[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64885-64889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26846]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7396-9]


Proposed Modification of and Request for Additional Public 
Comment on the General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
Permits for Log Transfer Facilities in Alaska: AK-G70-0000 and AK-G70-
1000

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed modification of and request for additional 
public comments on general NPDES permits for log transfer facilities in 
Alaska.

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SUMMARY: The Director, Office of Water, EPA Region 10, provides notice 
of and requests public comment on proposed modifications of the two 
general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits 
for Alaskan log transfer facilities (LTFs), which include log storage 
areas (LSAs), that were issued on March 7, 2000 (65 FR 11999): NPDES 
permit no. AK-G70-0000, which modifies Clean Water Act (CWA) section 
404 dredge-and-fill permits issued to LTFs by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (ACoE) prior to October 22, 1985, by adding CWA section 402 
effluent limitations and conditions to those permits, and NPDES permit 
no. AK-G70-1000, which may cover all other log transfer facilities in 
Alaska.
    The EPA issued two general permits for Alaskan log transfer 
facilities on March 7, 2000. In response to petitions to review the 
permits brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council and nine other 
petitioners, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 
on February 13, 2002, ruled that the EPA did not provide adequate 
notice of and opportunity to comment on the general NPDES permits AK-
G70-0000 and AK-G70-1000 and remanded the permits to the EPA to take 
further comment on the project area Zone of Deposit (ZOD) authorized by 
the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), and 
subsequently included in the final permits by the EPA. To comply with 
the Ninth Circuit's order, the EPA is seeking public comment on the 
authorization of a ``project area'' zone of deposit for trace, 
discontinuous, and continuous coverage in the general permits.
    The EPA also is proposing to modify these permits. The most 
significant proposal would add a limit on continuous coverage within 
the project area zone of deposit, but would retain the project area 
zone of deposit limit for bark and woody debris for trace, 
discontinuous, and continuous coverage if less than one acre and less 
than 10 centimeters in depth. This notice seeks comment on the proposed 
major modifications. Finally, the notice describes various minor 
modifications the EPA is making to correct typographical errors.

DATES: Interested persons may submit written comments on the proposed 
modifications to general NPDES permits AK-G70-0000 and AK-G70-1000 and 
on the project area zone of deposit on or before December 23, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to the attention of Alaskan LTF Public 
Comments, EPA Region 10 (OW-130), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. 
All comments should include the name of the commenter, a concise 
statement

[[Page 64886]]

of the comment, and the relevant facts upon which the comment is based.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The NPDES Permits Unit, EPA Region 10 
Office of Water, Seattle, Washington, at (206) 553-0775.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: General NPDES permits AK-G70-0000 and AK-
G70-1000 regulate the discharge of woody debris (e.,g., bark and 
branches) at log transfer facilities (LTFs), which include log storage 
areas (LSAs), along the Southeast Alaskan coast. Woody debris is 
generated in the transfer of the de-limbed trunks of felled trees from 
upland storage lots to floating holding areas. The agency developed 
numerous technical documents in support of the control of pollution 
associated with the transfer and storage of logs (e.g., USEPA 1973, The 
Influence of Log Handling on Water Quality; USEPA 1976, Effects of Log 
Handling and Storage on Water Quality; USEPA 1996, Ocean Discharge 
Criteria Evaluation of the NPDES General Permit for Log Transfer 
Facilities). The EPA has relied further upon supporting research from 
other sources (e.g., Pease 1974, Effects of Log Dumping and Rafting on 
the Marine Environmental of Southeast Alaska; NMFS 1976, Some Effects 
of Log Dumping on Estuaries; Conlan and Ellis 1979, Effects of Wood 
Waste on Sand-bed Benthos; Freese and O'Clair 1984, Response of the 
Littleneck Clam and the Edible Mussel Exposed to Decomposing Wood Waste 
from a Log Transfer Facility; USFS 1986, Relationship between Bark Loss 
and Log Transfer Method; Jackson 1986, Effects of Bark Accumulation on 
Benthic Infauna at a Log Transfer Facility in Southeast Alaska).
    The EPA, together with the State of Alaska, the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Alaskan timber industry 
and representatives of the public, participated in the Governor of 
Alaska's Alaska Timber Task Force (ATTF) to develop guidelines to 
control detrimental impacts of LTFs to water quality, aquatic life, and 
habitat. The ATTF issued the ``Log Transfer Facility Siting, 
Construction, Operations and Monitoring/Reporting Guidelines' (1985 
hereafter, ``Guidelines''). The ATTF recognized that LTFs impose a much 
greater physical stress upon the environment than chemical stress and 
accordingly emphasized protective siting and operational practices, 
supported by monitoring, to control pollution and impacts to the 
environment.

The Project Area Zone of Deposit for Bark and Woody Debris

    The EPA has tentatively determined that a project area zone of 
deposit for trace, discontinuous, and continuous coverage of bark and 
woody debris on the seafloor is appropriate because the Alaska Water 
Quality Standard (AWQS) for residues is zero. The inclusion of areas of 
trace and discontinuous bark accumulations in the zone of deposit 
authorized under the AWQS is consistent with prior zones of deposit 
issued for LTFs and to the factual reality of how bark is distributed 
when discharged from LTFs. Depositional patterns of bark from LTFs, 
coupled with existing information that indicates that environmental 
harm results from complete coverage, but not trace and discontinuous 
coverage, supports the State of Alaska Department of Environmental 
Conservation's Certificates of Reasonable Assurance on the general 
permits which authorized a project area zone of deposit to limit all 
potential accumulations of bark and woody debris.
    Previous individual LTF permits contained zones of deposit limited 
to 100% coverage exceeding both one acre in size and a thickness 
greater than 10 centimeters at any point as a fixed limit. However, 
trace and discontinuous coverage, although known to occur, was not 
specifically limited. According to the ADEC, those previous LTF zones 
of deposit did not recognize and address the reality that the deposits 
of bark and other woody debris include a continuum from trace amounts 
to piles. See July 29, 1999 ADEC letter, page 2. The ADEC further 
explained that under the AWQS no accumulation is allowed, thus, ``to 
authorize an acre of continuous coverage while ignoring the thinner 
deposits that surround it simply does not acknowledge what really 
occurs.'' Page 2, ADEC July 29, 1999 letter. Based on existing 
information, a zone of deposit for trace, discontinuous, and continuous 
bark and woody debris covering the area of the LTF project is 
protective of the environment as long as continuous coverage is 
separately addressed. The ADEC has determined, in the present permit as 
in past permits, to address the accumulation of continuous bark of 10 
cm thickness to one acre, though it has determined that this area is a 
threshold for remediation in lieu of a limit on the extent of the zone 
of deposit.
    In accordance with the Ninth Circuit's Order, the EPA is seeking 
comment on this issue.

Proposed Major Modifications to General NPDES Permits AK-G70-0000 and 
AK-G70-1000

    Major modifications are proposed for the general NPDES permits. 
Table 1 below summarizes the major modifications. The basis for the 
proposed major modifications are contained in this Notice. Two draft 
permits containing the proposed modifications are available for public 
review.
    The EPA proposes to make substantive changes in both permits to: 
(1) Revise the authorization process; (2) set a limit on the area of 
continuous bark deposit; (3) revise the threshold for revising the 
Pollution Prevention Plan for controlling bark deposition; and (4) 
revise the monitoring requirements pertaining to the deposition of 
bark.
    The proposed major modifications to the general NPDES permits for 
Alaskan LTFs addresses new information received in implementing the 
general NPDES permits, and contained in the Memorandum, Final Order and 
Final Decision issued on May 10, 2002, by the Alaska Department of 
Environmental Conservation in an administrative appeal of the State's 
Section 401 Certificates of Reasonable Assurance for the general NPDES 
permits. The Memorandum, Final Order and Final Decision of the ADEC 
upheld the State Certificates, except as to its application to 
discharges in impaired waterbodies.

[[Page 64887]]



       Table 1.--Proposed Major Modifications of General NPDES Permits for Alaskan Log Transfer Facilities
                                         [Pursuant to 40 CFR 122.62(a)]
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                                       Section and page of     Section and page of
               Issue                 final NPDES permit No.  final NPDES permit No.   Substance of modification
                                      AK-G70-0000 (3/21/00)   AK-G70-1000 (3/21/00)
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Under ADEC Order, permit coverage    I.A (p. 1) and IV.E     I.B (p. 1) and III.E    Delete language allowing
 and authorization to discharge       (p. 8).                 (p. 5) and V.A (p. 9).  the Director of EPA Region
 cannot occur without the submittal                                                   10 Office of Water to
 and acceptance of a Notice of                                                        cover a facility without
 Intent to be Covered (NOI) or                                                        an NOI or Notification and
 Notification and an authorization                                                    add language that an LTF
 of a zone of deposit by the ADEC.                                                    is not authorized to be
                                                                                      covered without both (1)
                                                                                      submittal of a complete
                                                                                      and accurate NOI; and (2)
                                                                                      State approval for
                                                                                      coverage and authorization
                                                                                      of a zone of deposit in a
                                                                                      written decision document;
                                                                                      delete language giving the
                                                                                      ADEC option to rescind the
                                                                                      zone of deposit for a
                                                                                      permitted facility.
Under ADEC Order, LTFs located in    I.A (p. 1)............  III.C.1 (p. 4)........  Delete the qualification
 waterbodies impaired for bark                                                        ``new'' for dischargers in
 residues cannot be authorized                                                        waterbodies impaired by
 under a general NPDES permit.                                                        bark residues.
In view of the new bark surveys and  III.A.3 (p. 3)........  IV.A.3 (p. 6).........  Include an explicit limit
 information, the threshold of 1.0                                                    that the continuous
 acre of 100% coverage at a                                                           coverage of bark at a
 thickness greater than 10 cm at                                                      thickness greater than 10
 any point must be a limit in order                                                   cm at any point shall not
 to protect the AWQS.                                                                 exceed 1.0 acre.
In view of the new bark surveys and  III.B.13 (p. 4), VI.F   IV.B.1.h (p. 7),        Reduce the threshold for
 information, a reduction in          (p. 18) and VI.I (p.    VII.F.6 (p. 23), and    the development and
 discharges should be addressed in    18).                    VII.I (p. 23).          implementation of
 the Pollution Prevention Plan                                                        pollution prevention
 before an LTF reaches or exceeds                                                     practices to control bark
 the ADEC's threshold of 1.0 acre                                                     deposits from 1.0 A to
 of continuous coverage of bark and                                                   0.75 A and apply it to
 woody debris in excess of 10 cm                                                      both shore-based and off-
 thickness at any point in order to                                                   shore LTFs in AK-70-1000;
 prevent an exceedance of this                                                        add this condition to AK-
 limit.                                                                               G70-0000.
Monitoring of continuous bark        III.E (p. 5), V.C.1     IV.E (p. 9), V.D.7 (p.  Modify the maximum depth
 deposition should be conducted to    (p. 11), V.C.3 (p.      13), VI.C.1 (p. 16)     for the monitoring of
 a depth of -100 ft, the maximum      11), and V.C.5 (p.      VI.C.3 (p. 16) and      continuous bark deposits
 depth of `SCUBA diving without an    12).                    VI.C.5 (p. 17).         from -60 ft mean lower low
 on-site decompression chamber'                                                       water to -100 ft, without
 under OSHA, to support the                                                           reference to mean lower
 protection of the AWQS and to be                                                     low water.
 consistent with statewide SCUBA
 monitoring.
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    Since the general NPDES permits were issued in 2000, the EPA has 
compiled the information obtained from LTFs applying for coverage under 
the general NPDES permits to obtain a better understanding of the 
industry. The EPA has learned that 56% of the facilities seeking 
coverage under the general permits have less than 0.25 acre of 
continuous bark coverage (i.e., 100% bark coverage greater than 10 cm 
at any point), 33% have 0.25 to 1.0 acre of continuous coverage, and 
11% have more than one acre of continuous coverage. Thus, nine out of 
ten LTFs applying for coverage under the two general NPDES permits have 
less than 1.0 acre of continuous bark accumulation. In addition, 71% of 
the applicant LTFs have less than one acre of discontinuous bark 
coverage (i.e., 10% to 99% bark coverage), 16% have 1.0 to 2.0 acres of 
discontinuous coverage, and 12% have more than two acres of 
discontinuous bark coverage of the seafloor. Again, then roughly nine 
out of ten LTFs applying for coverage have less than 2.0 acres of 
discontinuous coverage. The EPA also has obtained information on the 
patterns, variations, and causes of bark deposition in time and space. 
Based on analysis of this information, indications are that eight LTFs 
have continuous coverage of more than one acre, thus, likely will 
require individual permits with site-specific assessments in order to 
receive an NPDES authorization to discharge.
    The first proposed change in the general NPDES permits relates to 
the State's Final Decision. The ADEC has established a process for 
analyzing applicability of the antidegradation and zone of deposit 
provisions for LTFs that seek authorization under the general permits. 
That process was upheld in the Final Decision. EPA is proposing to 
modify the general permits to delete the provision that the Director of 
the EPA may cover an LTF even if the discharger has not submitted an 
NOI or Notification. These deletions occur at permit sections I.A (p. 
1) and IV.E (p. 8) of AK-G70-0000 and sections I.B (p. 1), III.E (p. 5) 
and V.A (p. 9) of AK-G70-1000, as indicated in Table 1 (above).
    The second proposed change is also necessary to implement the 
ruling in the State Final Decision. The Final Decision held that a 
general permit cannot be used to authorize discharges in a waterbody 
listed as impaired under CWA section 303(d), 33 U.S.C. 1313(d). Under 
AK-G70-1000, ``new'' dischargers could not be authorized to discharge 
into waterbodies listed as impaired under either section 303(d) or 
section 305(b)., Under today's proposal, no dischargers, whether new or 
existing, could be authorized to discharge into waterbodies listed as 
impaired for residues under either section 303(d) or section 305(b). 
The deletion of the term ``new'' occurs at permit section III.C.1 (p. 
4) of AK-G70-1000, as indicated in Table 1 (above). General permit AK-
G70-0000 does not include any restriction concerning discharges into 
impaired waterbodies, but would be modified to specify that no 
discharge of

[[Page 64888]]

pollutants from the facility is authorized under the permit until the 
ADEC completes its analysis and authorizes the project area zone of 
deposit. That modification to general permit AK-G70-0000 will occur in 
section I.A (p. 1).
    The third proposed change is based on dive surveys of bark 
deposition at applicant LTFs. According to these surveys, eight 
facilities have continuous bark deposits that exceed one acre and four 
of these LTFs have continuous bark deposits that exceed 2.0 acres. The 
recent dive surveys indicate that the area of discontinuous bark 
coverage at these eight LTFs ranges from 0.4 to 10.4 acres and that 
bark deposits at some LTFs have increased by more than two acres in one 
year. Under section 301(b)(1)(C) of the Clean Water Act, NPDES permits 
must include any limitations, standards, or other permit conditions 
necessary to comply with or implement water quality standards. 33 
U.S.C. 1311(b)(1)(C) and 40 CFR 122.44(d). The EPA has tentatively 
determined that a limit on continuous coverage of bark and woody debris 
on the seafloor within the project area of a LTF is needed to meet 
water quality standards and prevent unreasonable degradation of the 
marine environment. The modified general permits, as proposed, include 
an explicit limit on continuous coverage of the seafloor at section 
III.A.3 (p. 3) of AK-G70-0000 and section IV.A.3 (p. 6) of AK-G70-1000, 
as indicated in Table 1: ``a permittee shall not exceed 1.0 acre of 
continuous coverage of the seafloor by 100% bark and woody debris with 
a thickness of 10 cm or greater at any point.'' A permit limit in the 
general NPDES permits for continuous coverage will ensure that levels 
of bark and woody debris accumulating on the seafloor which present the 
most potential for environmental harm will not occur during the term of 
the permit. The Guidelines provide that at one acre of continuous 
coverage regulatory discretion to require cleanup is appropriate. The 
general NPDES permits include siting criteria and operational practices 
for log transfer facilities that reduce the discharge of bark and wood 
debris from LTFs. The EPA's information indicates that, for a majority 
of the operating LTFs, these conditions and practices successfully 
limit accumulations of bark and woody debris to under one acre of 
continuous coverage and less than 10 centimeters in depth. Moreover, 
previous individual LTF permits limited continuous coverage to one acre 
and 10 centimeters in depth, thus, it may be backsliding to eliminate 
that limit as to those facilities.
    Under the current permits, the permittee is required to develop and 
implement additional practices through revisions to its Pollution 
Prevention Plan if its continuous coverage reaches one acre in size. 
The fourth change the EPA is proposing would lower the threshold for 
the need of a permittee to revise its Pollution Prevention Plan from 
one acre to .075 of an acre, thus, before a permittee reaches the 
permit limit of one acre of continuous coverage. This proposed 
modification has the same basis as the third proposed modification 
discussed above. The reduction of the threshold from 1.0 acre to 0.75 
acre occurs at permit sections III.B.13 (p. 4), VI.F (p. 18) and VI.I 
(p. 18) of AK-G70-0000 and sections IV.B.1.h (p. 7), VII.F.6 (p. 23) 
and VII.I (p. 23) of AK-G70-1000, as indicated in Table 1 (above).
    The fifth change in the permits would modify the monitoring 
requirements based on the bark surveys indicating that continuous bark 
deposition has been observed at depths of -60 ft MLLW at a number of 
facilities and undoubtedly extends into deeper water. The EPA has 
tentatively determined that a more accurate assessment of bark 
deposition at LTFs, specifically the continuous coverage, requires that 
the monitoring of bark deposits extend out to -100 feet in depth. The 
100 foot depth is the limit for commercial scuba diving without an on-
site compressor that has been set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration. The AWQS criteria of ``no residues on the 
bottom'' applies to any depth of water in the State of Alaska. Given 
the standard and given the proposed limit of one acre of continuous 
coverage, the EPA is proposing to require that the maximum depth for 
bark monitoring for continuous coverage of bark be -100 feet, rather 
than -60 feet. The permit modifications occur at sections III.E (p. 5), 
V.C.1 (p. 11), V.C.3 (p. 11) and V.C.5 (p. 12) of AK-G70-0000 and 
sections IV.E (p. 9), V.D.7 (p. 13), VI.C.1 (p. 16), VI.C.3 (p. 16) and 
VI.C.5 (p. 17) of AK-G70-1000, as indicated in Table 1 (above).
    In accordance with 40 CFR 122.62, EPA is seeking comment on the 
proposed modifications discussed above. Only the conditions to be 
modified are being reopened by the draft permits, and public comment is 
only being sought on the proposed modifications. See 40 CFR 124.5.

Proposed Minor Modifications to General NPDES Permits AK-G70-0000 and 
AK-G70-1000

    The following minor modifications will be made to the general 
permits. In accordance with 40 CFR 122.63(a), no comment is being 
requested on these modifications.

           Table 2.--Minor Modifications of General NPDES Permits for Alaskan Log Transfer Facilities
                              (Pursuant to 40 CFR 122.63(a)--Typographical Errors)
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                                       Section and page of     Section and page of
               Issue                 final NPDES permit No.  final NPDES permit No.   Substance of Modification
                                      AK-G70-0000 (3/21/00)   AK-G70-1000 (3/21/00)
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No provision is made for written     Not applicable........  III.A.5 (p. 3)........  Provide for the ``written
 federal permission to operate and                                                    permission from the
 discharge in national wilderness                                                     appropriate official of
 areas and monuments.                                                                 the management agency'' to
                                                                                      discharge in a national
                                                                                      wilderness area and
                                                                                      monument.
The spelling of ``affect'' is        Not applicable........  III.A.8 (p. 3)........  Correct typographical error
 incorrect.                                                                           such that ``affect'' is
                                                                                      spelled correctly.
Request for a waiver to discharge    Not applicable........  III.D (p. 5)..........  Clarify that the
 in an excluded area is limited to                                                    opportunity to request a
 the areas not meeting the Alaska                                                     waiver of the exclusion
 Timber Task Force Guidelines and                                                     from discharge is limited
 does not apply to either                                                             to the category ``Areas
 ``Protected Water Resources and                                                      not Meeting the Alaska
 Special Habitats'' or ``Impaired                                                     Timber Task Force
 Waterbodies''.                                                                       Guidelines'' by changing
                                                                                      the caption of the section
                                                                                      appropriately.

[[Page 64889]]

 
The acronym ``ZOD'' is without       Not applicable........  III.E (p. 5)..........  Make an editorial addition
 reference to ADEC's Zone of                                                          of the ``Zone of Deposit''
 Deposit.                                                                             in conjunction with the
                                                                                      use of the acronym
                                                                                      ``ZOD''.
Enumeration of the section           V.C.6 (p. 14).........  Not applicable........  Correct typographical error
 addressing the contents of Bark                                                      such that ``(ii'' becomes
 Monitoring and Reporting is                                                          ``h'').
 incorrect.
The 50 and 100 ft transect           V.C.5 (p. 12).........  VI.C.5 (p. 18)........  Modify the distance between
 increments are not consistent with                                                   bark monitoring stations
 the ADEC certification.                                                              along a transect from 50
                                                                                      and 100 ft intervals to 15
                                                                                      ft intervals.
Necessity of providing information   Not applicable........  V.D.4 (p.11)..........  Make the provision of
 on ACoE's Section 404 permit                                                         information pertaining to
 within a Notice of Intent to be                                                      the ACoE permit name,
 Covered under a general NPDES                                                        number and date of
 permit (NOI) is unclear.                                                             issuance mandatory for the
                                                                                      NOI by deleting the term
                                                                                      ``if applicable''.
Enumeration of the section           VI.F (p. 17)..........  VII.F (p. 23).........  Correct typographical error
 addressing the contents of the                                                       such that number 1 of 1 is
 Pollution Prevention Plan is                                                         removed and letters ``a''
 incorrect.                                                                           though [a=f] become ``1
                                                                                      through 6''.
Enumeration of the section           VII.I (2nd occurrence)  Not applicable........  Correct typographical error
 addressing the Effectiveness of      (p. 19).                                        such that ``VII.I''
 the Pollution Prevention Plan is                                                     becomes ``VII.J''.
 incorrect.
``Continuous'' and                   Throughout permit.....  Throughout permit.....  Correct typographical error
 ``discontinuous'' throughout both                                                    such that ``...tinous''
 permits are misspelled.                                                              becomes ``...tinuous.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Administrative Record: The two draft general NPDES permit nos. AK-
G70-0000 and AK-G70-1000, and this Federal Register Notice are 
available for inspection and copying at six locations: (a) EPA-Juneau, 
709 West 9th Street, Room 223A; (b) ADEC-Juneau, 410 Willoughby Avenue, 
Suite 200; (c) EPA-Anchorage, 222 West 7th Avenue, Room 19; (d) ADEC-
Anchorage, 555 Cordova Street; (e) ADEC-Ketchikan, 540 Water Street; 
and (f) EPA-Seattle, 1200 Sixth Avenue, 10th floor library. These 
documents are also available on EPA Region 10's Internet site at http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/. The administrative record for the proposed 
modifications reflected in the draft general NPDES permits AK-G70-0000 
and AK-G70-1000 and the project area zone of deposit can be reviewed in 
EPA's Seattle Office, 1200 Sixth Avenue, 13th Floor.

    Dated: October 11, 2002.
Randall F. Smith,
Director, Office of Water, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 02-26846 Filed 10-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P