### 23481 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 76 / Thursday, April 19, 2012 / Notices

T HE 

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Waterbody/general area Latitude Longitude

The northern edge of the NDA boundary on the Taunton River is the Center Street/Elm Street bridge at: 41 ° 50 ′5.90 ′′ N 71 ° 6 ′29.34′′ W The northern edge of the NDA boundary on the Lees River is the Route 6 bridge at: 41 ° 44 ′24.87′′ N 71 ° 11 ′ 12.72 ′′ W The northern edge of the NDA boundary on the Cole River is the Route 6 Bridge at: 41 ° 44 ′47.03 ′′ N 71 ° 12 ′ 7.81 ′′ W The southwestern edge of the NDA boundary is the Rhode Island/Massachusetts border at Swansea at: 41 ° 42 ′43.94′′ N 71 ° 13 ′34.27′′ W The southeastern edge of the NDA boundary is the Rhode Island/Massachusetts border at Fall River at: 41 ° 40 ′30.28 ′′ N 71 ° 11 ′43.86 ′′ W

The Mount Hope Bay NDA will encompass the tidal waters of Dighton, Berkley, Freetown, Somerset, Swansea, and Fall River to the mean high tide line.

There are marinas, yacht clubs and public landings/piers in the proposed area with a combination of mooring fields and dock space for the recreational and commercial vessels. Mount Hope Bay is a shared waterbody between Massachusetts and Rhode Island and in 1998 Rhode Island designated all its state waters as no discharge, including its portion of Mount Hope Bay. Massachusetts has certified that there are three pumpout facilities, within the proposed state waters, available to the boating public. A list of the facilities, locations, contact information, hours of operation, and water depth is provided at the end of this petition.

Massachusetts has provided documentation indicating that the total vessel population is estimated to be 585 in the proposed area. It is estimated that 523 of the total vessel population may have a Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) of some type. The total number of MSDs certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is an overestimate, conservatively, giving the boating public a 1:175 ratio of pumpouts to boats, which is much less than the ratio suggested by EPA Region 1 guidelines (300–600 vessels for every one facility.)



### P UMPOUT 

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Name Town Contact information Hours of operation Depth (Ft)

Fall River Harbormaster Boat .................................. Fall River ..................... 774–644–3609, VHF 16 .... On Call ... ........................ N/A Somerset Harbormaster Boat .................................. Somerset ..................... 774–319–3126, VHF 9, 16 8:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m. ....... N/A Somerset Land-based Pumpout Station at Town

Boat Ramp. Somerset ..................... N/A Self Serve .................. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Weekdays; 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Weekends. 3.5

Dated: April 6, 2012. H. Curtis Spalding, Regional Administrator, New England Region.
[FR Doc. 2012–9448 Filed 4–18–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6560–50–P**

**ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY** 

**[EPA–R01–OEP–12–006; FRL–9662–6]**

**State Program Requirements; Approval of Maine’s Base National**  **Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting Program** 

**AGENCY :**  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

**ACTION :**  Notice.

**SUMMARY :**  Since January 2001, the State of Maine has been authorized to administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program in the Indian territories of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe, with the exception of authorization to issue permits to two tribally owned and operated wastewater treatment works. On August 8, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated EPA’s October 31, 2003 decision to withhold authority to administer the program under the Clean Water Act with respect to the two tribally owned and operated treatment works. EPA is responding to the court’s order by approving Maine’s NPDES program to include the permitting of all discharges within the Indian territories of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

**DATES :**  March 26, 2012.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Questions or requests for additional information may be submitted to:

• Mail: Glenda Ve  ́ lez, USEPA–Region 1, 5 Post Office Square—OEP06–01, Boston, MA 02109–3912.

• Telephone: (617) 918–1677.

• Email: velez.glenda@epa.gov.

• No facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. Copies of documents Maine has submitted in support of its program approval may be reviewed during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays at the address above.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  2001 Approval of the Program Outside Indian Territories

On December 17, 1999, EPA determined that the State of Maine had submitted a complete application to administer the NPDES permitting program in the state under the Clean Water Act (CWA). 33 U.S.C. 1251, et
seq., see 64 FR 73552 (Dec. 30, 1999). Maine’s application included an assertion of authority to implement the program in the territories of the federally-recognized Indian tribes within the state, based on the jurisdictional provisions of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA), which ratified the Maine Implementing Act (MIA). 25 U.S.C. 1721, et seq. and 30 M.R.S.A. section 6201, et seq., respectively.

On January 12, 2001, EPA approved the State of Maine’s application to administer the NPDES program for all areas of the state other than Indian country. At that point EPA did not take any action on Maine’s application to administer the program within the territories of the federally-recognized Indian tribes in Maine. EPA published notice of its action on February 28, 2001. 66 FR 12791. As described in the Federal Register , EPA approved the state’s application to administer both the NPDES permit program covering point source dischargers and the pretreatment program covering industrial dischargers into publicly


### 23482 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 76 / Thursday, April 19, 2012 / Notices

owned treatment works (POTWs). EPA did not authorize the state to regulate cooling water intake structures under CWA section 316(b) (33 U.S.C. 1326(b)). 66 FR 12792. 2003 Partial Approval of the Program in Indian Territories

On October 31, 2003, EPA approved the State of Maine’s application to administer the NPDES program in the Indian territories of the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe, with the exception of any discharges that qualified as ‘‘internal tribal matters’’ under MICSA and MIA. 68 FR 65052 (Nov. 18, 2003). This action generally authorized the state to administer the NPDES program in the territories of the two largest Indian tribes in the state, finding that the combination of MICSA and MIA created a unique jurisdictional arrangement that granted the state authority to issue permits to dischargers. EPA did not approve the state’s program to regulate two small tribally-owned and operated POTWs. EPA determined that these POTWs qualified as internal tribal matters and, therefore, fell within an enumerated exception to the grant of jurisdiction to the state in MICSA and MIA. EPA did not take action on the state’s application as it applied to theterritories of the two smaller federallyrecognized tribes in the state, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians. These two tribes are subject to jurisdictional provisions separate from those that apply to the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. EPA’s 2003 action addressed all the Indian territories that included existing point source dischargers covered by the NPDES program. Appeal and Decision in Maine v. Johnson

Several parties petitioned for judicial review of EPA’s 2003 decision partially approving Maine’s NPDES program in the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indian territories. The Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe challenged EPA’s decision to generally approve the state to administer the program in their territories. The State of Maine and a coalition of public and private NPDES permit holders challenged EPA’s decision to disapprove the state’s program as to the two small tribal POTWs based on the finding that permitting those discharges qualified as an internal tribal matter.

On August 8, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued its opinion in Maine v. Johnson. 498 F.3d 37. The court held that EPA had correctly determined that MICSA and MIA granted the state sufficient authority to administer the NPDES permit program in the territories of these two tribes. The court disagreed with EPA’s finding, however, that permitting the two small tribal POTWs qualified as an internal tribal matter. It found that ‘‘[d]ischarging pollutants into navigable waters is not of the same character as tribal elections, tribal membership or other exemplars [of internal tribal matters] that relate to the structure of Indian government or the distribution of tribal property.’’ Id. at 46. The court affirmed EPA’s approval of Maine’s NPDES program, but vacated EPA’s decision to withhold program approval with respect to issuing NDPES permits to the two tribal POTWs and remanded the matter back to EPA to amend the program approval consistent with its opinion. Id. at 48–49. The court’s mandate was issued on October 2, 2007. Program Approval To Address the Court’s Remand

EPA proposed to implement the court’s order by modifying its approval of Maine’s NPDES program to authorize the State to issue NPDES permits for all discharges within the Indian territories of the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe. 76 FR 29747 (May 23, 2011). Additionally, the notice stated that EPA does not plan to undertake a case-by-case analysis of any new discharges to determine whether they qualify as internal tribal matters under MICSA and MIA. EPA received no public comments on the record in response to the May 23, 2011 proposal. As a result, the state will assume responsibility from EPA for issuing and administering the permits for the Penobscot Nation Indian Island treatment works (EPA NPDES Permit No. ME 0101311 and MEPDES License No. 2672) and the Passamaquoddy Tribal Council treatment works (EPA NPDES Permit No. 1011773 and MEPDES License No. 2561). Neither tribe has applied to EPA to implement the NPDES permit program, so this action does not address the question of either tribe’s authority to implement the
program.

The finalization of this action does not modify the types of activities covered by Maine’s base program as EPA approved it in 2001. Thus, the state’s program does not include regulation of cooling water intake structures under CWA section 316(b). Nor is EPA taking action on Maine’s application to implement the NPDES permit program in the territories of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians.

Authority: This action is taken under the authority of Section 402 of the Clean Water Act as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1342.

Dated: March 28, 2012. H. Curtis Spalding, Regional Administrator, Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2012–9450 Filed 4–18–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 6560–50–P**

**FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION**

**Sunshine Act Meeting**

**AGENCY :**  Federal Election Commission.

**DATE AND TIME :**  Tuesday, April 24, 2012
at 10 a.m.

**PLACE :**  999 E Street NW., Washington, DC.

**STATUS :**  This meeting will be closed to the public.

**ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED :**  Compliance matters pursuant to

2 U.S.C. 437g. Audits conducted pursuant to 2 U.S.C.

437g, 438(b), and Title 26, U.S.C. Matters concerning participation in civil

actions or proceedings or arbitration. Internal personnel rules and procedures

or matters affecting a particular employee. Investigatory records compiled for law

enforcement purposes, or information which if written would be contained in such records. Information the premature disclosure of

which would be likely to have a considerable adverse effect on the implementation of a proposed Commission action.

* * * * *

**PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION :**  Judith Ingram, Press Officer. Telephone: (202) 694–1220.

Shawn Woodhead Werth, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. 2012–9615 Filed 4–17–12; 4:15 pm]

**BILLING CODE 6715–01–P**

**FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM**

**Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies** 

The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq. ) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or