Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 230 / Thursday, November 29, 2012 / Notices 71191 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–OW–2011–0466; FRL 9756–2] 

2012 Recreational Water Quality 

Criteria 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability of the 2012 

Recreational Water Quality Criteria. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 304(a) of 

the Clean Water Act (CWA), the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

is announcing the availability of the 

2012 Recreational Water Quality 

Criteria (RWQC). The document 

contains the EPA’s recreational water 

quality criteria recommendations for 

protecting human health in ambient 

waters that are designated for primary 

contact recreation. CWA Section 304(a) 

water quality criteria recommendations 

are intended as guidance to States and 

authorized Tribes in developing water 

quality standards. The 2012 RWQC 

document describes the relevant 

scientific findings, explains how these 

findings were used to derive criteria for 

two indicators of fecal contamination 

(enterrococcus and E. coli) as measured 

by culture based test methods. On 

December 21, 2011, EPA made available 

draft national recommended 

recreational water quality criteria (2011 

Draft RWQC) and provided the public 

an opportunity to provide scientific 

views. 

The 2012 RWQC differs from the 

current 1986 Ambient Water Quality 

Criteria in the following ways: the EPA 

recommends States use one of two sets 

of criteria values, and no longer 

recommends multiple ‘‘use intensity’’ 

values; the RWQC consist of both a 

geometric mean (GM) and a Statistical 

Threshold Value (STV); the RWQC are 

now comprised of a magnitude, a 

duration, and frequency of excursion for 

the GM and STV; the EPA introduces a 

rapid analytical technique for beach 

monitoring, quantitative polymerase 

chain reaction (qPCR), for the detection 

of enterococci in recreational water 

(EPA Method 1611; the EPA provides 

information on tools for evaluating and 

managing recreational waters, such as 

predictive modeling; the EPA is 

providing a beach action value for use 

in beach notification programs; and the 

EPA is providing tools for developing 

site-specific criteria. 

The CWA, as amended by the Beaches 

Environmental Assessment and Coastal 

Health (BEACH) Act of 2000, directed 

the EPA to conduct studies associated 

with pathogens and human health 

under section 104(v), and to publish 

new or revised criteria for pathogens 

and pathogen indicators based on those 

studies under section 304(a)(9). The 

criteria announced today are the new or 

revised criteria that EPA is directed to 

publish under section 304(a)(9) of the 

CWA, as amended by the BEACH Act. 

ADDRESSES: The draft 2011 and final 

2012 RWQC documents, as well as the 

scientific views received from the 

public on the draft 2011 RWQC, are 

available from the EPA Docket Center 

and are identified by Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OW–2011–0466. They may be 

accessed online at: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions. 

• Email: OW-Docket@epa.gov. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency; EPA Docket Center 

(EPA/DC) Water Docket, MC 28221T; 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. 

• On Site: EPA Docket Center, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., EPA West, 

Room 3334, Washington, DC. This 

Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. 

until 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 Office of Water is (202) 

566–2426. 

For additional information about 

EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions concerning the science 

supporting these criteria, contact Sharon 

Nappier, Health and Ecological Criteria 

Division (4304T), 

nappier.sharon@epa.gov, U.S. EPA, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460; (202) 566–0740. 

For questions concerning the use of 

EPA’s criteria recommendations, contact 

Tracy Bone, Standards and Health 

Protection Division (4305T), 

bone.tracy@epa.gov, U.S. EPA, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; (202) 564–5257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. What are section 304(a) water quality 

criteria? 

Section 304(a) water quality criteria 

are recommendations developed by EPA 

under authority of section 304(a) of the 

Clean Water Act based on the latest 

scientific information on the 

relationship that the effect of a 

constituent concentration has on 

particular aquatic species and/or human 

health. Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean 

Water Act directs the EPA to develop 

and publish and, from time to time, 

revise, criteria for water quality 

accurately reflecting the latest scientific 

knowledge. Water quality criteria 

developed under section 304(a) are 

based solely on data and scientific 

judgments on the relationship between 

pollutant concentrations and 

environmental and human health 

effects. Section 304(a) criteria do not 

reflect consideration of economic 

impacts or the technological feasibility 

of meeting pollutant concentrations in 

ambient water. 

Section 304(a) criteria provide 

guidance to States and authorized 

Tribes in adopting water quality 

standards that ultimately provide a basis 

for controlling discharges or releases of 

pollutants. The criteria also provide 

guidance to the EPA when promulgating 

Federal regulations under section 303(c) 

when such action is necessary. Under 

the CWA and its implementing 

regulations, States and authorized 

Tribes are to adopt water quality criteria 

to protect designated uses (e.g., aquatic 

life, recreational use). States and 

authorized Tribes may adopt other 

scientifically defensible water quality 

criteria that differ from these 

recommendations. When adopting new 

or revised water quality standards, the 

States and authorized Tribes must adopt 

criteria that are scientifically defensible 

and protective of the designated uses of 

the bodies of water. In establishing 

criteria, States may base it on (1) EPA’s 

recommended criteria, (2) EPA’s 

recommended criteria modified to 

reflect site-specific conditions, or (3) 

other scientifically defensible methods. 

The EPA’s water quality criteria 

recommendations are not regulations. 

Thus, the EPA’s recommended criteria 

do not constitute legally binding 

requirements. 

II. What are the Recreational Water 

Quality Criteria recommendations? 

The EPA is today publishing the 

Recreational Water Quality Criteria 

recommendations for protecting human 

health. The EPA evaluated the available 

data and provided an opportunity for 

the public to provide scientific views on 

the 2011 Draft RWQC. EPA received 

more than 9,000 comments. EPA 

reviewed the comments and made some 

changes in response to those comments. 

The comments can be found in the 

docket associated with this action. 

Based on the available data and input 

from comments, EPA determined that 

the designated use of primary contact 

recreation would be protected if the 

following criteria were adopted into 

water quality standards: 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
71192 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 230 / Thursday, November 29, 2012 / Notices 

RECOMMENDED 2012 RWQC 

Criteria elements Estimated illness rate: 36 per 

1,000 primary contact recreators 

Estimated illness rate: 32 per 

1,000 primary contact recreators 

Magnitude Magnitude 

Indicator GM 

(cfu/100 mL) a

STV 

(cfu/100 mL) a

GM 

(cfu/100 mL) a

STV 

(cfu/100 mL) a

Enterococci—marine and fresh; or .................................................................... 35 130 30 110 

E. coli—fresh ...................................................................................................... 126 410 100 320 

Duration and Frequency: The waterbody GM should not be greater than the selected GM magnitude in any 30-day interval. There should not 

be greater than a ten percent excursion frequency of the selected STV magnitude in the same 30-day interval. 

aEPA recommends using EPA Method 1600 (U.S. EPA, 2002a) to measure culturable enterococci, or another equivalent method that measures culturable enterococci and using EPA Method 1603 (U.S. EPA, 2002b) to measure culturable E. coli, or any other equivalent method that 

measures culturable E. coli. 

Dated: November 19, 2012. 

Nancy K. Stoner, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28909 Filed 11–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION 

Notice of Agreement Filed 

The Commission hereby gives notice 

of the filing of the following agreement 

under the Shipping Act of 1984. 

Interested parties may submit comments 

on the agreement to the Secretary, 

Federal Maritime Commission, 

Washington, DC 20573, within ten days 

of the date this notice appears in the 

Federal Register. Copies of the 

agreement are available through the 

Commission’s Web site (www.fmc.gov) 

or by contacting the Office of 

Agreements at (202) 523–5793 or 

tradeanalysis@fmc.gov. 

Agreement No.: 012190. 

Title: HSDG–GWF Space Charter 

Agreement. 

Parties: Hamburg Sud and Great 

White Fleet Liner Services Ltd. 

Filing Party: Wayne R. Rohde, Esq.; 

Cozen O’Connor; 1627 I Street NW., 

Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20006– 

4007. 

Synopsis: The agreement authorizes 

Hamburg Sud to charter space to Great 

White Fleet in the trade between ports 

in California and ports in Guatemala, 

Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. 

Dated: November 26, 2012. 

By Order of the Federal Maritime 

Commission. 

Rachel Dickon, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28921 Filed 11–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6730–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Announcement of Board 

Approval Under Delegated Authority 

and Submission to OMB 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the 

final approval of a proposed information 

collection by the Board of Governors of 

the Federal Reserve System (Board) 

under OMB delegated authority, as per 

5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB Regulations on 

Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the 

Public). Board-approved collections of 

information are incorporated into the 

official OMB inventory of currently 

approved collections of information. 

Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act 

Submission, supporting statements and 

approved collection of information 

instrument(s) are placed into OMB’s 

public docket files. The Federal Reserve 

may not conduct or sponsor, and the 

respondent is not required to respond 

to, an information collection that has 

been extended, revised, or implemented 

on or after October 1, 1995, unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Federal Reserve Board Clearance 

Officer: Cynthia Ayouch, Division of 

Research and Statistics, Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, Washington, DC 20551 (202) 

452–3829. Telecommunications Device 

for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact 

(202) 263–4869, Board of Governors of 

the Federal Reserve System, 

Washington, DC 20551. 

OMB Desk Officer: Shagufta Ahmed, 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, New Executive Office Building, 

Room 10235, 725 17th Street 

NW.,Washington, DC 20503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

September 14, 2012, a final notice was 

published in the Federal Register (77 

FR 56842) finalizing the revisions to the 

FR Y–10, Report of Changes in 

Organizational Structure, and FR Y–6, 

Annual Report of Holding Companies 

(OMB No: 7100–0297), which included 

requiring nonbank financial companies 

supervised by the Federal Reserve and 

designated financial market utilities 

(DFMUs) to begin submitting these 

reports effective December 2012. 

Subsequent to the publication of the 

final notice, the Federal Reserve 

determined that the data collected in the 

FR Y–10 and FR Y–6 is not 

appropriately tailored for DFMUs, and 

structure data with respect to DFMUs 

that is necessary to populate certain 

databases can be initially generated 

internally. In addition, the final notice 

required nonbank financial companies 

supervised by the Board to submit the 

FR Y–10 and the FR Y–6 reports. Given 

that the Financial Stability Oversight 

Council has not made any final decision 

on designating nonbank financial 

companies as systemically important, 

the Federal Reserve believes it is more 

appropriate to determine the reporting 

requirements for these entities once they 

are identified. Accordingly, the Federal 

Reserve is removing the requirement for 

these entities to submit these reports 

effective December 2012. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, November 23, 2012. 

Robert deV. Frierson, 

Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28850 Filed 11–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 


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