I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3652
To amend the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972
to direct the Secretary of the Army to prohibit ocean dumping at the
Historic Area Remediation Site, located east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2000
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Army to
prohibit ocean dumping at the Historic Area Remediation
Site, located east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and for
other purposes.
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 ‘‘Mud Dump Permanent
Closure and Remediation Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. PERMANENT DUMPING BAN AT HISTORIC AREA RE-
MEDIATION SITE.
Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and
Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1413) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) HISTORIC AREA REMEDIATION SITE.—
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON OCEAN DUMPING.—Ex-
cept as provided by paragraph (2), after the date of
enactment of this subsection, dumping shall be pro-
hibited at the Historic Area Remediation Site (as
defined in subsection (g)).
‘‘(2) PERMITS FOR REMEDIATION.—After the
date of issuance of standards for remediation mate-
rials under subsection (g), the Secretary may issue
permits under this section authorizing the transpor-
tation of dredged materials to the Historic Area Re-
mediation Site solely for the purpose of providing for
remediation of the site.
‘‘(3) REMEDIATION TO BE FOLLOWED BY PER-
MANENT CLOSURE.—Upon satisfying the goal speci-
fied in subsection (g)(2)(B) at the Historic Area Re-
mediation Site, as determined by the Administrator,
the Secretary shall not issue any further permits
under this section authorizing the transportation of
dredged materials to the site for any purpose.
toric Area Remediation Site to a level that re-
flects background ambient contamination levels
in the ocean.
‘‘(3) NOTICE
AND
COMMENT.—The Adminis-
trator shall provide notice and an opportunity for
public comment before issuing final standards under
paragraph (1).
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply:
‘‘(A) BACKGROUND AMBIENT CONTAMINA-
TION LEVELS.—The term ‘background ambient
contamination levels’ means a level of contami-
nation that is substantially equivalent to or less
than—
‘‘(i) the levels of contamination in
biota and sediments found occurring natu-
rally in the ocean in areas that have never
been impacted by ocean dumping; and
‘‘(ii) the levels of contamination found
in the clean reference sediments used by
the Environmental Protection Agency when
testing and evaluating remediation mate-
rials to be deposited at the Historic Area
Remediation Site.
‘‘(B) CLEAN
REFERENCE
SEDIMENTS.—
The term ‘clean reference sediments’ means a
sediment, substantially free of contaminants,
that is as similar to the grain size of the
dredged material and the sediment at the dis-
posal site as practical, and reflects conditions
that would exist in the vicinity of the disposal
site had no dredged material disposal ever oc-
curred, but had all other influences on sediment
taken place.
‘‘(C) 
HISTORIC
AREA
REMEDIATION
SITE.—The term ‘Historic Area Remediation
Site’ means the dredged material disposal area
known by that name that is located east of
Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and described in sec-
tion 228.15(d)(6) of title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations (as in effect on July 1, 1999).’’.
Æ