[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39166-39167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18825]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7018-2]


Reissuance of the NPDES General Permit for Seafood Processors 
Operating Throughout Alaska in Waters of the United States (NPDES 
General Permit No. AK-G52-0000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Final NPDES General Permit No. AK-G52-0000 for 
Alaskan Seafood Processors.

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SUMMARY: The Director, Office of Water, EPA Region 10 (EPA), is re-
issuing the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
general permit for operators of seafood processing facilities in 
Alaska, pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 
U.S.C. 1251 et seq. The permit authorizes discharges from off-shore 
vessels engaged in the processing of fresh, frozen, canned, smoked, 
salted or pickled seafood or the processing of seafood mince, paste or 
meal. The permit also authorizes discharges from operators of near-
shore vessels and shore-based facilities engaged in the processing of 
fresh, frozen, canned, smoked, salted or pickled seafood, the 
processing of unwashed-mince, or the processing of meal and other 
secondary by-products. Discharges authorized under the permit include 
seafood processing wastewater and solid wastes, wash-down water, 
sanitary wastewater, and other wastewater generated in the seafood 
processing operation, as long as such discharges are in accordance with 
effluent limitations and treatment requirements specified in the 
permit. Discharges to numerous excluded areas are not authorized under 
the permit unless a specific waiver is received.
    Pursuant to section 402 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1342, EPA proposed 
and solicited comments on NPDES general permit AK-G52-0000 at 65 FR 
21432 (April 21, 2000). EPA also published notice of the draft permit 
in the Anchorage Daily News (4/21/00) and EPA Region 10's Seafood 
Permitting Update newsletter (April 2000), and sent out over 300 
letters of public notice by U.S. mail. EPA received comments from 17 
members of the public and requests and recommendations from the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and 
five Alaskan tribes. EPA has prepared a response to the public comments 
and the recommendations and requests of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the five Alaskan 
tribes that comments, and has revised the draft permit as described in 
the response to comments. EPA has made additional revisions to the 
draft permit in accordance with the stipulations of the State of Alaska 
in its water quality certification.

DATES: General NPDES Permit AK-G52-0000 is effective today. No seafood 
discharger is covered by this permit until it receives a letter of 
authorization to discharge from EPA. For any permittee authorized to 
discharge by the previous permit effective on August 4, 1995, EPA 
intends to use any notice of intent (NOI) submitted by that permittee 
for extended coverage as that seafood processor's application for 
coverage under today's re-issued general permit, unless additional 
information is required or a waiver under the permit must be applied 
for. Applicants who have not previously submitted an NOI to EPA and who 
are seeking coverage under this general permit must submit a complete 
NOI in accordance with the requirements and forms of this re-issued 
general permit to EPA Region 10 within 90 days from the effective date 
of this general permit.
    EPA intends to process these NOIs and respond to applicants during 
the next 90 days. EPA's response will specify when coverage begins for 
each permittee. No previous permittee will be required to comply with 
the new general permit until it has received a letter of authorization 
to discharge under the permit from EPA. The first day of coverage will 
be at least 30 days from the effective date of the permit, unless an 
applicant requests an earlier date. All coverage under the 
administratively extended version of NPDES general permit AK-G52-0000 
that was effective on August 4, 1995, shall expire on December 31, 
2001. Applicants which have not received coverage under the current 
NPDES general permit by January 1, 2002, could be found to be 
discharging without the authorization of an NPDES permit and therefore 
potentially subject to an enforcement action brought by EPA or a 
citizen.

ADDRESSES: EPA will send copies of both the permit and the response to 
comments to all past permittees and commenters. Anyone else who wants 
copies, or wishes to obtain copies more quickly, has three options: (1) 
Download

[[Page 39167]]

Adobe Acrobat versions of the permit and response to comments from the 
table of final NPDES permits at the NPDES Permits Unit webpage at 
http://www.EPA.gov/r10earth/water.htm; (2) Request that copies of the 
permit and response to comments be mailed to you by calling Audrey 
Washington, NPDES Permits Clerk, at (206) 553-0523 or faxing your 
request to Attn: Audrey Washington at (206) 553-0165; or (3) Pick up a 
copy of the permit and response to comments from the EPA offices at: 
(a) 1200 Sixth Avenue, 12th floor Public Information Center, Seattle, 
Washington; (b) 222 West 7th Avenue, #19, Anchorage, Alaska; or (c) 410 
Willoughby Avenue, Juneau, Alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Burney Hill, Aquatic Environmental 
Scientist, NPDES Permits Unit, 206-553-1761 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Clean Water Act, Section 401--The Alaska Department of 
Environmental Conservation has issued a Certification of Reasonable 
Assurance that the subject discharges comply with the Alaska State 
Water Quality Standards.
    Clean Water Act, Section 403--EPA has completed an ocean discharge 
criteria evaluation of the discharges authorized by the permit and 
determined that these discharges will not cause irreparable harm or 
unreasonable degradation of the receiving waters.
    Coastal Zone Management Act--The State of Alaska, Office of 
Management and Budget, Division of Governmental Coordination, has 
certified that NPDES general permit AK-G52-0000 is consistent with the 
approved Alaska Coastal Management Program.
    Endangered Species Act--Consultation under the Endangered Species 
Act was conducted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service. The Services concurred with EPA that 
re-issuance of NPDES general permit AK-G52-0000 was not likely to 
adversely affect any species listed as threatened or endangered with 
the exception of the Alaskan subpopulation of Steller's eider 
(Polysticta stelleri), a sea duck. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
has issued a Biological Opinion on the effects of NPDES general permit 
AK-G52-0000, concluding that re-issuance is not likely to jeopardize 
the continued existence of the Alaska population of Steller's eider in 
the action area. The Biological Opinion also includes an ``Incidental 
Take Statement'' and requests specific ``reasonable and prudent 
measures'' for the general permit in order to protect this ESA-listed 
species.
    Executive Order 12866--EPA has determined that this general permit 
is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive 
Order 12866 and is therefore not subject to review by the U.S. Office 
of Management and Budget.
    Regulatory Flexibility Act--Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq., a Federal agency must prepare an initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis for any proposed rule that is subject to the 
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and has a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. EPA has determined 
that this general permit is a permit and that it is not a rulemaking. 
EPA finds that this general permit is not subject to the requirements 
of the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.
    Paperwork Reduction Act--Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, an 
agency cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the 
agency has conducted a review on the agency need for and burden on the 
public of that information collection, evaluated public comment on that 
review, submitted an information collection request to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), and published notice of OMB approval of 
the information collection request. 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 
Additionally, a person is not required to respond to a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
NPDES general permit AK-G52-0000 incorporates provisions that 
constitute collections of information. Specifically, the permit 
includes requirements for monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping as 
required by NPDES regulations at 40 CFR part 122. OMB has approved 
information collection requests for those requirements via OMB control 
numbers 2040-0004, 2040-0086, and 2040-0110.
    Appeal of the Permit--Within 120 days following today, the 
effective date of EPA's final permit decision, any interested person 
may appeal the general permit in the Federal Court of Appeals in 
accordance with section 509(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act. Persons 
affected by a NPDES general permit may not challenge the conditions of 
the permit as of right in further EPA proceedings. Instead, they may 
either challenge the general permit in court or apply for an individual 
permit and then challenge the issuance or denial of an individual NPDES 
permit.

    Dated: July 18, 2001.
Randall F. Smith,
Director, Office of Water, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 01-18825 Filed 7-26-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P