[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 30 (Friday, February 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S2182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 110-1

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following 
treaty transmitted to the Senate on February 16, 2007, by the President 
of the United States:
  Land-Based Sources Protocol to Cartagena Convention (Treaty Document 
No. 110-1).
  I further ask unanimous consent that the treaty be considered as 
having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying 
papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be 
printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The message of the President is as follows:

To the Senate of the United States:
  I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources 
and Activities (the ``Protocol'') to the Convention for the Protection 
and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean 
Region, with Annexes, done at Oranjestad, Aruba, on October 6, 1999, 
and signed by the United States on that same date. The report of the 
Secretary of State is enclosed for the information of the Senate.
  The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine 
Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (the ``Cartagena 
Convention'') is a regional framework agreement negotiated under the 
auspices of the Regional Seas Program of the United Nations Environment 
Program (UNEP). It sets out general legal obligations to protect the 
marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, Straits of Florida, Caribbean 
Sea, and immediately adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean--collectively 
known as the Wider Caribbean Region. The United States became a Party 
to the Cartagena Convention in 1984. The Cartagena Convention envisions 
the development of protocols to further elaborate certain of its 
general obligations and to facilitate its effective implementation.
  Negotiated with the active participation and leadership of the United 
States, the Protocol addresses one of the most serious sources of 
marine pollution in the Wider Caribbean Region. It is estimated that 70 
to 90 percent of pollution entering the marine environment emanates 
from land-based sources and activities. Among the principal land-based 
sources of marine pollution in the Caribbean are domestic wastewater 
and agricultural nonpoint source runoff. Such pollution contributes to 
the degradation of coral reefs and commercial fisheries, negatively 
affects regional economies, and endangers public health, recreation, 
and tourism throughout the region.
  The Protocol and its Annexes list priority source categories, 
activities, and associated contaminants that affect the Wider Caribbean 
Region, and set forth factors that Parties will be required to apply in 
determining prevention, reduction, and control strategies to manage 
land-based sources of pollution. In particular, the Parties are 
required to ensure that domestic wastewater discharges meet specific 
effluent limitations, and to develop plans for the prevention and 
reduction of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The Protocol is 
expected to raise standards for treating domestic wastewater throughout 
the region to levels close to those already in place in the United 
States.
  The United States would be able to implement its obligations under 
the Protocol under existing statutory and regulatory authority.
  The Protocol is the first regional agreement to establish effluent 
standards to protect one of our most valuable resources, the marine 
environment. It differs markedly from other, similar regional 
agreements in its conceptual approach and the specificity of its 
obligations. As such, the Protocol is expected to set a new standard 
for regional agreements on this subject. Early ratification will 
demonstrate our continued commitment to global leadership and to the 
protection of the marine environment of the Wider Caribbean Region.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to 
the Protocol and its Annexes, with the declaration described in the 
accompanying report of the Secretary of State, and give its advice and 
consent to ratification.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, February 15, 2007.

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