33 U.S.C. § 1443 — Research program respecting ocean dumping and other methods of waste disposal

(a) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency must do research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies to find ways to minimize or end, as soon as possible after October 6, 1980, the dumping into ocean waters or the waters described in section 1411(b) of title 33 of material that may unreasonably harm or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, the marine environment, ecological systems, or economic potential. The Administrator must also develop disposal methods that could replace that dumping. The Administrator must encourage, cooperate with, coordinate, and give financial or other help to suitable Federal, State, interstate, or local public authorities, agencies, and institutions, and to suitable private agencies, institutions, and individuals, for that research and those activities.

(b) This section does not change the December 31, 1981, date established in section 1412a of title 33 for ending ocean dumping of sewage sludge.

(c) The Administrator, working with the Secretary, the Secretary of Commerce, and other appropriate Federal, State, and local officials, must assess whether coastal areas can use regional plans for disposing of waste materials. Where appropriate, the plans should combine Federal, State, regional, and local disposal activities into one regional strategy. They should address: (1) the sources, amounts, and kinds of materials that need disposal now or will need it; (2) the environmental, economic, social, and human-health factors connected with disposal choices, including how those factors are assessed; (3) improvements in production, disposal, and recycling that reduce harmful effects; (4) the laws and regulations governing disposal; and (5) improvements to permitting that reduce administrative burdens.

(d) Working with the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator must send Congress and the President, within one year after April 7, 1986, a report about sewage-sludge disposal in the New York City metropolitan region. The report must: (1) consider the subsection (c) factors for landfilling, incineration, ocean dumping, and every other feasible disposal or reuse/recycling option; (2) assess the cost of those choices; and (3) recommend regulatory or legislative changes needed to reduce the harmful effects of sewage-sludge disposal.