American Academy of Underwater Sciences Records, 1956-2015 (MSS 773)

OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW TWO TO THREE (2-3) WEEKS FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.

Extent: 1.6 Linear feet (4 archives boxes)

Records of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), including extensive documentation of the organization's efforts to exempt scientific diving from OSHA commerical diving regulations in the early 1980s, and board meeting minutes.

The mission of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) is to facilitate the development of safe and productive scientific divers through education, research, advocacy, and the advancement of standards for scientific diving practices, certifications, and operations. The AAUS was officially chartered in California in 1983 by individuals and organizations involved in the effort to obtain the scientific diving exemption from OSHA commercial diving standards. In the years since, the AAUS has expanded from the original six organizational members to more than 130 organizational members and over 1100 individual members. Organizational membership includes colleges and universities, government agencies, museums and aquaria, environmental and archaeological consulting firms, and community science groups sharing a common thread of the use of diving as a research tool and a commitment to the health and safety of scientific divers. AAUS produces consensual standards for the training and certification of scientific divers and the operation of scientific diving programs, maintains statistics detailing scientific diving activities and incident rates, conducts annual symposia and topical workshops, and directly supports student research.

Text from http://www.aaus.org/about.

Records of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS), including extensive documentation of the organization's efforts to exempt scientific diving from OSHA commerical diving regulations in the early 1980s, and board meeting minutes.

Arranged in three series: Series 1) OSHA EXEMPTION; Series 2) ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS; Series 3) DIVING HISTORY MATERIALS.

Container List

OSHA EXEMPTION

United Bro. of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Afl-Cio v. U.S. Dept. Of Labor, OSHA (82-2509)

Box 1 Folder 1
On petition to review the Secretary of Labor's amendment to his OSHA standards for commercial diving operations - Brief for the Secretary of Labor, and Addenda, undated
Box 1 Folder 2
Petition for review of an amendment to an OSHA standard - Brief for petitioner, undated
Box 1 Folder 3
AAUS motion for leave of Court to appear as Amicus Curiae in support of the U.S. Dept. of Labor, 1983 July
Box 1 Folder 4
Petition for review of an order, 1984 April
Box 1 Folder 5
On petition for review of an amendment to a standard of OSHA - Reply brief for petitioner, undated
Box 1 Folder 6
Judgement, 1984 December 28
Box 1 Folder 7-10
AAUS compilation of documents relative to diving regulation, 1976-1984
Box 2 Folder 1
Federal Register - Commercial diving standards, 1976-1978
Box 2 Folder 2
Statement of the United Bro. of Carpenters and Joiners of America: The need to improve diving health and safety regulations in the United States, 1981 November 2
Box 2 Folder 3
Statement of Barry J. White - Informal public hearing on educational and scientific diving, 1982 June 29
Box 2 Folder 4-5
Diving regulations, Department of Labor Hearings, parts 1-2. Washington, D.C., 1982 June 29-30
Box 2 Folder 6-8
Diving regulations, Department of Labor Hearings, parts 1-3. Los Angeles, 1982 July 7-9

Letters and affidavits supporting proposed exemption

Box 2 Folder 9
1977-1983
Box 3 Folder 1
1984 June-August
Box 3 Folder 2
Phillip Stuart-Sharkey and Lloyd Austin. "Update on the federal regulation of scientific diving", 1985
Box 3 Folder 3
Michael Lang and John M. Duffy. "Scientific diving in the USA", 1985

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS

Box 3 Folder 4
Bylaws, undated
Box 3 Folder 5-17
Annual Conferences, 1981-1994
Box 3 Folder 18-19
Tax exemptions, 1983-1988
Box 3 Folder 20
Introductory newsletter, 1985 January
Box 3 Folder 21
Statement of the organization of the AAUS, 1986 August
Box 3 Folder 22-27
Board meeting minutes, 1988-2005

Missing 1996-1998, 2001.

Box 4 Folder 1
Virtual office binder, 2002
Box 4 Folder 2
Legal questions for AAUS panel re: scientific diving definitions and status, 2004-2005
Box 4 Folder 3
Scientific diving program compliance review checklist, 2006
Box 4 Folder 4
Presentation - Introduction to AAUS and scientific diving, 2006-2008
Box 4 Folder 5
DSO training - Statistics presentation, 2015
Box 4 Folder 6
Fact sheet, list of presidents, and annual awards summary, undated

Includes photographs of awards.

Box 4 Folder 7
Nominating Committee, undated
Box 4 Folder 8
Strategic plan documents, undated
Box 4 Folder 9
Proposed cave diving standards, undated

DIVING HISTORY MATERIALS

Box 4 Folder 10
U.S. Divers Aqua-Lung product manuals, 1956-1963
Box 4 Folder 11
University of California diving safety manuals, 1963, 1967-1978
Box 4 Folder 12
Memorandum, Technical Fact-Finding Committee for December 3 Hannes Keller Dive Experiment, 1963 February 14

Report on the death of Christopher K. Whittaker.

Los Angeles County, Dept. of Parks and Recreation - Underwater Instructor Certification Course (UICC)

Box 4 Folder 13
Correspondence, planning documents, and reports, 1967-1968

Includes open resignation letter from Clint Degn.

Box 4 Folder 14
Proposed basic SCUBA certification requirements, undated
Box 4 Folder 15
Underwater Safety Committee, 1971
Box 4 Folder 16
Course materials, 1972
Box 4 Folder 17
Canadian Diving News, 1971
Box 4 Folder 18
Letter from Terry Rioux re: his diving injury, ca. 2010