[DRAFT] Oceanic Hazardous Waste Disposal Ban

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

I think this is pretty self explanatory

The World Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly resolutions regulating waste, litter, and other pollutants in the marine environment,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, demonstrated by industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as providing countless ecosystems serving as a habitat for oxygen-producing organisms,

Noting the dumping of hazardous wastes into oceans have catastrophic impacts on all of the aforementioned industries and ecosystems,

Aware that once dumped in an ocean hazardous waste can travel great distances and have international impacts,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'hazardous waste' as:
   
   
   
   1. Radioactive substances created as a by-product of industry,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste known to present lethal health hazards to marine life,
      
      
   3. Waste deemed chemically unstable, either due to acidity, flammability, or chemical reactivity,
      
      
   4. Sewage or other materials containing a high level of nutrient pollution, waterborne pathogens, and/or pharmaceutical compounds;
   
   
2. Prohibits the intentional disposal of hazardous waste, materials containing hazardous waste, or materials known to break down into hazardous waste, by governments or corporations, into oceans or water bodies that feed into oceans;
   
   
3. Clarifies that waste, once treated to remove its hazardous characteristics, is no longer regulated by this resolution;
   
   
4. Provides an exception to waste disposed of in an effort to mitigate an acute unforeseen situation involving the potential for the immediate loss of life, massive property damage, or national security threat,
   
   
5. States that the processes of subcontracting or other ways to intentionally work around the 'unforeseen' requirement above are entirely foreseen and will be recognised and treated as such;
   
   
6. Encourages member nations to find more environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Co-Authored by Ransium

The World Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly resolutions regulating waste, litter, and other pollutants in the marine environment,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, demonstrated by industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as providing countless ecosystem services such as providing habitat for oxygen producing organisms,

Noting the dumping of hazardous wastes into oceans have catastrophic impacts on all of the above industries and organisms,

Aware that once dumped in ocean hazardous waste can travel great distances and have international impacts,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'hazardous waste' as:
   
   
   
   1. Radioactive substances created as a by-product of industry,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste known to be of a densely concentrated carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste deemed chemically hazardous, either due to acidity, flammability, or chemical reactivity,
      
      
   4. Sewage or other materials containing a high level of waterborne pathogens and/or pharmaceutical compounds;
   
   
2. Prohibits the intentional disposal of hazardous waste, materials containing hazardous waste, or materials known to break down into hazardous waste into oceans or water bodies that feed into the ocean;
   
   
   
3. Clarifies that waste, once treated to remove its hazardous characteristics, is no longer regulated by this resolution;
   
   
   
4. Provides an exception to waste disposed of in an effort to mitigate an acute unforeseen situation involving the potential for the immediate loss of life, massive property damage, or national security threat,
   
   
   
5. States that the processes of subcontracting or other ways to intentionally work around the 'unforeseen' requirement above are entirely foreseen and will be treated as such;
   
   
   
6. Encourages member nations to find more environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Co-Authored by Ransium

The General Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly Resolutions protecting the natural environments of the world from pollutants,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, having a major impact on industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as playing host to many critical oxygen producing organisms,

Noting that the state of the oceans pollution levels has a drastically negative effect on all of the above industries and organisms,

Distressed that many World Assembly Member Nations are already experiencing the consequences of damaging ocean waste dumping,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste', for the purpose of this resolution, as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly hazardous radioactive results and by-products of intentionally performed nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste of known densely concentrated carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical hazard,
      
      
   4. Uncleaned waste water and excrement (untreated sewage),
   
   
2. Defines an 'Ocean Tributary', for the purpose of this resolution, as a body of water which directly drains into the ocean,
   
   
3. Prohibits the intentional disposal and discharge of such toxic waste in any way shape or form into the Oceans and/or Ocean Tributaries,
   
   
4. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment in regards to plastic disposal,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

The General Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly Resolutions protecting the natural environments of the world from pollutants,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, having a major impact on industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as playing host to many critical oxygen producing organisms,

Noting that the state of the oceans pollution levels has a drastically negative effect on all of the above industries and organisms,

Distressed that many World Assembly Member Nations are already experiencing the consequences of damaging ocean waste dumping,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste', for the purpose of this resolution, as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly hazardous radioactive results and by-products of intentionally performed nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste of known densely concentrated carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical hazard,
      
      
   4. Uncleaned waste water and excrement (untreated sewage),
   
   
2. Prohibits the intentional disposal and discharge of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment in regards to plastic disposal,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

The General Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly Resolutions protecting the natural environments of the world from pollutants,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, having a major impact on industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as playing host to many critical oxygen producing organisms,

Noting that the state of the oceans pollution levels has a drastically negative effect on all of the above industries and organisms,

Distressed that many World Assembly Member Nations are already experiencing the consequences of damaging ocean waste dumping,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly hazardous radioactive results and by-products of intentionally performed nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste of known densely concentrated carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical hazard,
   
   
2. Prohibits the intentional disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bans member nations from discharging untreated sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment in regards to plastic disposal,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

The General Assembly,

Lauding previously passed World Assembly Resolutions protecting the natural environments of the world from pollutants,

Understanding the crucial role oceans play in global ecological and economic stability, having a major impact on industries such as fishing, marine aquaculture, shipping, and recreation, as well as playing host to many critical oxygen producing organisms,

Noting that the state of the oceans pollution levels has a drastically negative effect on all of the above industries and organisms,

Distressed that many World Assembly Member Nations are already experiencing the consequences of damaging ocean waste dumping,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly hazardous radioactive results and by-products of intentionally performed nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Industrially produced carcinogens and waste of known densely concentrated carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical hazard,
2. Prohibits the intentional disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bans member nations from discharging untreated sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Requires Member States to:
   
   
   
   1. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with extinction or endangerment due to such existing contaminants,
      
      
   2. Report said species to the WA Endangered Species Committee,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment in regards to plastic disposal,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to issues caused by improper waste disposal,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering radioactive results and by-products of intentionally performed nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Unnatural Carcinogens and unnatural waste of known Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals),
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping plastic waste and untreated sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      
      1. Shall clean the ocean environments primarily polluted by Member States with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence or their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to issues caused by improper waste disposal,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering radioactive results and by-products of nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Unnatural Carcinogens or waste of known Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals),
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste and sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      
      1. Shall clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

[Kenmoria]

“Is clause 1 supposed to be an ‘and’ or ‘or’ list? Either way, some of the products of nuclear fission include things like helium-4 or tritium, both of which are non-toxic and completely safe. Although the majority of nuclear fission products are indeed dangerous, in some instances, completely safe substances can be produced.

On another note, I do have to question the reasoning behind completely banning certain things from going into the sea, if that is the only way to properly dispose of then. For example, nuclear waste could be stored in the sea, since in some cases that is the only safe place for it.”

[Araraukar]

OOC: Are you going to ignore all of the passed resolutions because of your distaste of a few of them? There are reasons I told you to search the thread with keywords of every kind that are even slightly relevant to your topic; some of this stuff is already covered one way or another.

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

OOC: Are you going to ignore all of the passed resolutions because of your distaste of a few of them? There are reasons I told you to search the thread with keywords of every kind that are even slightly relevant to your topic; some of this stuff is already covered one way or another.

Look Ararau, just because we don't agree on one topic shouldn't make you hate me. If you keep acting in this way, then it makes you the aggressor here, not me, I have stopped arguing my side as it is futile, now please lets just make peace and talk this over nicely.

EDIT: I checked with keywords ; only one resolution regulating oceans and it is about noise reduction.

[Wallenburg]

search.php?keywords=ocean&t=30&sf=msgonly

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

https://forum.nationstates.net/search.php?keywords=ocean&t=30&sf=msgonly

Yae! It doesn't overlap any of them!

[Kenmoria]

“For clause 4a, exactly how is the OSO supposed to restore oceans? That is a monumental task if there is heavy pollution, and could cause some distinct problems if a member state owns all of a given body of water and doesn’t want for there to be WA personnel engaging with it.”

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

“For clause 4a, exactly how is the OSO supposed to restore oceans? That is a monumental task if there is heavy pollution, and could cause some distinct problems if a member state owns all of a given body of water and doesn’t want for there to be WA personnel engaging with it.”

Can I change the draft that the WA personnel will only work in international waters and the nations coast should they permit it?

EDIT: Okay, I fleshed out the restoration bit. Now what do you think?

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

I redid a lot of the work, and added a function for OSO? Legality?

[Araraukar]

EDIT: I checked with keywords ; only one resolution regulating oceans and it is about noise reduction.

OOC: Yeah, but you've chosen to include oil spills (carsinogenic) and nuclear disaster cleanouts. There are resolutions for those separately.

What do you think?

You don't have to bump every 4 hours. That's considered very spammy.

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

OOC: Yeah, but you've chosen to include oil spills (carsinogenic) and nuclear disaster cleanouts. There are resolutions for those separately.

Can you link me the resolutions? Also, oil spills are carcinogenic, but not all carcinogens are oil spills.

[Araraukar]

Can you link me the resolutions?

OOC: I'm not doing your homework for you. You know where the thread is, go use it.

Also, oil spills are carcinogenic, but not all carcinogens are oil spills.

Yes, but since oil spills are carcinogenic, they will be included, and they specifically already have a resolution concerning them.

This is why I said to actually use the passed resolutions thread, and to search with "keywords of every kind that are even slightly relevant to your topic", not just "ocean".

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

Can you link me the resolutions?

OOC: I'm not doing your homework for you. You know where the thread is, go use it.

Also, oil spills are carcinogenic, but not all carcinogens are oil spills.

Yes, but since oil spills are carcinogenic, they will be included, and they specifically already have a resolution concerning them.

This is why I said to actually use the passed resolutions thread, and to search with "keywords of every kind that are even slightly relevant to your topic", not just "ocean".

I checked - Convention on Oil Spills was repealed. I thinK I am good to go.

[Araraukar]

I checked - Convention on Oil Spills was repealed. I thinK I am good to go.

OOC: Let me guess, you searched with "oil" this time?

Thanks to your vague definitions, I counted 14 extant resolutions that would affect what you have here, out of which maybe 10 are ones you seriously need to be aware of. Read the thread, if you can't think of enough keywords to search it with. The links to all the resolution posts are listed in the first couple of posts, click on everything you think might even vaguely have anything to do with water use, oceans, carcinogens, spills, oil, fission materials, transport, etc.

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to such issues,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed of into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering results of nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Carcinogens or waste of Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as a bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals ; covered by GAR #371),
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      
      1. Shall draw money from WA States to clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

Also, do you realize you're trying to make WA nations pay for ocean clean-up? That alone will make this fail - that's the equivalent of in RL getting just 29 nations in the world to clean up ALL the oceans of ALL pollutants, and is compounded by the fact that the WA nations are scattered on multiple planets, with some of them compassing several solar systems.

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

I checked - Convention on Oil Spills was repealed. I thinK I am good to go.

OOC: Let me guess, you searched with "oil" this time?

Thanks to your vague definitions, I counted 14 extant resolutions that would affect what you have here, out of which maybe 10 are ones you seriously need to be aware of. Read the thread, if you can't think of enough keywords to search it with. The links to all the resolution posts are listed in the first couple of posts, click on everything you think might even vaguely have anything to do with water use, oceans, carcinogens, spills, oil, fission materials, transport, etc.

I really need the gensec to tell me what is wrong...

Okie dokie Ararau. I will do me some searching. You feel a lot more hostile than before our ideological debate.

[quoge]

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to such issues,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed of into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering results of nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Carcinogens or waste of Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as a bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals ; covered by GAR #371),
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      
      1. Shall draw money from WA States to clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

Also, do you realize you're trying to make WA nations pay for ocean clean-up? That alone will make this fail - that's the equivalent of in RL getting just 29 nations in the world to clean up ALL the oceans of ALL pollutants, and is compounded by the fact that the WA nations are scattered on multiple planets, with some of them compassing several solar systems.[/quote]

Okay, I will take that part out.

[Araraukar]

I really need the gensec to tell me what is wrong...

OOC: No, you don't. You need to do your homework and research things properly. The GenSec aren't there for your drafting fact-checking either, nor are they the ultimate authority on anything but strict legality of submitted proposals.

You feel a lot more hostile than before our ideological debate.

Perception illusion, I can assure you. I'm more stern with you over the "do your own research" bit, because you're not a newbie and thus are - or at least should be - aware of all of this already.

Okay, I will take that part out.

Also, "carcinogens" is such a wide variety of substances that you'll never be able to enforce that. And same for "bio-hazard" - btw, the heavy metals bit is on the wrong subclause and suggests that you don't know what bio-hazard means - I mean, salmonella is a biohazard, but how are you going to test all wastewaters (after treatement - which doesn't kill all bacteria, just so you know) to make sure no salmonella gets into an ocean? Listeria (food-poisonings) is another common one, but the whole point is that you generally don't know your food has it (before it's too late) - how would you prevent any food remnants ending up in an ocean? Or test everything anglers use as bait?

And speaking of carcinogens, are you aware that many plants use chemicals to protect themselves from herbivores that are carcinogenic? How will you prevent any plant matter ending up in the oceans? I mean, rivers are a thing that happens.

Wanting to ban the intentional dumping of waste known to contain any of the above in significant amounts (because, like, one rotten orangepeel won't make a difference, but a ton of them might) would make much more sense.

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

I really need the gensec to tell me what is wrong...

OOC: No, you don't. You need to do your homework and research things properly. The GenSec aren't there for your drafting fact-checking either, nor are they the ultimate authority on anything but strict legality of submitted proposals.

You feel a lot more hostile than before our ideological debate.

Perception illusion, I can assure you. I'm more stern with you over the "do your own research" bit, because you're not a newbie and thus are - or at least should be - aware of all of this already.

Okay, I will take that part out.

Also, "carcinogens" is such a wide variety of substances that you'll never be able to enforce that. And same for "bio-hazard" - btw, the heavy metals bit is on the wrong subclause and suggests that you don't know what bio-hazard means - I mean, salmonella is a biohazard, but how are you going to test all wastewaters (after treatement - which doesn't kill all bacteria, just so you know) to make sure no salmonella gets into an ocean? Listeria (food-poisonings) is another common one, but the whole point is that you generally don't know your food has it (before it's too late) - how would you prevent any food remnants ending up in an ocean? Or test everything anglers use as bait?

And speaking of carcinogens, are you aware that many plants use chemicals to protect themselves from herbivores that are carcinogenic? How will you prevent any plant matter ending up in the oceans? I mean, rivers are a thing that happens.

Wanting to ban the intentional dumping of waste known to contain any of the above in significant amounts (because, like, one rotten orangepeel won't make a difference, but a ton of them might) would make much more sense.

Okay, I think I get the message:

Do some research, overhaul the draft to be more insightful, and dont ban fruit on accident.

[Araraukar]

Do some research, overhaul the draft to be more insightful, and dont ban fruit on accident.

OOC: ...can I put this in my collection of quotables?

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

Do some research, overhaul the draft to be more insightful, and dont ban fruit on accident.

OOC: ...can I put this in my collection of quotables?

Why not!

Time to fix the draft now.

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

This has been submitted.

[Araraukar]

Time to fix the draft now.

This has been submitted.

OOC: Submission =/= fixing the draft. Is someone else getting onto your account? You say one thing and do another.

Oceans Protection Act

Category: Environmental
Industry Affected: All Businesses - Strong

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to such issues,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed of into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering results and by-products of nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Unnatural Carcinogens or waste of known Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals),
   
   
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste and sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      1. Shall clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

[Hindu Puri]

Why should WA Nations pay up for spills occuring due to non WA nations?

[Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar]

Time to fix the draft now.

This has been submitted.

OOC: Submission =/= fixing the draft. Is someone else getting onto your account? You say one thing and do another.

Oceans Protection Act

Category: Environmental
Industry Affected: All Businesses - Strong

The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to such issues,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed of into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Hereby,

1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
   
   
   1. Decidedly endangering results and by-products of nuclear fission,
      
      
   2. Unnatural Carcinogens or waste of known Carcinogenic nature,
      
      
   3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals),
   
   
2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,
   
   
3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste and sewage into the oceans,
   
   
4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
   
   
   1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      
      
      1. Shall clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,
         
         
      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,
         
         
      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
      
      
   2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,
      
      
   3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
   
   
5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,

Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.

Yeah, I didn't really review it more than once after editing it.

I thought I had fixed the issues but after receiving a forwarded version of the telegram you sent to WA Delegates, I can see there are some things that need changing.

However, your information in the telegram is slightly misleading:

"Results and by-products of nuclear fission" doesn't specify radio-activity, and indeed includes completely stable end products like lead. Also, since it doesn't mention uranium specifically, this includes all naturally-occurring radioactive materials, which are present in everything organic (carbon dating is based on radioactive carbon found in all living things).

I included the term "Decidedly endangering" before the part you quoted - thus this is not really as big of an issue.

"Unnatural carcinogens or waste of known carcignogenic nature" includes almost all fresh plants - everything from grass clippings to tobacco leaves to orange peels - because of how most plants try to protect their parts from being eaten with chemicals that, among other things, can cause cancer. Even grilled meat is a carcinogen.

No it doesn't - hence the word "unnatural".

"Industrial chemical bio-hazard" on the other hand just makes no sense, because a bio-hazard is a disease-causing pathogen, like salmonella, not a chemical. If it indeed bans industrial chemicals rather than biohazards, it creates a whole new level of problems.

A bio-hazard is a danger to biological life. Not always a disease causing pathogen.

The committee created in clause 4 is, among other things, tasked to clean up the oceans. As a WA committee, this clean-up is funded by all WA nations, but given that WA nations form only 14% of all nations, that means that WA nations would be predominantly paying to clean up pollutants spewed forth by non-WA nations. It is the same unfairness of a situation as if in Real Life just 29 nations paid for the clean-up of all the oceans.

You got me there.

This was specifically pointed out to the author and they said they'd take it out, but obviously haven't.

I thought I had fixed most of these. If it doesn't pass, I will submit a revised version with all of this in mind.

[Wallenburg]

A bio-hazard is a danger to biological life. Not always a disease causing pathogen.

Incorrect. Biohazard is a contraction of biological hazard, which refers to biological substances that present hazards to life. Industrial chemicals do not fall under that definition.

[Araraukar]

I included the term "Decidedly endangering" before the part you quoted

OOC: Which means diddly squat.

"Unnatural carcinogens or waste of known carcignogenic nature" includes almost all fresh plants - everything from grass clippings to tobacco leaves to orange peels - because of how most plants try to protect their parts from being eaten with chemicals that, among other things, can cause cancer. Even grilled meat is a carcinogen.

No it doesn't - hence the word "unnatural".

The "or" buggers up your intention of specifying unnatural.

I thought I had fixed most of these. If it doesn't pass, I will submit a revised version with all of this in mind.

So you really don't care about the resolution at all, you just want the author badge?

If you at all care about the resolution, you'll pull the submission now and get it fixed, and don't re-submit until your draft has received approvals on this forum from GAers (which means, not random drive-by-posters).

EDIT: For the record, this is what I sent out:

Hi there!

I noticed you have approved a GA proposal titled "Oceans Protection Act" to get it to voting stage. I was wondering if you were aware of the issues in the proposal, which had been pointed out to the author and which they had promised to sort out prior to submitting it, but actually hadn't?

First of all, the definitions for toxic waste are far too all-encompassing, and include relatively safe chemicals as well.

"Results and by-products of nuclear fission" doesn't specify radio-activity, and indeed includes completely stable end products like lead. Also, since it doesn't mention uranium specifically, this includes all naturally-occurring radioactive materials, which are present in everything organic (carbon dating is based on radioactive carbon found in all living things).

"Unnatural carcinogens or waste of known carcignogenic nature" includes almost all fresh plants - everything from grass clippings to tobacco leaves to orange peels - because of how most plants try to protect their parts from being eaten with chemicals that, among other things, can cause cancer. Even grilled meat is a carcinogen.

"Industrial chemical bio-hazard" on the other hand just makes no sense, because a bio-hazard is a disease-causing pathogen, like salmonella, not a chemical. If it indeed bans industrial chemicals rather than biohazards, it creates a whole new level of problems.

The vagueness of the definitions - which the author didn't fix despite promising to - when taken together with "disposal ... in any way shape or form" in clause 2, create a situation where waste-water management becomes near-impossible (due to the ban on carcinogenic materials and industrial chemicals, such as what are used to kill fecal bacteria), as well as more or less bans allowing any leftover foods or, well, anything produced by humans from ever ending up in an ocean. Say goodbye for ever using fishing baits again.

Clause 3's plastic waste ban is much less insane due to the word "dumping" being present in that clause. Though the dumping of "sewage" doesn't make a distinction between untreated sewage (which I think the author meant) and treated sewage, which would halt waste-water treatment everywhere, and put nations in a situation where they must store or dispose of all sewage on land, because anything let to get into any waterway, will eventually find its way into an ocean.

The committee created in clause 4 is, among other things, tasked to clean up the oceans. As a WA committee, this clean-up is funded by all WA nations, but given that WA nations form only 14% of all nations, that means that WA nations would be predominantly paying to clean up pollutants spewed forth by non-WA nations. It is the same unfairness of a situation as if in Real Life just 29 nations paid for the clean-up of all the oceans.

This was specifically pointed out to the author and they said they'd take it out, but obviously haven't.

I humbly request that you withdraw your approval and instead urge the author to fix the issues as they promised they would do. You can post here to do so: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=459597