[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12078-12079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6335]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY


Availability of Proposed Administrative Changes to Coastal 
Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Guidance

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed administrative changes to 
coastal nonpoint pollution control program guidance.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the availability of Proposed 
Administrative Changes to the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control 
Program Guidance (Administrative Changes), developed under section 6217 
of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA), 16 
U.S.C. section 1455b. CZARA requires states and territories with 
coastal zone management programs that have received approval under 
section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CSMA) to develop and 
implement coastal nonpoint pollution control 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.
    In response to coastal states' concerns over the ability to target 
the program. enforceable policies and mechanisms; timeframes; and 
resources to implement coastal nonpoint programs, NOAA and EPA recently 
completed a dialogue with the coastal states and other interested 
parties, resulting in a set of proposed administrative changes.
    NOAA and EPA agree that states and territories may focus resources 
and will need to have sufficient flexibility to prioritize their 
implementation activities. NOAA and EPA are now in the process of 
refining the proposed administrative changes and are making them 
available for public comment prior to producing final guidance.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed Administrative Changes should 
be made to: 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, by May 11, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed Administrative Changes may be 
obtained upon request from: Joseph P. Flanagan, Coastal Programs 
Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, 
NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, tel. 
(301) 713-3121, x201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Subsequent to enactment of CZARA in 1990, in January 1993, EPA and 
NOAA published two guidances to guide the development of States' (and 
Territories') coastal nonpoint pollution control programs: Guidane 
Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in 
Coastal Waters and Program Development and Approval Guidance. These 
provided both technical and programmatic guidance on program 
development. Subsequently, EPA and NOAA provided further program 
clarification in a January 6, 1995 letter and a March 16, 1995 document 
entitled Flexibility for State Coastal Nonpoint Programs. These actions 
provided greater flexibility to States in prioritizing their 
activities; extended the implementation period from three years to five 
years; and clarified the range of enforceable policies and mechanisms 
that could be used by States to implement their programs. The letters 
also established the principle that, in recognition of the complexity 
of the program, States could be granted conditional approval for 
programs that are not yet fully approval, thereby affording more time 
for States to fully develop their programs.
    As of the date of this notice, NOAA and EPA have provided 
conditional approval to 22 States and are working rapidly to approve or 
conditionally approve all of the remainder of the 29 coastal States 
that submitted programs for approval. In April, 1997, NOAA, EPA, the 
States and other interested parties began discussions regarding the 
progress made to date in developing and implementing CZARA programs and 
the significant impediments to further progress. Both the States and 
Federal agencies recognized that while the goals of the CZARA program 
remain valid, the program and schedules originally conceived by NOAA 
and EPA were extremely ambitious, and additional flexibility would be 
needed to enable the States to successfully implement their programs. 
Based on this understanding, the parties proceeded to discuss in detail 
the specific aspects of the program that would require modification 
while maintaining the overall objective that States implement 
management measures needed to protect coastal waters.
    Based on these discussions, EPA and NOAA have drafted a set of 
administrative changes that the agencies propose to use to guide future 
implementation of the CZARA program. After reviewing public comments 
that are submitted in response to today's notice, NOAA and EPA intend 
to issue final administrative changes to the program guidance. In some 
cases, EPA and NOAA will review those findings and conditions and make 
any necessary adjustments to those findings and conditions (including, 
where appropriate, elimination of conditions).
    On October 18, 1997, the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, 
Vice President Gore directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

[[Page 12079]]

and Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work with other Federal 
agencies (including NOAA) to develop a Clean Water Action Plan within 
120 days. In a memorandum for Heads of Departments and Agencies, the 
Vice President specifically requested Federal agencies to ``develop a 
comprehensive Action Plan that builds on the * * * clean water 
successes over the past five years and addresses three major goals: 
enhanced protection from public health threats posed by water 
pollution; more effective control of polluted runoff; and promotion of 
water quality protection on a watershed basis.'' The Action Plan is 
informed by the following principles:
     Agencies will develop cooperative approaches that promote 
coordination and reduce duplication among Federal, State and local 
agencies and Tribal governments wherever possible.
     Agencies will ensure participation of community groups and 
the public to the maximum extent practicable. Such participation will 
include community and public access to information, to protect the 
public's right-to-know about water quality issues.
     Agencies will emphasize innovative approaches to pollution 
control, including, where appropriate, incentives, market-based 
mechanisms, and cooperative partnerships with landowners and other 
private parties.
    On February 19, 1998, President Clinton announced the Clean Water 
Action Plan to restore and protect America's waters. NOAA and EPA view 
these proposed administrative changes as supporting the goals of the 
President's Clean Water Action Plan to reduce polluted runoff in 
coastal areas. In particular, these changes respond to the following 
key action included in the Clean Water Action Plan:

    NOAA and EPA will work with coastal states and territories to 
ensure that they have developed programs to reduce polluted runoff 
in coastal areas and that these programs are at least conditionally 
approved by June 1998 and that all programs are fully approved by 
December 1999, with appropriate state-enforceable policies and 
mechanisms.

    NOAA and EPA are soliciting comments on the level of detail that 
should be required of states in describing the process that links the 
implementing and enforcement agencies, e.g., should states be required 
to establish clear criteria to determine where voluntary efforts have 
been unsuccessful and that enforcement actions are necessary?
    In keeping with the statutory requirements of section 6217(b)(5) 
that there be ``opportunities for public participation in all aspects 
of the program,'' NOAA and EPA reaffirm that public participation is 
necessary as the states develop changes to their programs. NOAA and EPA 
also solicit suggestions on how public participation can be effectively 
accomplished.
    Section 6217 does not specifically establish timeframes for program 
implementation. NOAA and EPA are proposing extending the timeframe for 
program implementation that has been established administratively to 
fifteen years from the date of first program approval action, i.e., 
conditional approval. NOAA and EPA request comments on whether the 
proposed timeframe of fifteen years is appropriate or whether a shorter 
timeframe, e.g., twelve years, is feasible.
    The proposed Administrative Changes provide guidance to the States 
on how NOAA and EPA intend to exercise their discretion in implementing 
the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. As such, these proposed 
Administrative Changes, as well as the previously issued guidance they 
modify, are not regulations.

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

    Dated: March 6, 1998.
Nancy Foster,
Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, Environmental Protection 
Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-6335 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]
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