Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 62 Part 1.djvu/1186

 PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 758-JUNE 30,1948 Cooperation with States. Interstate compacts. Approval by Con- gress. Declaration of pol- lution as a public nuisance. Notification of pol- lution. Action upon failure to secure abatement. Rearig. such agencies of the condition of any waters in any State or States, and of the discharges of any sewage, industrial wastes, or substance which may deleteriously affect such waters. (b) The Surgeon General shall encourage cooperative activities by the States for the prevention and abatement of water pollution; encourage the enactment of uniform State laws relating to water pol- lution; encourage compacts between States for the prevention and abatement of water pollution; collect and disseminate information relating to water pollution and the prevention and abatement thereof support and aid technical research to devise and perfect methods of treatment of industrial wastes which are not susceptible to known effective methods of treatment; make available to State and interstate agencies, municipalities, industries, and individuals the results of sur- veys, studies, investigations, research, and experiments relating to water pollution and the prevention and abatement thereof conducted by the Surgeon General and by authorized cooperating agencies; and furnish such assistance to State agencies as may be authorized by law. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in con- flict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and abatement of water pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements and com- pacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by the Congress. (d) (1) The pollution of interstate waters in or adjacent to any State or States (whether the matter causing or contributing to such pollution is discharged directly into such waters or reaches such waters after discharge into a tributary of such waters), which endangers the health or welfare of persons in a State other than that in which the discharge originates, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and subject to abatement as herein provided. (2) Whenever the Surgeon General, on the basis of reports, surveys, and studies, finds that any pollution declared to be a public nuisance by paragraph (1) of this subsection is occurring, he shall give formal notification thereof to the person or persons discharging any matter causing or contributing to such pollution and shall advise the water pollution agency or interstate agency of the State or States where such discharge or discharges originate of such notification. This notifica- tion may outline recommended remedial measures which are reason- able and equitable in that case and shall specify a reasonable time to secure abatement of the pollution. If action calculated to secure abate- ment of the pollution within the time specified is not commenced, this failure shall again be brought to the attention of the person or per- sons discharging the matter and of the water pollution agency or interstate agency of the State or States where such discharge or dis- charges originate. The notification to such agency may be accom- panied by a recommendation that it initiate a suit to abate the pollu- tion in a court of proper jurisdiction. (3) If, within a reasonable time after the second notification by the Surgeon General, the person or persons discharging the matter fail to initiate action to abate the pollution or the State water pollution agency or interstate agency fails to initiate a suit to secure abatement, the Federal Security Administrator is authorized to call a public hear- ing, to be held in or near one or more of the places where the discharge or discharges causing or contributing to such pollution originate, before a board of five or more persons appointed by the Administra- tor, who may be officers or employees of the Federal Security Agency 1156 [62 STAT.

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