[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 234 (Friday, December 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64359-64360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31835]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY


Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Conditional 
Approvals, Findings Documents, Responses to Comments, and Records of 
Decision

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Conditional Approval of Coastal Nonpoint Pollution 
Control Programs and Availability of Findings Documents, Responses to 
Comments, and Records of Decision for Florida, Mississippi, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the conditional approval of the 
Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs (coastal nonpoint programs) 
and of the availability of the Findings Documents, Responses to 
Comments, and Records of Decision for Florida, Mississippi, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands. Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization 
Amendments (CZARA), 16 U.S.C. section 1455b, requires states and 
territories with coastal zone management programs that have received 
approval under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act to 
develop and implement coastal nonpoint programs. Coastal states and 
territories were required to submit their coastal nonpoint programs to 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval in July 1995.
    NOAA and EPA have approved, with conditions, the coastal nonpoint 
programs submitted by Florida, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
    NOAA and EPA have prepared a Findings Document for each 6217 
program submitted for approval. The Findings Documents were prepared by 
NOAA and EPA to provide the rationale for the agencies' decision to 
approve each state and territory coastal nonpoint program. Proposed 
Findings Documents, Environmental Assessments, and Findings of No 
Significant Impact prepared for the coastal nonpoint programs submitted 
by Florida, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Puerto 
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were made available for public 
comment in the Federal Register. Public comments were received and 
responses prepared on the programs submitted by Mississippi, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Florida. No public comments were 
received on the programs submitted by Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands.
    In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
NOAA has also prepared a Record of Decision on each program. The 
requirements of 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 (Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ) regulations to implement the National Environmental 
Policy Act) apply to the preparation of a Record of Decision. 
Specifically, 40 CFR section 1505.2 requires an agency to prepare a 
concise public record of decision at the time of its decision on the 
action proposed in an environmental impact statement. The Record of 
Decision shall: (1) state what the decision was; (2) identify all 
alternatives considered, specifying the alternative considered to be 
environmentally preferable; and (3) state whether all practicable means 
to avoid or minimize environmental harm from the alternative selected 
have been adopted.
    In March 1996, NOAA published a programmatic environmental impact 
statement (PEIS) that assessed the environmental impacts associated 
with the approval of state and territory coastal nonpoint programs. The 
PEIS forms the basis for the environmental assessments NOAA has 
prepared for each state and territorial coastal nonpoint program 
submitted to NOAA and EPA for approval. In the PEIS, NOAA determined 
that the approval and conditional approval of coastal nonpoint programs 
will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts and 
that these actions will have an overall beneficial effect on the 
environment. Because the PEIS served only as a ``framework for 
decision'' on individual state and territorial coastal nonpoint 
programs, and no actual decision was made following its publication, 
NOAA has prepared a EPA Record of Decision on each individual state and 
territorial program submitted for review.
    Copies of the Findings Documents, Responses to Comments, and 
Records of Decision may be obtained upon request from: Joseph A. 
Uravitch, Chief, Coastal Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean 
and Coastal Resource Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, tel. (301) 713-3155, x195.


[[Page 64360]]


(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419 Coastal Zone Management 
Program Administration)

    Dated: December 1, 1997.
Captain Evelyn J. Fields,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal 
Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert H. Wayland, III,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Environmental 
Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 97-31835 Filed 12-4-97; 8:45 am]
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