Document ID: EPA-R01-OW-2010-0318-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petititons Received: Massachusetts Marine Sanitation Device Standard
Posted Date: 2010-05-20T04:00Z

[Federal Register: May 20, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 97)]
[Notices]               
[Page 28245-28247]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20my10-37]                         

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-New England Region I--EPA-R01-OW-2010-0318; FRL-9153-4]

 
Massachusetts Marine Sanitation Device Standard--Receipt of 
Petition

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice--Receipt of Petition.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a determination by the 
Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that 
adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of 
sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the waters of 
Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Newburyport, 
Salisbury, Amesbury, West Newbury, Merrimac, Groveland, North Andover, 
Haverhill, Methuen, and Lawrence, collectively termed the Upper North 
Shore for the purpose of this notice.

DATES: ``Comments must be submitted by June 21, 2010.''

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OW-2010-0318, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: rodney.ann@epa.gov.
     Fax: (617) 918-0538.
    Mail and hand delivery: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--New 
England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 100, OEP06-1, Boston, MA 
02109-3912. Deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's

[[Page 28246]]

normal hours of operation (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays), and special arrangements should be made for 
deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OW-
2010-0318. 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.
    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 U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 
100, OEP06-01, Boston, MA 02109-3912. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation, and special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The 
Regional Office is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number is (617) 918-1538.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Rodney, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 
100, OEP06-01, Boston, MA 02109-3912. Telephone: (617) 918-1538, Fax 
number: (617) 918-0538; e-mail address: rodney.ann@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that a petition has 
been received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a 
determination by the Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, pursuant to Section 312(f)(3) of Public Law 92-500 
as amended by Public Law 95-217 and Public Law 100-4, that adequate 
facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage 
from all vessels are reasonably available for the Upper North Shore 
area.
    The Upper North Shore No Discharge Area will encompass the coastal 
waters for the cities and towns of Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, 
Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury, Amesbury, West 
Newbury, Merrimac, Groveland, North Andover, Haverhill, Methuen, and 
Lawrence.
    The proposed No Discharge Area for the UPPER NORTH SHORE:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Waterbody/general area                 From  longitude              From latitude               To longitude                 To latitude
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The southern edge of the Upper North      70[deg]42'50'' W            42[deg]34'21'' N            70[deg]35'59'' W            42[deg]33'02'' N
 Shore NDA boundary is the Manchester/
 Gloucester municipal line at:
The northern edge of the Upper North      70[deg]48'47'' W            42[deg]52'19'' N            70[deg]43'57'' W            42[deg]52'35'' N
 Shore NDA boundary is MA/Seabrook, NH
 border at:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Waterbody/general area                         Longitude                         Latitude
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Merrimack River, the inland edge of     71[deg]09'58'' W                  42[deg]42'02'' N
 the NDA boundary is at the Essex Dam in
 Lawrence at:
On the Parker River, the inland edge of the    70[deg]52'00'' W                  42[deg]45'20'' N
 NDA boundary is at the MBTA bridge in
 Newbury at:
On the Rowley River, the inland edge of the    70[deg]51'28'' W                  42[deg]43'19'' N
 NDA boundary is at the MBTA bridge on the
 Rowley/Ipswich town line at:
On the Ipswich River, the inland edge of the   70[deg]50'07'' W                  42[deg]40'44'' N
 NDA boundary is at County Street in Ipswich
 at:
On the Essex River, the inland edge of the     70[deg]46'43'' W                  42[deg]37'55'' N
 NDA boundary is at Main Street in Essex at:
The eastern edge of the boundary is
 contiguous with the state/federal line also
 known as the Submerged Lands Act boundary
 line and Territorial Sea boundary.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The boundaries were chosen based on easy line-of-sight locations 
and generally represent all navigational waters.
    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. Massachusetts has certified 
that there are 13 pumpout facilities within the proposed area 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 5,555 in the proposed area. It is 
estimated that 1525 of the total vessel population may have a Marine 
Sanitation Device (MSD) of some type.
    In the proposed area is the Great Marsh, one of the important 
natural resources designated by the Commonwealth as an Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC) with 25,500 acres extending from Newbury 
to Gloucester. The Great Marsh comprises the largest salt marsh system 
(over 10,000 acres) north of Long Island, New York. The 2,900 acre 
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, within the ACEC, is known as an 
important site on the Atlantic fly-way migration route. Over 300 
species of birds have been sighted here, including 75 rare species.

[[Page 28247]]

    Six species of shellfish are harvested in the area, including soft-
shell clams, surf clams, blue mussels, razor clams, oysters, and ocean 
quahogs. In 2007 and 2008, two million pounds of shellfish were 
harvested in Greater Essex with a value of $2.5 million for the 
communities of Gloucester, Essex, and Ipswich.
    The coastal area along the Upper North Shore of Massachusetts is 
important for the tourism and recreation industries of the region, 
including Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Sandy Point State 
Reservation, Halibut Point State Park, Maudslay State Park, and more 
than 25 marinas or boat yards are adjacent to the proposed NDA. This 
area is a popular destination for boaters due to its natural 
environmental diversity and would benefit from a No Discharge Area.

Pumpout Facilities Within Proposed No Discharge Area

                                                Upper North Shore
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                Mean low water
              Name                     Location          Contact info.           Hours               depth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gloucester Cape Ann Marina......  75 Essex Ave,       978-283-3293 VHF    8am-4pm...........  6 ft.
                                   Annisquam River.    10.
Gloucester Harbormaster.........  19 Harbor Loop....  978-282-3012 VHF    On call...........  N/A.
                                                       16.
Rockport Harbormaster...........  34 Broadway.......  978-546-9589 VHF    On call...........  N/A.
                                                       9, 16.
Ipswich Harbormaster............  15 Elm Street,      978-356-4343 VHF    On call...........  N/A.
                                   Plum Island Sound.  9, 16.
Rowley Harbormaster.............  497 Main Street...  VHF 9.............  Thur-Tue 10am-6pm.  NA.
Rowley Perley's Marina..........  109 Warehouse Lane  978-948-2812 VHF    Mon-Fri 8am-6pm;    4 ft.
                                                       9, 16.              Sat--Sun 8am-5pm.
Newbury Riverfront Marina.......  292 High Road.....  978-465-6090 VHF 9  8am-5pm (6pm        4 ft.
                                                                           weekend).
Newburyport Cashman Park........  Merrimack River...  978 462-3746 VHF    Self Service        6 ft.
                                                       12, 16.             Memorial Day/End
                                                                           of October.
Newburyport Harbormaster........  60 Pleasant Street  978-462-3746 VHF    Fri 1pm-5pm; Sat,   N/A.
                                                       12, 16.             Sun & Holidays
                                                                           9am-5pm.
Amesbury Marina at Hatter's       60 Merrimac Street  978-388-7333 VHF 9  8am-9pm...........  4 ft.
 Point.
West Newbury Harbormaster.......  Merrimack River     978-363-1213 VHF    On call 9am-5pm...  NA.
                                   Town Dock.          9, 16.
Salisbury Harbormaster..........  Town Wharf........  978-499-0740 VHF    On call...........  NA.
                                                       12.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dated: May 13, 2010.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, New England Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-12118 Filed 5-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P