[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 113 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 113

   To establish the HARS-specific PCB effects level, expressed in a 
certain Memorandum of Agreement issued by the Environmental Protection 
        Agency and the Corps of Engineers, as a final criterion.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Andrews, Mr. 
  LoBiondo, Mr. Saxton, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Holt, and Mr. Rothman) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish the HARS-specific PCB effects level, expressed in a 
certain Memorandum of Agreement issued by the Environmental Protection 
        Agency and the Corps of Engineers, as a final criterion.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Ocean Preservation Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. EFFECT OF MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The joint Memorandum of Agreement signed in 
September of 2000 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army 
Corps of Engineers established an effects level of 113 parts per 
billion, of poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) detected in the tissue of 
worms tested in sediments to be used as remediation material at the 
Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) off the coast of New Jersey. This 
HARS-specific effects level for PCBs is hereby established as final 
criterion for making decisions regarding placement of sediments as 
remediation material at the HARS. The arithmetic mean concentration, 
without use of statistical confidence intervals, reported for the 
analyses of the worm tissue replicates exposed to the tested sediments 
shall not exceed the criterion.
    (b) Minimum Level.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, using the rulemaking authority provided pursuant to 
the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, may only 
promulgate a rule, with regard to sediments to be used as remediation 
material at the Historic Area Remediation Site off the coast of New 
Jersey, that is equal or more protective of human health and the 
environment than the 113 PCB criterion.
    (c) Application.--The criterion established in subsection (a) shall 
be effective as of the date of enactment of this Act.
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