REGULATING AND REDUCING POLLUTION - Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know - page 212

well as air quality. Other types of marine pollution are also
covered in MARPOL, as described in Chapter 1.
What is the London Convention?
The London Convention and London Protocol establish global
rules and standards for reducing and controlling pollution of
the marine environment from dumping. The main objective of
the London Convention is to prevent indiscriminate disposal
at sea of wastes that could create hazards to human health or
marine life, damage amenities, or interfere with other legiti-
mate uses of the sea. The 1982 United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea (LOS) directs states to adopt laws and regu-
lations that are no less effective than the rules and standards
of the London Convention and Protocol. It follows a black list/
grey list approach to ocean dumping: Annex I materials (black
list) generally may not be dumped (though certain materials
may be allowed if present only as trace contaminants or rapidly
rendered harmless), and Annex II materials (grey list) require
special care. The United States implements the Convention's
requirements through the Marine Protection, Research, and
Sanctuaries Act.
What national laws in the United States promote clean water?
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law gov-
erning water pollution. Passed in 1972, the act set goals of
eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into
water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and
ensuring that surface waters would meet standards neces-
sary for human sports and recreation (fishable and swimma-
ble) by 1983. (These goals were not met by 1983 and have not
been met yet.) The CWA uses two methods to protect water
quality: monitoring the water quality, and controlling dis-
charges from point sources. The National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) is a permit system used by the