Document ID: EPA_FRDOC_0001-14735
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petition and Tentative Affirmative Determinations: New York State Prohibition of Discharges of Vessel Sewage
Posted Date: 2013-09-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59681-59684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23688]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9901-45-Region2]

New York State Prohibition of Discharges of Vessel Sewage; 
Receipt of Petition and Tentative Affirmative Determination

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Receipt of petition and tentative affirmative determination.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to Clean Water Act 
Section 312(f)(3), the State of New York has determined that the 
protection and enhancement of the quality of the New York State (NYS or 
the State) area of Lake Erie requires greater environmental protection, 
and has petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 2, for a determination that adequate facilities for the safe and 
sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are 
reasonably available for those waters, so that the State may completely 
prohibit the discharge from all vessels of any sewage, whether treated 
or not, into such waters.
    NYS has proposed to establish a ``Vessel Waste No Discharge Zone'' 
for the NYS area of Lake Erie stretching from the Pennsylvania-New York 
State boundary to include the upper Niagara River to Niagara Falls. The 
proposed No Discharge Zone encompasses approximately 593 square miles 
and 84 linear shoreline miles, including the navigable portions of the 
Upper Niagara River and numerous other tributaries and harbors, 
embayments of the Lake including Barcelona Harbor, Dunkirk Harbor and 
Buffalo Outer Harbor, and other formally designated habitats and 
waterways of local, state, and national significance.
    On December 6, 2012, the EPA completed the review of NYS's petition 
and issued a tentative affirmative determination in the Federal 
Register that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and 
treatment of sewage from all vessels for such waters are reasonably 
available. During the 30-day public comment period, the EPA received 
significant comments regarding the availability of adequate pumpouts 
for commercial vessels. Specifically, two commenters submitted that the 
December 6, 2012 notice did not contain adequate information about the 
availability of pumpout facilities for large commercial vessels. 
Therefore, the EPA and New York State collected additional information 
to demonstrate the reasonable availability of pumpout services for 
commercial vessels that use the New York area of Lake Erie. The EPA 
hereby republishes its tentative affirmative determination with the 
additional information included.

DATES: Comments regarding this tentative determination are due by 
October 28, 2013.
    Petition: The Lake Erie No Discharge Zone Petition is available at: 
http://www.epa.gov/region2/water/permits.html.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: chang.moses@epa.gov. Include ``Comments on 
Tentative Affirmative Decision for NYS Lake Erie NDZ'' in the subject 
line of the message.
     Fax: 212-637-3891.
     Mail and Hand Delivery/Courier: Moses Chang, U.S. EPA 
Region 2, 290

[[Page 59682]]

Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866. Deliveries are only 
accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation (8 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moses Chang, (212) 637-3867, email 
address: chang.moses@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the State of New 
York has petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 2, (EPA) 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 NYS area of Lake 
Erie.

New York State's Certification of Need

    The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) 
developed its petition in collaboration with the New York State 
Department of State (DOS) and the New York State Environmental 
Facilities Corporation (EFC) in order to establish a vessel waste No 
Discharge Zone (NDZ) on the open waters, tributaries, harbors and 
embayments of the New York State area of Lake Erie, and has submitted a 
Certification of the Need for Greater Protection and Enhancement of 
Lake Erie waters. Below is a summary of the basis for New York's 
certification.
    The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, 
containing 95% of the fresh surface water in the United States and 
acting as the largest single reservoir on Earth. The glacial history 
and the influence of the Lakes themselves create unique conditions that 
support a wealth of biological diversity, including over 200 globally 
rare plants and animals and more than 40 species that are found nowhere 
else in the world.
    Lake Erie is the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes, with 
depths that range from an approximate average of 24 feet in the western 
basin, to 82 feet in the deeper eastern basin. Because of its 
shallowness, it warms quickly in the spring and summer and cools 
quickly in the fall. As a result, Lake Erie is the most biologically 
productive of the Great Lakes.
    The Lake Erie watershed is also home to approximately one-third of 
the total human population of the Great Lakes basin--11.6 million 
people (10 million in the U.S. and 1.6 million in Canada), including 17 
metropolitan areas with more than 50,000 residents. The majority, 11 
million people, receive their drinking water from the Lake. Of all the 
Great Lakes, Lake Erie is exposed to the greatest stress from 
urbanization, industrialization and agriculture. Because the Lake Erie 
basin supports the largest population, it also surpasses all the other 
Great Lakes in the amount of effluent discharged from sewage treatment 
plants.
    There are 18 designated Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife 
Habitats in the two counties that comprise New York's Lake Erie 
shoreline including: Cattaraugus Creek, Dunkirk Harbor, Buckhorn Island 
Wetlands and Grand Island Tributaries. These habitats are essential to 
the survival of a large portion of lake fish or wildlife population and 
support populations of species which are of special concern and which 
have significant commercial, recreational, and educational value.
    The New York State shoreline and waters of Lake Erie also host a 
variety of swimming, boating and recreational activities. These 
recreational activities act as a source of revenue to the regional 
economy by bringing people to the shoreline, where they patronize local 
businesses.
    Virtually all of Lake Erie is classified by New York State as Class 
A waters. This classification means that the best uses of these waters 
are for drinking, culinary or food processing purposes, recreation and 
fishing, and that the waters shall be suitable for fish, shellfish, and 
wildlife propagation and survival. Also, when the water in the Lake is 
used as a source of drinking water, it must comply with the New York 
State Department of Health's (DOH) drinking water safety standards. 
There are currently six New York municipal and community water 
supplies, including Buffalo and Erie County, that draw water from Lake 
Erie to serve approximately 275,000 people.
    In summary, as one of the nation's premier water bodies, Lake Erie 
supports several important uses, including drinking water supplies, 
valuable habitats, commercial shipping, recreational boating and other 
recreational activities, and serves as an economic engine for the 
region. The protection and enhancement of the open waters, tributaries, 
harbors and embayments of the New York State area of Lake Erie require 
greater protection than is afforded by applicable federal standards. An 
NDZ designation covering the NYS waters of the Lake represents one 
component of a comprehensive approach to water quality management, 
which also includes initiatives to control point and non-point source 
pollution, including pollution associated with municipal discharges, 
combined sewer overflows, and storm water runoff.

Adequacy and Availability of Sewage Pumpout Facilities

    Adequate pumpout facilities for recreational vessels are defined, 
under the Clean Vessel Act, as one pumpout station for every 300--600 
boats. See Clean Vessel Act: Pumpout Station and Dump Station Technical 
Guidelines (Federal Register, Vol. 59, No. 47, March 10, 1994). Two 
major sources of information were consulted to develop a reasonable 
estimate of recreational vessel population. The first was DOS's Clean 
Vessel Act Plan (``Statewide Plan''), released in 1996. Using data from 
the Statewide Plan, the estimated number of recreational vessels in 
each of the counties bordering Lake Erie is 2,029. The second source 
for the State's estimate of the recreational vessel population is 
boater registrations, obtained through the New York State Office of 
Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation's 2010 Boating Report 
(OPRHP Report) for the counties of Erie and Chautauqua (all of which 
have shoreline on Lake Erie). The data in the OPRHP Report yields an 
estimate of 2,204 vessels with marine sanitation devices (MSDs) in the 
respective counties, which are assumed to operate in Lake Erie.
    The State provided sufficient information about fifteen pumpout 
facilities that are publicly available for use by recreational and 
small commercial vessels in the New York State area of Lake Erie, and 
which either discharge to a holding tank, to a municipal wastewater 
treatment plant or to an on-site septic system. All fifteen were 
created through funding provided by the Clean Vessel Assistance Program 
(CVAP), and are thus required to be open to the public. Nine additional 
marinas are located along Lake Erie in New York State, including five 
at which CVAP funding could support the development of future pumpout 
facilities for recreational and small commercial vessels. However, only 
the fifteen CVAP funded facilities were considered in determining the 
adequacy and availability of pumpout facilities for those vessels. 
Those facilities are summarized in Table 1, below. Using those fifteen 
facilities, and the most conservative estimate of small vessel usage of 
the NYS area of the Lake, the ratio of pumpout facilities to 
recreational vessels is 15:2,204, or 1:147. This ratio falls well 
within the range recommended in the Clean Vessel Act guidance, and 
therefore demonstrates that adequate pumpout facilities for the safe 
and sanitary

[[Page 59683]]

removal and treatment of sewage for recreational and small commercial 
vessels are reasonably available for the New York State area of Lake 
Erie.
    Lake Erie is also used by large commercial vessels. The commercial 
vessel population was estimated using data from the National Ballast 
Information Clearinghouse, which records ballast water discharge 
reports for ships arriving, among other places, at the commercial ports 
in Buffalo and Lackawanna. In 2010, ballast manifests showed 62 vessels 
arriving at the Port of Buffalo and one arriving at the Gateway 
Metroport, in Lackawanna. The majority (58) of these vessels were 
bulkers, with two passenger ship arrivals and one more listed as 
``other.'' The single arrival in Lackawanna was also a bulker. Two 
commenters representing commercial vessel operators submitted comments 
stating that more than 62 large commercial vessels use the New York 
State area of Lake Erie. One commenter estimated that the number was 
closer to 80, while the other commenter estimated that the number was 
``over a hundred.''
    Although there is no fixed commercial vessel pumpout facility at 
either the Port of Buffalo or the Port of Lackawanna, information 
submitted in the petition, and by companies that provide mobile pumpout 
services, demonstrates that at least four companies are available and 
qualified to provide pumpout services to large commercial vessels at 
either port. In addition to commenting on the number of commercial 
vessels using the NYS area of Lake Erie, the two commenters submitted 
criteria they believe are necessary for determining whether a pumpout 
truck is able to service their vessels. Those criteria were taken into 
consideration, and were partially incorporated into the list of final 
criteria the EPA used to determine the reasonable availability of those 
services. In addition, one commenter confirmed that, while large 
commercial vessels can hold multiple thousands of gallons of 
wastewater, it is more likely that when these vessels discharge sewage, 
their holding tanks contain less than 4,000 gallons of wastewater. 
Based on all of this information, the EPA had determined that four 
mobile pumpout companies, with approximately ten pumpout trucks (listed 
in Table 2, below), are able to provide pumpout services to large 
commercial vessels at the ports of Buffalo and Lackawanna. Assuming, 
conservatively, that 100 large commercial vessels use the NYS area of 
Lake Erie and given that at least four companies with as many as ten 
pumpout trucks are able to provide pumpout services to these vessels at 
both New York ports, the ratio of pumpout facilities to commercial 
vessels is at least 4:100, or 1:25. While the Clean Vessel Act guidance 
applies, by its terms, only to recreational vessels, the ratio it 
recommends is instructive for purposes of determining the reasonable 
availability of pumpout services for large commercial vessels as well. 
In light of the relatively low ratio of pumpout companies to large 
commercial vessels (and the even lower ratio of pumpout trucks to large 
commercial vessels), adequate pumpout facilities for the safe and 
sanitary removal of sewage for large commercial vessels are reasonably 
available for the New York State area of Lake Erie.

                Table 1--List of Sewage Pumpout Stations in the Proposed Lake Erie NDZ Serving Recreational and Small Commercial Vessels
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                                                                                                                                      Water
                 No.                             Name                   Location              Contact         Days and hours  of      depth       Fee
                                                                                            information           operation           (feet)
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1....................................  City of Dunkirk--        Dunkirk Harbor.........      716-366-9882  April 1-November 15, 6       6'-7'      $5.00
                                        Municipal Dock.                                                     a.m.-6 p.m..
2....................................  Niagara Frontier Trans.  Buffalo Harbor and           716-855-7230  May 15-October 15, 7:00      6'-8'       0.00
                                        Authority--Small Boat    Buffalo River.                             a.m.-10:30 p.m..
                                        Harbor.
3....................................  RCR Yachts Skyway        Buffalo Harbor and           716-856-6314  April 1-November 30,           12'       5.00
                                        Marina.                  Buffalo River.                             8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m..
4....................................  City of Buffalo--Erie    Buffalo Harbor and           716-851-5389  May 1-October 15, 7:00         10'       6.50
                                        Basin Marina.            Buffalo River.                             a.m.-7:00 p.m..
5....................................  Rich Marine Sales, Inc.  Buffalo Harbor and           716-873-4060  May 1-November 1, 9:00          6'       5.00
                                                                 Buffalo River.                             a.m.-5:00 p.m..
6....................................  Harbour Place Marine     Buffalo Harbor and           716-876-5944  April 15-October 31, 24        12'       5.00
                                        Sales, Inc.              Buffalo River.                             Hours.
7....................................  NYSOPRHP--Beaver Island  Grand Island...........      716-278-1775  May 15-October 15, 24          10'       5.00
                                        State Park Transient                                                Hours.
                                        Marina.
8....................................  Blue Water Marine......  Grand Island...........      716-773-7884  May 1-November 1, 9:00          5'       0.00
                                                                                                            a.m.-7:00 p.m..
9....................................  Mid River Marina Inc...  Tonawanda Creek........      716-875-7447  April 1-September 30,           5'       5.00
                                                                                                            9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m..
10...................................  Collins Marine Inc.....  Tonawanda Creek........      716-875-6000  April 1-November 1, 24          6'       5.00
                                                                                                            Hours.
11...................................  The Shores/Placid        Tonawanda Creek........      716-625-8235  April 15-October 15,           12'       5.00
                                        Harbor Marine--                                                     9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m..
                                        Tonawanda Marine
                                        Develop Corp..
12...................................  Niagara River Yacht      Tonawanda Creek........      716-693-2882  May 1-November 1, Dusk-         NA       3.00
                                        Club.                                                               Dawn.
13...................................  Smith Boys of North      Tonawanda Creek........      716-695-3472  April-November, 24              8'       0.00
                                        Tonawanda--Upgrade.                                                 Hours.
14...................................  East Pier Marine, Inc..  Tonawanda Creek........      716-693-6604  May 1-November 15, 9:00         5'       5.00
                                                                                                            a.m.-8:00 p.m..
15...................................  NYSOPRHP--Big Six Mile   Grand Island...........      716-278-1775  May 1-November 1, 24           10'       5.00
                                        Creek State Marina.                                                 Hours.
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[[Page 59684]]

                                       Table 2--List of Sewage Pumpout Services Capable of Serving Large Commercial Vessels in the Proposed Lake Erie NDZ
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                                                                                 of sewage
                                                          Location &  contact     hauler pumpout       Days and hours of      Hose fittings &        Head pump       Truck serve the    Fee/cost
               No.                   Name of  company         information         trucks/holding           operation           length (feet)     pressure to reach      port area      per 1,000
                                                                                     capacity                                                         46.5 Ft                             gal
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1................................  Macken Services, Inc  22 Simme Road,        3 sewage trucks--2    Mon-Fri 7:00 a.m.-    Flexible 100 ft.....  Yes..............  Yes..............      $ 230
                                                          Lancaster, NY         4,000 gal and 1--     5:00 p.m.; or by
                                                          14086, Tel--716-683-  2,500 gal.            appointment.
                                                          0704.
2................................  Meyer Septic Service  7130 Olean Road,      3 sewage trucks--     Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m.-    Flexible up to 175    Yes..............  Yes..............        255
                                                          South Wales, NY       3,500 gal each.       2:00 p.m.; or by      ft.
                                                          14139, Tel--716-652-                        appointment.
                                                          0553.
3................................  Western New York      3045 Daniels Road,    2 sewage trucks--     Mon-Fri 7:00 a.m.-    Flexible up to 200    Yes..............  Yes..............        350
                                    Septic Tank           Wilson, NY 14172,     4,000 gal each.       5:00 p.m.; or by      ft.
                                    Cleaning Service.     Tel--716-751-9611.                          appointment.
4................................  Ball Toilet & Septic  3725 Jeffrey Blvd.,   2 sewage trucks--     Mon-Fri 6:00 a.m.-    Flexible up to 200    Yes..............  Yes..............        230
                                    Service.              Blasdell, NY14219,    1,000 gal and 5,000   4:30 p.m.; or by      ft.
                                                          Tel--716-823-3606.    gal.                  appointment.
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    Based on the above, the EPA hereby proposes to make an affirmative 
determination that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary 
removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are available for the 
waters of the New York State area of Lake Erie. A 30 day period for 
public comment has been opened on this matter, and the EPA invites any 
comments relevant to its proposed determination. If, after the public 
comment period ends, the EPA makes a final affirmative determination 
that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and 
treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the 
New York State area of Lake Erie, the State may completely prohibit the 
discharge from all vessels of any sewage, whether treated or not, into 
such waters.

    Dated: September 17, 2013.
Judith A. Enck,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2013-23688 Filed 9-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P