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this expanded funding flexibility to establish wetlands conservation banks and wetlands conservation plans. For more information on Coastal America, see the Coasts and Oceans section.

Airport Noise

The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 set national aviation noise policy and provided for a transition to a quieter aircraft fleet. In September 1991 the DOT Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued rules to phase out noisier aircraft by December 31, 1999, using an interim compliance schedule. In 1992 FAA received the first set of annual compliance reports, which indicated that the percentage of the noisier Stage 2 airplanes in the national fleet fell below 50 percent for the first time. Implementation of other regulations required by the Airport Noise Act has also begun.

Hazardous Materials Transportation

The Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990 imposed standards for use by states and Native Americans in setting and enforcing routes for transportation of certain hazardous materials. In July 1992 the DOT Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) issued a rule establishing a national registration program for certain shippers and carriers of hazardous materials and a collection system to fund a national emergency response training and planning grant program. In addition to these standards, RSPA developed the following regulations to coordinate U.S. domestic requirements with various international agreements:

• Packaging Standards. Several rules issued in 1990 to conform with United Nations recommendations on

hazardous materials packaging became effective in 1992. The U.N. recommendations provide performance-oriented standards that encourage innovation and facilitate international commerce.

Marine Pollutants. In 1991 the U.S. Senate ratified Annex III of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, which mandated changes in the list of materials identified as marine pollutants by the International Maritime Organization. Currently the DOT Research and Special Programs Administration is developing regulations to implement the treaty obligations.

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It provided for the cleanup of spills and compensation for public and private damages, without preempting states rights of recovery. DOT administers the law in cooperation with EPA.

Pollution Response. DOT regulations proposed in 1992 would require tank vessels and marine transportation facilities to develop oil spill response plans to be in place by February 1993 and operating by August 1993. Vessels transporting oil and hazardous bulk cargo would be required to carry pollution discharge removal equipment. Response plans also would be required for other kinds of transportation facilities, such as pipelines, rails, and highways.

In response to OPA, the Coast Guard placed pollution response equipment in each of its 49 marine safety units located in ports throughout the United States and purchased enhanced response equipment for 19 sites.

As of September 1992 a new Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team became fully operational for both oil and hazardous substance spill response. The National Strike Force Coordination Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, administers Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Strike teams. The center trains federal on-scene coordinators in pollution response and provides technical assistance, equipment, and other resources in the event of a spill.

Liability. In response to OPA, the Coast Guard created the National Pollution Funds Center in February 1991 to address funding, liability, and damage claims arising from discharges and threatened discharges of oil. In August 1992 DOT issued an interim rule establishing procedures for filing of claims

for removal costs or damages resulting from the discharge of oil.

Double-Hull Tankers. Under OPA, new tank vessels operating in U.S. waters must be constructed with double hulls, and existing single-hull vessels must be phased out between 1995 and 2015. In August 1992 DOT issued an interim rule providing guidance on double-hull construction.

DOT also sponsored a 1991 National Academy of Sciences study on alternative tank vessel design, which found the double hull to be an effective design and recommended further study of the mid-deck design. In addition, the Coast Guard has participated in efforts by the International Maritime Organization to evaluate alternatives to doublehull construction and is preparing a report on the subject to the Congress.

Nonregulatory Initiatives. States have considerable leeway under OPA in regulating the maritime industry, which often results in inconsistent federal and state requirements regarding pollution prevention, preparedness, liability, and response. To address this problem, the Coast Guard has begun a program to improve coordination with states and to seek a consistent marine environmental protection strategy. The Coast Guard will encourage and support regional initiatives that bring citizen groups and marine industry associations together to foster long-term environmental compli

ance.

Maritime Oil Pollution. In March 1992 the United States became the first nation to ratify the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC), negotiated under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization

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Note: Information is for incidents filed from 1982-1991. Of 22 DOT hazardous classes, the following six represented the worst transportation hazards:

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NOS =

Not otherwise stated, a generic form that cannot be characterized by a more specific category.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Hazardous Materials Safety, Hazardous Materials Information System, Washington, DC, 1992.

(IMO). The convention-proposed by President Bush in June 1989 and completed 17 months later-protects the marine environment from oil spills and calls for planning, reporting, technology sharing, and cooperation. OPRC requires parties to establish national systems for preparedness and response,

a system the United States established through the 1990 Oil Pollution Act. The U.S. Coast Guard is working with IMO to refine OPRC implementation plans and to bring existing bilateral contingency plans with Canada, Japan, Mexico, Bermuda, and Russia into conformity with the convention.

Water

Also see Agriculture, Coasts and Oceans, Wetlands, and related tables and figures in Part II.

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1.4 billion gallons per day of renewable water supplies withdrawn in the lower 48 states, up from offstream withdrawals of 408 billion gallons per day in 1990.

A different picture emerges, however, at the regional level, because of an uneven natural distribution of the resource in relation to regional and seasonal water demand. Rising demands for limited supplies in certain parts of the nation, particularly the West, are matters of public concern on a number of fronts-health, environmental, economic, recreational, and industrial. Changes in engineering, management, or public behavior can alleviate some of this concern.

The natural availability of water in any geographic area is determined by hydrologic conditions, which reflect the continual circulation of water from the sea to the atmosphere to the land and back again. The amount of rain and snow is the primary factor in the availability of surface water resources. Average annual precipitation in the

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