[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 99 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32093-32094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12790]



[[Page 32093]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6704-4]


Application From the States of Utah and Arizona for the 
Prohibition of the Discharge of Vessel Sewage Into Lake Powell; Notice 
of Receipt

    The States of Utah and Arizona have submitted a joint application 
to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit 
the discharge of sewage from all vessels into Lake Powell. Section 
312(f)(3) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1322(f)(3), allows States 
to prohibit discharges of sewage, whether treated or not, into some or 
all of their waters, except that no such prohibition shall apply until 
the EPA determines that adequate facilities are reasonably available 
for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all 
vessels on the waters to be covered by the prohibition.
    For the reasons explained below, the EPA proposes to make an 
affirmative determination that adequate facilities exist, meaning that 
the States' complete prohibition of sewage discharges from vessels on 
Lake Powell would become effective. The EPA officials authorized to 
make this determination are the undersigned Regional Administrators for 
EPA Regions VIII and IX. (Region VIII includes Utah, and Region IX 
includes Arizona.) Before making this determination, however, the EPA 
is publishing this notice in order to announce that it has received 
this application and to provide any interested member of the public 
with an opportunity to comment on the application and/or the EPA's 
proposed determination.
    Utah and Arizona submitted their joint application to the EPA in 
January of 2000 in cooperation with the Navajo Nation and the National 
Park Service, Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. According to the 
application, jurisdictional and enforcement authority for Lake Powell 
will reside with the respective States and the National Park Service. 
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality, the Utah Department of 
Natural Resources, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the 
Arizona Department of Fish and Game and the National Park Service, Glen 
Canyon National Recreation Area will all be the enforcing agents should 
this application be approved. The United States Coast Guard also will 
be asked to continue its enforcement role.
    The joint application states that Lake Powell is 186 miles long, 
with approximately 2000 miles of shore line. It receives 2.5 million 
visitors annually, with 4.3 million visitor days. Approximately 95% of 
the Lake is in Utah and 5% is in Arizona. The Navajo Nation bounds on 
the southeast portion of Lake Powell, but the jurisdiction of the 
Navajo Nation is not affected by the application of Utah and Arizona.
    As described in more detail in the States' application, there are 
six authorized vessel entry/take-out points on the Lake: Wahweap, 
Stateline, Hite, Bullfrog, Hall's Crossing, and Antelope Point. The 
first five locations have major pumpout facilities. Due to the 
geomorphology of the Lake, it is nearly impossible to remove or launch 
a vessel from any other point on the Lake. A major water accessible 
vessel pumpout facility is also located at Dangling Rope. Each major 
facility has multiple pumps. In addition, eight supplemental 
mechanically operated floating pump out facilities are located at 
various areas on the Lake. These pumps are: Warm Creek Bay, located in 
Warm Creek Bay; Dominiquez Butte, near Lake Powell Channel Mile Marker 
22; Rock Creek, near Lake Powell Channel Mile Marker 35; Oak Bay, 
located near Lake Powell Channel Mile Marker 51; Escalante, located 
near Lake Powell Channel Mile Marker 68A; Rincon, near Lake Powell 
Channel Mile Marker 77A; Hall's Creek Bay, located in Hall's Creek Bay 
on the Eastside; and Forgotten Canyon, near Lake Powell Channel Mile 
Marker 106. There are sixty-nine pumpouts on the Lake. All the 
facilities identified above are operational 24 hours per day. None of 
the facilities identified will exclude any vessel because of 
insufficient water depth adjacent to the facility. There are no fees to 
pump out at any facility. Treatment of all wastes from the pumpout 
facilities is to be in conformance with Federal law.
    The States of Utah and Arizona, the Navajo Nation, and the National 
Park Service have stated that the complete prohibition of discharge 
from all vessels of any sewage, treated or not, into Lake Powell is 
necessary. Numerous beach closures have occurred because of fecal 
coliform bacterial contamination over the last several years. While it 
has not been demonstrated that these closures are due solely to vessel 
sewage, such discharges may be the cause of the closures. Prevention of 
discharge of human wastes to the waters of the Lake is critically 
important to protect public health and water quality of this important 
national resource.
    The joint application also provides the following information 
regarding vessel use on Lake Powell:

                     Vessels With Installed Toilets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Resident    Transient    Total No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peak* Day Usage (Memorial Day            1,800        5,600        7,400
 through Labor Day)..............
Off Peak Day Usage...............          275          225         500
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* July 4, 1999.


                 Peak* Pumping Station Use Calculations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Vessels.............................  7,400.
Average Stay..............................  5 days.
Pumpout Events/Day........................  1,480.
Pumps/Hoses...............................  69.
Pumpouts per Station per Day..............  22.
Estimated Pumpout time per event..........  15 minutes.
Total Time of Pumping per Station @ Peak*   5.5 hours.
 Day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* July 4, 1999.

    For more information about the requirements for state applications 
for complete prohibitions of sewage discharges pursuant to section 
312(f)(3) of the Clean Water Act, please see 40 CFR 140.4(a). Copies of 
the application letters from the States of Utah and Arizona are 
available for public inspection and copying at the EPA's Denver, 
Colorado office. The person to contact for information is Douglas 
Johnson (8EPR-EP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII, 
999 18th Street, Denver, CO, 80202-2466 or by telephone at (303) 312-
6834. If you are interested in commenting on this application, please 
address your comments to Mr. Johnson and be sure that your comments are 
received by the EPA no later than July 6, 2000.


[[Page 32094]]


    Dated: May 12, 2000.
Jack W. McGraw,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VIII.
    Dated: May 5, 2000.
Laura Yoshii,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 00-12790 Filed 5-19-00; 8:45 am]
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