I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 244
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
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. PALLONE 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Jersey Marine
and Estuarine Ecosystem Protection Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to preserve and restore
the fisheries and other marine wildlife of the New York
Bight by closing the Mud Dump Site and ending the prac-
tice of disposal of dredged material within that area.
SEC. 3. CLOSURE OF MUD DUMP SITE.
(a) TERMINATION OF DUMPING.—On and after Sep-
tember 1, 1997, no person shall transport any dredged
material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters
at the Mud Dump Site, other than for purposes of remedi-
ation in accordance with subsection (c).
(b) CONDITIONS
FOR DUMPING BEFORE TERMI-
NATION.—
(1) CATEGORY I AND CATEGORY II DREDGED
MATERIAL ONLY.—After the date of the enactment
of this Act, no person shall transport any dredged
material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean
waters at the Mud Dump Site, other than Category
I dredged material or Category II dredged material.
(2) CONDITIONS FOR CATEGORY II DREDGED
MATERIAL.—After the date of the enactment of this
Act, no person shall transport any Category II
dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into
ocean waters at the Mud Dump Site, unless the ap-
plicant for a permit for the transport under title I
of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) has certified,
and the Secretary of the Army has published a find-
ing of, the following:
(A) The affected States or ports were re-
quested to provide alternative sites for disposal
of the material and failed to provide a reason-
able alternative site.
(B) Dumping of the material (including
necessary capping material) at the Mud Dump
Site will not increase the elevation of the ocean
bottom at the Mud Dump Site—
(i) such that the depth of the ocean at
that site is less than 65 feet below the sur-
face of the ocean; and
(ii) above an elevation designed, based
on scientific evidence, to contain the mate-
rial within the lateral limits of the Mud
Dump Site.
(c) SITE REMEDIATION.—
(1) PLAN.—The Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the
Army, shall develop a remediation and restoration
plan in accordance with applicable laws and regula-
tions for the Mud Dump Site and surrounding
areas.
(2) DESIGNATION OF SITE.—The Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency shall des-
ignate the Mud Dump Site and surrounding areas
that have historically been used for disposal of con-
taminated material as the Historic Area Remedi-
ation Site under part 228 of title 40, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, effective September 1, 1997.
(3) MANAGEMENT OF SITE.—The Historic Area
Remediation Site—
(A) shall be managed to reduce impacts at
that site to acceptable levels in accordance with
part 228.11(c) of title 40, Code of Federal Reg-
ulations; and
(B) 
shall 
be 
remediated 
with
uncontaminated dredged material that—
(i) meets standards for Category I
dredged material; and
(ii) will not cause significant undesir-
able effects, including such effects through
bioaccumulation.
(d) MODIFICATION
OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS-
MENT.—The Secretary of the Army and the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency shall modify envi-
ronmental assessment activities at the Mud Dump Site as
appropriate to reflect the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF OTHER OCEAN DUMPING OF
DREDGED MATERIAL OFF OF COAST OF NEW
JERSEY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—On and after September 1, 1997,
no person shall transport any dredged material for the
purpose of dumping it into ocean waters in the New York
Bight Apex outside of the Historic Area Remediation Site
designated under section 3(c), or into waters of the New
York-New Jersey Harbor.
(b) PROHIBITION ON DESIGNATION OF SITES AND
ISSUANCE OF PERMITS.—The Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency may not designate any new
site for ocean dumping of dredged material within the New
York Bight Apex, and the Secretary of the Army may not
issue any permit for transportation of dredged material
for the purpose of dumping it in the New York Bight
Apex, except in accordance with this Act.
SEC. 5. VIOLATIONS.
Any violation of section 3 (a) or (b) or section 4(a)
shall be treated as a violation of title I of the Marine Pro-
tection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C.
1411 et seq.).
SEC. 6. DISPOSAL ALTERNATIVES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army, in co-
operation with the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Secretary of Transportation, State
and local governments, and environmental and port inter-
ests, may establish, operate, and maintain a confined
dredged material disposal facility or facilities within the
confines of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Costs
associated with implementation of this section shall be
paid by non-Federal interests in substantially the same
manner as costs are required to be paid by non-Federal
interests under section 101 of the Water Resources Devel-
opment Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211).
(b) PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN
SEDIMENT CONTAINMENT ISLANDS.—The Secretary of
the Army may not construct sediment containment islands
in the Port of New York-New Jersey if such construction
would result in the loss of shellfish or other fisheries habi-
tat.
(c) LIMITATION ON DESIGNATION OF UPLAND DIS-
POSAL SITES.—If the Secretary of the Army determines
that upland disposal of dredged material is necessary in
the Port of New York-New Jersey, the site of such dis-
posal shall be designated within close proximity of the ac-
tual dredging site.
(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$260,000,000.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) TERMS DEFINED IN MARINE PROTECTION,
RESEARCH, AND SANCTUARIES ACT OF 1972.—Any
term used in this Act that is defined in section 3 of
the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1402) has the meaning
given the term in that section.
(2) CATEGORY I AND CATEGORY II DREDGED
MATERIAL.—Each of the terms ‘‘Category I dredged
material’’ and ‘‘Category II dredged material’’, re-
spectively, means such material as determined under
the 1992 United States Army Corps of Engineers
New York District and the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency Region II Guidance for Performing
Tests on Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Dis-
posal.
(3) MUD DUMP SITE.—The term ‘‘Mud Dump
Site’’ means the area designated by the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency
under part 228.115(d)(6) of title 40, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, as the New York Bight Dredged
Material Disposal Site (Mud Dump) in the New
York Bight Apex, North Atlantic Ocean for the dis-
posal of dredged material generated in the Port of
New York and New Jersey and nearby harbors.
(4) NEW YORK BIGHT APEX.—The term ‘‘New
York Bight Apex’’ means the ocean waters of the
Atlantic Ocean westward of 73 degrees 30 minutes
west longitude and northward of 40 degrees 10 min-
utes north latitude.
(5) UNCONTAMINATED DREDGED MATERIAL.—
The term ‘‘uncontaminated dredged material’’
means dredged material that, when subject to the
criteria for evaluating environmental impact under
subpart B of part 227 of title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, does not demonstrate chronic toxicity in
appropriate sensitive marine organisms and does not
cause appropriate sensitive benthic marine orga-
nisms to bioaccumulate one or more of the prohib-
ited constituents set forth in section 227.6 of such
title to statistically significant levels.
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