Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 44 / Monday, March 8, 2010 / Notices 10477 

Global%20Cargo%20Distribution/

Domestic/Publications/. 

C.E. Radford, III, 

Division Chief, G9, Strategic Business 

Directorate. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4814 Filed 3–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–08–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2009–0828; FRL–9123–6] 

Draft Report to Congress: Study of 

Discharges Incidental to Normal 

Operation of Commercial Fishing 

Vessels and Other Non-Recreational 

Vessels Less Than 79 Feet 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments 

and information. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides the 

public with notification that EPA has 

prepared a draft Report to Congress: 

Study of Discharges Incidental to 

Normal Operation of Commercial 

Fishing Vessels and Other NonRecreational Vessels Less than 79 feet. 

EPA conducted the study required by 

Public Law 110–299 and is publishing 

this draft report to seek public comment 

prior to finalizing the report. This draft 

report presents the information required 

by Public Law 110–299 on the types of 

wastewater discharged from commercial 

fishing vessels and non-recreational 

vessels less than 79 feet in length. The 

draft report can be accessed in its 

entirety at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/

vessels. This notice is being issued to 

obtain public comment on the draft 

report. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 7, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2009–0208, by one of the following 

methods: 

• http://www.regulations.gov: Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: ow-docket@epa.gov 

Attention Docket ID No. OW–2009– 

0208. 

• Mail: Water Docket Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460, Attention 

Docket ID No. OW–2009–0208. Please 

include a total of two copies in addition 

to the original. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 

EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC, Attention Docket ID No. OW–2009– 

0208. Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Docket’s normal hours of 

operation, and special arrangements 

should be made for deliveries of boxed 

information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2009– 

0208. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through http:// 

www.regulations.gov your e-mail 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://www.

epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Water Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 

NW., Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the Water Docket is (202) 

566–2426. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Ryan Albert, Water Permits Division, 

Office of Wastewater Management 

(4203M), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 566–0763; fax number: 

(202) 564–6392; or Robin Danesi, Water 

Permits Division, Office of Wastewater 

Management (4203M), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 

telephone number: (202) 564–1846; fax 

number: (202) 564–6392. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does This Action Apply to Me? 

Today’s notice does not contain or 

establish any regulatory requirements. 

Rather, it seeks public comment on 

EPA’s draft Report to Congress on the 

Study of Discharges Incidental to the 

Normal Operation of Commercial 

Fishing Vessels and Other Vessels under 

79 feet. 

Today’s notice will be of interest to 

the general public, State permitting 

agencies, other Federal agencies, and 

owners or operators of commercial 

fishing vessels or other non-recreational 

vessels that may have discharges 

incidental to their normal operation. 

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare 

My Comments for EPA? 

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this 

information to EPA through 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly 

mark the part or all of the information 

that you claim to be CBI. For CBI 

information on a disk or CD–ROM that 

you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the 

disk or CD–ROM as CBI and then 

identify electronically within the disk or 

CD–ROM the specific information that 

is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 

complete version of the comment that 

includes information claimed as CBI, a 

copy of the comment that does not 

contain the information claimed as CBI 

must be submitted for inclusion in the 

public docket. Information so marked 

will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 CFR part 2. 

2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. 

When submitting comments, remember 

to: 

• Identify the notice by docket 

number and other identifying 

information (subject heading, Federal 

Register date, and page number). 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
10478 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 44 / Monday, March 8, 2010 / Notices 

• Follow directions—The agency may 

ask you to respond to specific questions 

or organize comments by referencing a 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 

or section number. 

• Explain why you agree or disagree; 

suggest alternatives; and provide 

reasons for your suggested alternatives. 

• Describe any assumptions and 

provide any technical information and/ 

or data that you used. 

• Provide specific examples to 

illustrate your concerns and suggest 

alternatives. 

• Explain your views as clearly as 

possible. 

• Make sure to submit your 

comments by the comment period 

deadline identified. 

II. Why Did EPA Conduct the Study? 

On July 31, 2008, Public Law (Pub. L.) 

110–299 was signed into law. It 

generally provided a two-year 

moratorium for non-recreational vessels 

less than 79 feet in length and all 

commercial fishing vessels regardless of 

length, from the requirements of the 

National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) program to 

obtain a permit in order to authorize 

discharges incidental to the normal 

operation of those vessels. Additionally, 

Public Law 110–299 directed the United 

States Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) to study the impacts of discharges 

incidental to the normal operation of 

those vessels. Specifically, the law 

directs the agency to study and evaluate 

the impacts of: 

(1) Any discharge of effluent from 

properly functioning marine engines; 

(2) Any discharge of laundry, shower, 

and galley sink wastes; and 

(3) Any other discharge incidental to 

the normal operation of a vessel. 

Congress mandated that EPA include 

the following in the study: 

(1) Characterizations of the nature, 

type, and composition of the discharges 

for: 

a. Representative single vessels; and 

b. Each class of vessels; 

(2) Determinations of the volume 

(including average volumes) of those 

discharges for: 

a. Representative single vessels; 

b. Each class of vessels; 

(3) A description of the locations 

(including the more common locations) 

of the discharges; 

(4) Analyses and findings as to the 

nature and extent of the potential effects 

of the discharges, including 

determinations of whether the 

discharges pose a risk to human health, 

welfare, or the environment, and the 

nature of those risks; 

(5) Determinations of the benefits to 

human health, welfare, and the 

environment from reducing, 

eliminating, controlling, or mitigating 

the discharges; 

(6) Analyses of the extent to which 

the discharges are currently subject to 

regulation under Federal law or a 

binding international obligation of the 

United States. 

The law expressly excludes certain 

discharges from the scope of the study: 

discharges from vessels owned and 

operated by the Armed Forces; 

discharges of sewage from vessels; and 

discharges of ballast water. 

Congress may find the information in 

this report useful as it considers how 

best to address discharges incidental to 

the normal operation of those types of 

vessels studied. Currently, discharges 

incidental to the normal operation of 

certain other types of vessels are 

regulated under two different regimes in 

the Clean Water Act. First, incidental 

discharges from non-recreational, nonfishing vessels larger than 79 feet 

currently are regulated under the 

National Pollution Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) permitting 

program. Second, Congress has chosen 

to exempt incidental discharges from 

certain other vessels from NPDES 

permitting and instead provided for the 

development and implementation of 

national standards or management 

practices as appropriate. In particular, 

discharges incidental to the normal 

operation of vessels of the US armed 

forces are subject to the Uniform 

National Discharge Standard (UNDS) 

program established under Section 312 

(n) of the Clean Water Act and are 

exempt from NPDES permitting. 

Additionally, due to passage of the 

Clean Boating Act in 2008, discharges 

incidental to the normal operation of 

recreational vessels also are exempt 

from NPDES permitting and will instead 

have to meet national best management 

requirements and performance 

standards established under Section 312 

(o) of the Clean Water Act. Finally, in 

lieu of NPDES permitting, discharges of 

vessel sewage are subject instead to 

regulation under sections 312(b)–(m) of 

the Clean Water Act. 

The objective of the draft report is to 

provide a scientifically informative, 

policy neutral document to inform 

Congress about discharge characteristics 

from the types of vessels studied. As 

Congress considers the result of this 

study, they may take into account 

various Federal regulatory regimes or 

other options. Congress may use the 

information in this report to extend the 

permitting moratorium for these vessels, 

to establish an alternate regulatory 

regime, or to do nothing, allowing the 

moratorium to expire, thereby requiring 

NPDES permitting coverage for these 

140,000 vessel operators. 

III. Overview of the Study’s Methods 

and Findings 

EPA estimates there are nearly 

140,000 vessels in the United States 

subject to the permitting moratorium 

established under Public Law 110–299 

(hereinafter referred to as ‘‘study 

vessels’’). Approximately one-half of 

these vessels are commercial fishing 

vessels involved in activities such as 

fish catching (e.g., longliner, shrimper, 

trawler) and charter fishing. The other 

half is distributed among a variety of 

vessel classes, including passenger 

vessels (e.g., water taxis, tour boats, 

harbor cruise ships, dive boats), utility 

vessels (e.g., tug/tow boats, research 

vessels, offshore supply boats), and 

freight barges. 

In order to complete this study, EPA 

conducted literature reviews, sampled 

vessel discharges, and used existing 

data from other EPA data collection 

efforts and other government data 

sources to inform its analysis. To select 

specific vessel classes for sampling, EPA 

first developed a list of commercial 

vessel classes. Next, EPA eliminated 

those vessel classes believed to consist 

primarily of vessels greater than 79 feet 

in length, with the exception of 

commercial fishing vessels. Examples of 

vessel classes eliminated because of 

their size included cable laying ships, 

cruise ships, large ferries, and oil and 

petroleum tankers. With the exception 

of fishing vessels, vessels over 79 feet 

are outside the scope of the Act’s 

permitting moratorium and are 

generally subject to EPA’s existing 

Vessel General Permit. Next, EPA 

eliminated vessel classes that have 

historically been subject to NPDES 

permitting, including stationary seafood 

processing vessels and vessels that can 

be secured to the ocean floor for mineral 

or oil exploration. After screening out 

these vessel classes, EPA selected a 

subset of priority vessel classes to 

sample including commercial fishing 

boats, tug/tow boats, water taxis, tour 

boats, recreational vessels used for 

nonrecreational purposes, and 

industrial support boats less than 79 feet 

in length. EPA selected these vessel 

classes because they represent a cross 

section of discharges and have the 

potential to release a broad range of 

pollutants. 

EPA sampled wastewater discharges 

and gathered shipboard process 

information from 61 vessels in nine 

vessel classes. These classes included 

fishing vessels, tugboats, water taxis, 

tour boats, towing/salvage vessels, small 

research vessels, a fire boat, and a 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 44 / Monday, March 8, 2010 / Notices 10479 

supply boat. EPA sampled more 

commercial fishing vessels than any 

other vessel class due to the large 

number of fishing vessels subject to the 

Public Law 110–299 permitting 

moratorium. Vessels were sampled in 15 

separate cities and towns in nine States 

across multiple geographic regions, 

including New England, the MidAtlantic, the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi 

River, and Alaska. 

EPA sampled a total of nine discharge 

types from the various vessel classes. 

These were bilgewater, stern tube 

packing gland effluent, deck runoff and/ 

or washdown, fish hold effluent (both 

refrigerated seawater effluent and ice 

slurry), effluent from the cleaning of fish 

holds, graywater, propulsion and 

generator engine effluent, engine 

dewinterizing effluent, and firemain 

effluent. 

EPA typically sampled one to four 

discharge types on each vessel, 

depending on applicability, 

accessibility, and logistical 

considerations. Vessel discharge 

samples were analyzed for a variety of 

pollutants, including classical 

pollutants such as biochemical oxygen 

demand (BOD5), total suspended solids 

(TSS), residual chlorine, and oil and 

grease; nutrients; total and dissolved 

metals; volatile and semivolatile organic 

compounds (VOCs and SVOCs); 

nonylphenols ethoxylates (used as 

surfactants in detergents), which are 

converted to nonylphenols (a class of 

endocrine-disrupting compounds); and 

pathogen indicators (i.e., E. coli, 

enterococci, fecal coliforms). 

EPA found that some vessel 

discharges from commercial fishing 

vessels and commercial vessels less 

than 79 feet in length may have the 

potential to impact the aquatic 

environment and/or human health or 

welfare. The discharges with the 

greatest potential to impact surface 

water quality include deck washdown, 

fish hold effluent, graywater, bilgewater, 

and marine engine effluent. Review of 

available literature also indicates that 

leachate from antifouling hull coatings 

used on certain vessels to prevent 

buildup of organisms, such as barnacles 

and algae, as well as underwater hull 

cleaning, also likely impact surface 

water quality, particularly in areas 

where a large number of vessels are 

concentrated in a relatively small water 

body. 

Using the results obtained in this 

study, EPA used a simple model to 

evaluate how the nine vessel discharge 

types EPA sampled may impact water 

quality in a large, hypothetical harbor. 

Based on this evaluation, EPA 

determined that the incidental 

discharges from study vessels are not 

likely to solely cause an exceedance of 

any National Recommended Water 

Quality Criteria (NRWQC) to a relatively 

large water body. This finding suggests 

that these discharges are unlikely to 

pose acute or chronic exceedances of 

the NRWQC across an entire large water 

body. However, since many of the 

pollutants present in the vessel 

discharges were at end-of-pipe 

concentrations that exceeded an 

NRWQC, there is the potential for these 

discharges to contribute a water quality 

impact on a more localized scale. The 

study results indicate that total arsenic 

and dissolved copper are the most 

significant water quality concerns for 

the study vessels as a whole, and that 

they are more likely than other 

pollutants to contribute to exceedances 

of water quality criteria. This is 

especially true if there are other sources 

of pollutants or the receiving water 

already has high background 

concentrations. 

IV. Request for Public Input and 

Comment 

In addition to generally requesting 

comment on all aspects of the draft 

report, in order to maximize the quality 

of the report, EPA is specifically 

requesting comment on the following: 

(1) Are there additional existing data 

or data sources which EPA should 

incorporate into or analyze in the final 

report? If so, please provide the specific 

data sets, papers, and/or citations EPA 

should consider. 

(2) Did EPA accurately summarize 

how these vessels generate these 

discharges, and accurately summarize 

how mariners and fishermen manage 

the discharges (e.g., fishermen in the 

Northeast holding bilgewater discharges 

until they are more than 3 nm from 

shore)? 

(3) Did EPA present the information 

clearly and concisely? Do you have 

suggestions to better present these data 

for both technical and non-technical 

audiences? 

(4) Should EPA consider other 

approaches to summarizing the data 

collected for this study, and if so, what 

specific alternative approaches are 

suggested? 

(5) Are there additional data sources 

that identify specific environmental 

impacts that result from discharges 

incidental to normal operation of 

commercial fishing vessels and other 

non-recreational vessels less than 79 

feet in length (other than ballast water)? 

If so, please provide the specific data 

sets, papers, and/or citations EPA 

should consider. 

(6) Are there any additional existing 

data sources outlining usage patterns 

and discharge locations of commercial 

fishing vessels and other nonrecreational vessels less than 79 feet in 

length that EPA should consider? If so, 

please provide specific data sets, papers, 

and or citations for EPA review. 

(7) Has EPA sufficiently analyzed the 

extent to which the discharges are 

currently subject to regulation under 

Federal law or a binding international 

obligation of the United States? Does the 

report appropriately convey which 

discharges and vessel types are already 

regulated and unregulated? 

Dated: March 1, 2010. 

Peter A. Silva, 

Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4828 Filed 3–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9124–1] 

Science Advisory Board Staff Office; 

Notification of a Clean Air Scientific 

Advisory Committee (CASAC) NOX & 

SOX Secondary NAAQS Review Panel 

Meeting and CASAC Teleconference 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board 

(SAB) Staff Office announces a public 

meeting of the Clean Air Scientific 

Advisory Committee NOX and SOX

Secondary National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS) Review 

Panel (CASAC Panel) to peer review 

EPA’s Policy Assessment for the Review 

of the Secondary National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards for NOx and SOx: 

First External Review Draft (March 

2010). The chartered CASAC will 

subsequently hold a public 

teleconference to review and approve 

the Panel’s report. 

DATES: The Panel meeting will be held 

Thursday, April 1, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. 

to 5 p.m. and Friday, April, 2, 2010 from 

8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Eastern Time). The 

chartered CASAC will meet by public 

teleconference from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 

Monday, May 3, 2010 (Eastern Time). 

ADDRESSES: The April 1 and 2, 2010 

public meeting will take place at the 

Marriott at Research Triangle Park, 4700 

Guardian Drive, Durham, NC 27703, 

telephone (919) 941–6200. The May 3, 

2010 public teleconference will be 

conducted by telephone only. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES