OCR Text |
Show 641 Water Pollution.-This is particularly illustrated by the sev- eral statutes authorizing the Secretary of the Army to control the deposit of refuse matter in navigable waters. For the most part, such legislation has been confined to impediments to navigation.804 The act of most general application, for exam- ple, is limited in its scope to refuse matter "other than that flowing from streets and sewers and passing therefrom in a liquid state."805 The subject of pollution control largely re- mains therefore one for regulation by other agencies and through other statutes. The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Mines have authority to investigate pollution in relation to wildlife.806 And the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service is au- thorized under the 1948 Water Pollution Control Act to pre- pare a comprehensive program for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters.807 Provision is also made for securing the abatement of pollution, although the Act in effect gives the state where the pollution originates a veto power over this enforcement procedure.808 Regulation of Water Carriers.-Generally, the regulation of water carriers is a function of the Interstate Commerce Commission, conducted according to a pattern substantially similar to the regulatory scheme applicable to rail and motor carriers.809 The establishment and maintenance of navigation aids, such as lighthouses, buoys, lights, radio beacons, and radio- direction finder stations, and the prescription of rules for navi- gating in harbors and inland waterways and at sea are responsi- bilities of the United States Coast Guard operating under a number of statutory provisions.810 Congress has delegated to and railroad purposes, in addition to matters relating strictly to naviga- tion. Bridges authorized under the 1946 General Bridge Act are not, how- ever, subject to the mandatory conditions of the 1906 statute. See supra, p. 113, and especially n. 220. 804 See supra, pp. 118-119. 808 See supra, pp. 118-119. 806 See supra, p. 330. 807 See supra, p. 340. 808 See supra, p. 341. 809 See supra, pp. 78-83. 810 See supra, p. 76. |