[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 17, 1996)] [Notices] [Pages 66264-66265] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-31926] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Notice on Plastic Processor Installation on Navy Ships SUMMARY: Under Section 1003 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994, Public Law 103-160, the Secretary of Defense must report annually in years 1996 through 1998 a list of ships equipped with plastic processors. This notice is the first annual report. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from ships (MARPOL) as amended by the MARPOL Protocol of 1978, protects the ocean environment by prohibiting some discharges altogether, restricting other discharges to particular distances from land, and establishing ``special area'' within which additional discharge limitations apply. One of the discharges specified for restriction under MARPOL Annex V is plastics. Section 1003 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994, Public Law 103-160, 107 Stat. 1745, requires ships equipped with plastics processors to comply with MARPOL Annex V provisions for the disposal of plastics. The Act also establishes an installation schedule for plastics processor equipment aboard ships. The first production unit shall be installed by July 1, 1996 on board a Navy ship. At least 25 percent of ships requiring processors shall be equipped by March 1, 1997. At least 50 percent of ships requiring processors shall be equipped by July 1, 1997. No less than 75 percent of ships requiring processors shall be equipped by July 1, 1998, and all vessels requiring plastics processors shall be equipped by December 31, 1998. The Act further requires the Secretary of Defense to report in the Federal Register a list of the names of ships equipped with plastics processors. This Federal Register notice is the first of the required annual reports. A [[Page 66265]] list of the ten Navy ships equipped with plastics processors by October 1, 1996 follows: AO-178 USS Monongahela CG-50 USS Valley Forge CG-57 USS Lake Champlain CGN-37 USS South Carolina DDG-54 USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-63 USS Stethem DDG-996 USS Chandler FFG-48 USS Vandegrift FFG-55 USS Elrod LPD-12 USS Shreveport FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Louis Maiuri, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Protection, Safety and Occupational Health Division, Crystal Plaza #4, Room 654, 2211 South Clark Place, Arlington, Virginia 22244-5108; telephone 703-602-2602. Dated: December 9, 1996. D.E. Koenig, Jr., LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer. [FR Doc. 96-31926 Filed 12-16-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P