[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 17 (Thursday, January 25, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 7760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2177]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6936-6]


Draft National Coastal Condition Report

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice of availability is hereby given for a 60-day public 
comment period on the draft National Coastal Condition Report 
describing the condition of the Nation's coastal waters. Coastal waters 
are valuable from both an environmental and economic perspective. These 
waters are also vulnerable to pollution from diverse sources. EPA 
expects that this report on the condition of coastal waters will 
support more informed decisions concerning protection of this resource 
and will increase public awareness of the extent and seriousness of 
pollution of these waters. EPA seeks public input concerning the 
information used in the report, the availability of additional data, 
and the appropriateness of conclusions drawn from the information 
presented.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Barry Burgan, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (4504-F), 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone (202) 260-7060; fax (202) 
260-9960.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry Burgan, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (4504-F) 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
20460. See Supplementary information section for electronic access and 
filing address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Coastal Condition Report describes the condition of 
coastal waters based on available information. The report concludes 
that the overall condition of coastal waters is fair to poor with some 
variation in conditions from region to region. A combination of data, 
mostly from EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is 
used to present indicators of coastal condition and a broad baseline 
picture of the condition of coastal waters. The Report also highlights 
several exemplary programs at the Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
levels that show coastal condition at various regional scales.
    This Report is the first attempt to provide the public with a 
comprehensive picture of the health of the Nation's coastal waters. It 
will serve as a useful benchmark for analyzing the progress of coastal 
management programs in the future. We recognize that data are not 
currently available to characterize all the estuarine and near-coastal 
waters of the country and that work is still needed in formulating 
improved indicators of the coastal condition. Public input on the draft 
Report regarding data completeness, the choice of indicators, the 
methodologies used to synthesize data, the ``bars'' set for each 
indicator, the choice of spatial scales and the overall Report 
presentation is important to us in preparing this and future reports.

II. Electronic Access and Filing

    You may view and download the draft Report on EPA's Internet site 
at the Office of Water homepage at http://epa.gov/ow/ under What's New 
in Water. You may submit comments by sending electronic mail (e-mail) 
to [email protected]; comments may also be mailed to Barry Burgan at 
the following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (4504-F), 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460. Submit comments as 
an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption. Identify all comments and data in electronic form by docket 
number.

    Dated: January 18, 2001.
J. Charles Fox,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 01-2177 Filed 1-24-01; 8:45 am]
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