[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 188 (Thursday, September 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49381-49382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24193]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Docket No. W-00-16; FRL-7068-4]


Availability of Draft Ballast Water Report and Request for 
Comments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of document availability with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a draft Ballast 
Water Report (Report), which summarizes the results of a study on 
aquatic nuisance species (ANS) in ballast water discharges, and 
recommends actions that EPA, working with other agencies, should take 
to address the issue. We are seeking public comment on this draft 
Report and its recommendations.

DATES: Submit comments on or before January 11, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The record for this notice is available for inspection from 
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays at 
the Water Docket, 401 M Street SW, East Tower Basement (Room EB 57), 
Washington, DC 20460. The record includes the subject draft Report and 
supporting documents. For access to the Docket materials, please call 
(202) 260-3027 to schedule an appointment.
    Please send requests for a copy of the draft Report, or written 
comments on the Report, to: W-00-16 Ballast Water Comment Clerk, Water 
Docket (MC-4101), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. 
Hand deliveries should be made to the Water Docket at 401 M Street, 
SW., East Tower Basement (Room EB 57), Washington, DC 20460. Please 
submit an original and three copies of your comments and enclosures 
(including references).
    The draft Report can also be downloaded from internet address 
http://www.epa.gov/owow/invasive_species/petition.html. Comments on the 
draft Report may be submitted by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected]. To avoid duplication of comments in the comment 
record, please do not send the same comments by paper copy and email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Heisler at (202) 260-8632 or Ruby 
Cooper-Ford at (202) 564-0757.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to a petition received from the 
Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center to EPA on January 13, 1999, and 
in support of Executive Order 13112, ``Invasive Species,'' signed on 
February 3, 1999, EPA undertook a Ballast Water Study (Study) to: (1) 
Assess the issue of ANS from ballast water discharges, (2) research and 
report what mechanisms are available under the Clean Water Act (CWA) or 
other statutes to effectively control the introduction of ANS in 
ballast water, and (3) recommend actions we should take to address the 
issue.
    As part of this Study, EPA developed the draft Report to generate 
public discussion on this matter. The draft Report includes the 
following:

[[Page 49382]]

    (1) A survey of existing Federal, State and international actions 
to address ANS.
    (2) Options for controlling ballast water through legal, technical 
and practical mechanisms.
    (3) A list of additional non-regulatory and regulatory actions that 
the EPA and other agencies might take to minimize the spread of 
invasive ANS in ballast water; and
    (4) Other relevant factors and considerations.
    As the draft Report states, the Study concluded that the threat of 
ANS introduction from ballast water discharges is real, and that EPA 
has an appropriate role in mitigating that threat. The Report 
recommends against establishing a regulatory program for ballast water 
discharges under the CWA at this time.
    The Report suggests that the greatest barrier to effectively 
preventing the threat of ANS introductions from ballast water, which 
has to be resolved, is the lack of effective and affordable 
technologies for treating ballast water to remove or reduce the ANS 
threat. Those technologies are rapidly emerging and expected to be 
widely available in several years.
    The Study examined the U.S. Coast Guard's ballast water program 
under the National Invasive Species Act (NISA) of 1996, the work of the 
Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force under NISA, and the interagency 
efforts established under Executive Order 13112. The Study concluded 
that although the NISA program in its current form probably does not 
sufficiently protect against ANS spread from ballast water discharges, 
the primary impediments to its success (i.e., the lack of ballast water 
treatment technologies, and the lack of comprehensive mandatory ballast 
water treatment standards) are waning. The Coast Guard is expected to 
take several actions in the near future to better incorporate new and 
more effective ballast water treatment technologies into its ballast 
water program. EPA believes those actions, coupled with availability of 
new treatment technologies, provide the most effective approach for 
preventing ANS introductions from ballast water.
    Based on its findings, the draft Report proposes recommendations 
that EPA work with the Coast Guard and other stakeholders to foster the 
rapid development of ballast water treatment technologies, and support 
the Coast Guard regulatory program to ensure that it is as effective as 
possible against ANS spread.
    The Report makes the following specific draft recommendations for 
addressing the issue:
    a. Actively promote research, outreach, and technology development 
through participation in the ANS Task Force, the Invasive Species 
Council, and their appropriate committees and working groups on ballast 
water.
    b. Promote technology development, for example through its 
Environmental Technology Verification (ETV), Small Business Innovative 
Research, and Green Ships and Green Ports programs.
    c. Establish the prevention of ANS introductions as an EPA research 
priority.
    d. Provide technical assistance to ANS research projects initiated 
or funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Coast 
Guard, or other government, academic, or non-governmental 
organizations.
    e. Support the U.S. Coast Guard's efforts to evaluate the 
effectiveness of its regulations and to revise them, if necessary, to 
enhance their effectiveness in preventing ANS introductions, including 
the development of domestic ballast water standards and encouraging the 
development and adoption of new technologies.
    f. Continue EPA's participation on the U.S. delegation to the 
Ballast Water Working Group of the Marine Environmental Protection 
Committee of the International Maritime Organization, which is working 
toward an international ballast water agreement, including developing 
standards.
    g. Encourage public participation and education/outreach (e.g., 
through the National Estuary Programs, Great Waters Programs, Aquatic 
Nuisance Species Task Force (ANSTF), National Invasive Species Council, 
Interagency Committee on the Marine Transportation System, and web 
sites).
    h. Work with the U.S. Coast Guard to maximize compliance with the 
National Invasive Species Act (NISA) regulations at 33 CFR 151 by:
    1. Providing technical assistance, coordination, and advocacy 
support to U.S. Coast Guard outreach, education, and research projects; 
and
    2. Participating actively on the ANSTF, its regional Panels, and 
its Ballast Water Committees.
    i. In cooperation with other Federal agencies, engage the regulated 
community in a government-shipper partnership emphasizing the use of 
Environmental Management Systems to address all aspects of ship-borne 
transfers of ANS, by:
    1. Formally recognizing the efforts of shipping interests which 
commit to real, significant actions that reduce the risk of ANS 
transfer;
    2. Providing technical assistance, coordination, and where 
appropriate, financial support to shippers projects designed to address 
ANS; and
    3. Where appropriate, providing regulatory flexibility for ANS 
prevention projects using EPA's Project XL Program.
    j. Provide encouragement for national consistency and coordination 
to State and local governments' efforts to control ANS invasion from 
ballast water.
    k. Develop EPA's Invasive Species Management Plan to identify 
appropriate EPA-specific activities to implement the Invasive Species 
Council's National Invasive Species Management Plan.
    l. Use EPA's authority to review NEPA documents and other 
documentation, to promote the adequate consideration of the effects of 
ANS in Federal actions which involve ballast water.
    m. Defer consideration of the application of NPDES permits to 
ballast water discharges pending these actions. The effectiveness of 
other programs, including the level of compliance with the Coast 
Guard's program under NISA, will be a factor in EPA's future 
consideration of this issue.
    The following documents are available from the W-00-16 Water 
Docket, and are also available at the internet address listed above:
    1. Petition to EPA to regulate ballast water under NPDES, dated 
January 13, 1999.
    2. Letter from the Assistant Administrator for Water, to 
petitioner, dated April 6, 1999.
    3. Written comments received on the petition prior to release of 
the draft Ballast Water Report.
    4. Draft Ballast Water Report.

    Dated: September 21, 2001.
G. Tracy Mehan, III,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 01-24193 Filed 9-26-01; 8:45 am]
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