in the New York

7 Bight Apex outside of the Historic Area Remediation Site

8 designated under section 3(c), or into waters of the New

9 York-New Jersey Harbor.

10 (b) PROHIBITION ON DESIGNATION OF SITES AND

11 ISSUANCE OF PERMITS.—The Administrator of the Envi12 ronmental Protection Agency may not designate any new

13 site for ocean dumping of dredged material within the New

14 York Bight Apex, and the Secretary of the Army may not

15 issue any permit for transportation of dredged material

16 for the purpose of dumping it in the New York Bight

17 Apex, except in accordance with this Act.

18 SEC. 5. VIOLATIONS.

19 Any violation of section 3 (a) or (b) or section 4(a)

20 shall be treated as a violation of title I of the Marine Pro21 tection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C.

22 1411 et seq.).

23 SEC. 6. DISPOSAL ALTERNATIVES.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army, in co25 operation with the Administrator of the Environmental

26 Protection Agency, the Secretary of Transportation, State
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1 and local governments, and environmental and port inter2 ests, may establish, operate, and maintain a confined

3 dredged material disposal facility or facilities within the

4 confines of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Costs

5 associated with implementation of this section shall be

6 paid by non-Federal interests in substantially the same

7 manner as costs are required to be paid by non-Federal

8 interests under section 101 of the Water Resources Devel9 opment Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211).

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

12 $260,000,000.

13 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this Act:

15 (1) TERMS DEFINED IN MARINE PROTECTION,

16 RESEARCH, AND SANCTUARIES ACT OF 1972.—Any

17 term used in this Act that is defined in section 3 of

18 the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries

19 Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1402) has the meaning

20 given the term in that section.

21 (2) CATEGORY I AND CATEGORY II DREDGED

22 MATERIAL.—Each of the terms ‘‘Category I dredged

23 material’’ and ‘‘Category II dredged material’’, re24 spectively, means such material as determined under

25 the 1992 United States Army Corps of Engineers
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1 New York District and the Environmental Protec2 tion Agency Region II Guidance for Performing

3 Tests on Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Dis4 posal.

5 (3) MUD DUMP SITE.—The term ‘‘Mud Dump

6 Site’’ means the area designated by the Adminis7 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency

8 under part 228.115(d)(6) of title 40, Code of Fed9 eral Regulations, as the New York Bight Dredged

10 Material Disposal Site (Mud Dump) in the New

11 York Bight Apex, North Atlantic Ocean for the dis12 posal of dredged material generated in the Port of

13 New York and New Jersey and nearby harbors.

14 (4) NEW YORK BIGHT APEX.—The term ‘‘New

15 York Bight Apex’’ means the ocean waters of the

16 Atlantic Ocean westward of 73 degrees 30 minutes

17 west longitude and northward of 40 degrees 10 min18 utes north latitude.

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