[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19264-19265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10745]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Notice of Availability of a Draft Plan for U.S. Navy Compliance 
With Regulations 5 of Annex V to the MARPOL Convention, and of a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Disposal of U.S. Navy 
Shipboard Solid Waste, and Notice of Public Hearing To Receive Comments 
on the DEIS

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (DON) announces the availability of 
two documents pertaining to the management of solid waste aboard Navy 
ships. The first is a Draft Plan for Compliance with Regulation 5 of 
Annex V to the MARPOL Convention by vessels owned or operated by the 
Department of the Navy. The second document is a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) for Disposal of U.S. Navy Shipboard Solid 
Waste. Copies of these documents can be obtained by contacting Mr. 
Robert Ostermueller, Planner in Charge, Northern Division, Naval 
Facilities Engineering Command, 10 Industrial Highway, Mail Stop #82, 
Lester, Pennsylvania 19113-2090, telephone (610) 595-0759, fax (610) 
595-0778.
    Federal, state and local agencies, and interested individuals, are 
encouraged to submit comments regarding the draft Plan and/or the DEIS. 
Written comments may be submitted to Mr. Ostermueller at the above 
address. The Navy will also hold two public meetings to receive oral or 
written comments on either or both documents. The first meeting will be 
held at 7:30 PM on Tuesday May 28, 1996, at the Holiday Inn, 625 First 
Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314. The second meeting will be held at 
7:30 PM on Thursday, May 30, 1996, at the Clift Hotel, 495 Geary 
Street, San Francisco, CA, 94120. In the interest of available time, 
each speaker will be asked to limit oral comments to five minutes. 
Longer comments should be summarized at the public meeting or mailed to 
the address indicated above.

DATES: Written comments on the Plan and/or the DEIS will be considered 
if received by Mr. Ostermueller at the above address not later than 
June 17, 1996. Oral or written comments will also be considered if 
presented at one of the public meetings discussed above, to be held on 
May 28 and 30, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
CDR Lane Willson, U.S. Navy, Shipboard Solid Waste Project Manager, 
Chief of Naval Operations (N45) 2211 S. Clark Place, Arlington, VA 
22244-5108, (703) 602-8794.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Special Area Compliance Plan is being 
prepared pursuant to Section 1003(c)(2) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994, Public Law 103-160, codified at 
33 U.S.C. 1902(2)-(4). That statute requires the Secretary of the Navy 
to submit, by 30 November 1996, a plan for compliance by all ships 
owned or operated by the DON with the requirements of Regulation 5 of 
Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution 
from Ships (MARPOL). Regulation 5 of Annex V establishes rules 
pertaining to discharge of shipboard solid waste from vessels operating 
in designated ``special areas'' of the world, of which three are 
currently in effect: the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Antarctic 
Region. Essentially Regulation 5 of Annex V prohibits all discharges of 
solid waste, other than food waste, from ships in ``in-effect'' special 
areas.
    The Compliance Plan must be submitted in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 
Transportation and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency. The statute also requires the opportunity for public 
participation in the Plan's development, and for public comment on the 
Plan.
    Pursuant to the statutory mandate to provide opportunity for public 
participation in the development of the plan, DON announced 
commencement of the Plan's development in the Federal Register of July 
21, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 37223). That announcement identified three solid 
waste management alternatives that would be considered: on-board 
destruction through incineration or some form of advanced waste 
destruction technology; storage aboard ship for later offload ashore; 
and on-board processing and discharge at sea of waste products. The 
announcement solicited public comment on the Compliance Plan, 
specifically requesting comment on the scope of alternatives to be 
considered, on the studies considered necessary, on measures of merit 
by which to evaluate the alternatives, and on suggested technologies or 
strategies for compliance. Written comments from the public were 
invited. The July 21, 1994, Federal Register notice also announced a 
September 20, 1994 public meeting, at which the Navy presented 
information on and received public comment concerning preparation of 
the Compliance Plan. In November 1995 and again in February 1996 the 
Navy met with representatives of federal and state environmental 
agencies, industry and environmental interest groups in order to obtain 
their views regarding the Plan. These efforts, this notice's request 
for comments on the Plan, and the opportunity for public involvement in 
the DEIS development, described below, provide the public with the 
opportunity to participate in development of the Compliance Plan.
    The draft Plan concludes that it is not technologically feasible, 
within the foreseeable future, for certain Navy vessels to comply fully 
with the special area discharge limitations of Regulation 5 of Annex V, 
while at the same time maintaining the required level of operational 
capability. Full compliance would require all naval vessels operating 
in ``in-effect'' special areas to adopt either the onboard destruction 
or the storage and retrograde approach to shipboard solid waste 
management. The draft Plan demonstrates that, given the current state 
of demonstrated shipboard solid waste management technology, adoption 
of either approach would materially interfere with the operations

[[Page 19265]]

and operational capability of certain U.S. Navy warships operating in 
``in-effect'' special areas.
    The draft Plan identifies as the Navy's preferred alternative a 
combination of waste management approaches for the Fleet, depending 
upon the design, construction, manning and operating profiles of the 
various ship types. Navy vessels smaller than frigates, such as fleet 
ocean tugs, rescue and salvage vessels, mine countermeasure ships and 
coastal patrol craft, have relatively small crews and typically remain 
at sea in ``in-effect'' special areas for only a few days at a time. 
Given these circumstances it is feasible for these vessels, employing 
compaction technology, to retain solid waste on board for shore 
disposal. For these vessels, therefore, the Navy's preferred 
alternative for special area compliance is storage and retrograde of 
solid waste.
    The draft plan indicates that ocean going surface vessels of 
frigate size and larger are technologically unable to comply with the 
special area discharge limitations of Regulation 5 of Annex V while 
maintaining required levels of operational capability. U.S. Navy 
frigates are vessels approximately 450 feet in length and with a 
displacement of roughly 4,100 tons. The Navy's preferred special area 
compliance alternative for these vessels is a combination of management 
practices. Plastic and hazardous waste would be stored aboard for 
recycling or disposal ashore. The remaining solid waste streams, 
consisting of paper, cardboard metal and glass, would be processed 
using shipboard equipment and discharged overboard. Paper, cardboard 
and food waste would be processed in a pulper, creating a slurry of 
those wastes in seawater, which would be discharged overboard. Metal 
and glass would be processed in a shredder, which would tear or break 
metal cans and glass containers into small pieces. The processed waste 
would then be bagged in burlap and discharged overboard.
    The Compliance Plan does not address submarines; further research 
and development is needed to resolve the particular solid waste 
challenges unique to submarines. In the meantime, submarines will 
continue to minimize waste generated at sea through intensive source 
reduction efforts at the pier.
    Although it would be consistent with the MARPOL Convention, which 
requires reasonable and practicable compliance efforts of warships, the 
Navy's preferred alternative for frigate size and larger vessels would 
not be consistent with a future requirement of the Act to Prevent 
Pollution from Ships (APPS), 33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. Section 1902(c)(1) 
of APPS requires Navy surface vessels to comply with MARPOL special 
area requirements by 31 December 2000. To avoid inconsistency with U.S. 
law after the year 2000, and in accordance with Section 1902(c) (3) and 
(4), the Navy is recommending a legislative amendment to APPS that will 
allow discharge after the date of non-plastic, non-floating pulped and 
shredded material in special areas of certain naval vessels. This 
authorization would extend only to those vessels that the Secretary of 
the Navy determines are prevented by their uniquely military design, 
construction, manning or operating requirements from being capable of 
meeting the Regulation 5 of Annex V discharge standards. The proposed 
legislation would prohibit the discharge of pulped material within 3 
nautical miles of the nearest land, and would prohibit the discharge of 
shredded material within 12 nautical miles of the nearest land.
    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on Disposal of U.S. 
Navy Shipboard Solid Waste was developed pursuant to Executive Order 
12114 (Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions), and 
Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 
1500-1508). A Notice of Intent to prepare the Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) was provided in the Federal Register on October 12, 
1995 (60 FR 53171). The notice reiterated the solid waste disposal 
alternatives that would be considered, and announced public scoping 
meetings. These meetings were held in Alexandria, VA, and in San 
Francisco, CA, in October 1995.
    The DEIS addresses the environmental consequences of each of the 
alternative means of shipboard solid waste management, and identifies 
the same preferred alternative as does the Compliance Plan. The DEIS 
has been provided to Congress in conjunction with the Navy's APPS 
legislative proposal, discussed above. Hence, the DEIS serves also as a 
Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) to assist in 
Congressional consideration of the legislative proposal. If enacted, 
the amendment to APPS would authorize, but not require, the Navy to 
implement its currently identified preferred alternative as the Navy's 
final plan for special area compliance.
    As indicated above, comment on the draft Compliance Plan and on the 
DEIS is required not later than June 17, 1996. The Navy will consider 
all comments and anticipates promulgating a final Compliance Plan and 
Final EIS in late summer or early fall, 1996.

    Dated: April 26, 1996.
M.A. Waters,
LCDR, JAGC, USN Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-10745 Filed 4-30-96; 8:45 am]
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