[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 1994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-590]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-16814]


Discharge of Dry Cargo Residues in the Great Lakes

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard gives notice that Congressional authorization 
of the United States 1997 enforcement policy (enforcement policy) 
relating to the incidental discharge of dry cargo residue on the Great 
Lakes expires on September 30, 2004, and that the study of that policy 
mandated by Congress has been completed. If new regulations are not in 
place by September 30, 2004, the enforcement policy will expire, and 
the current statute, which prohibits such discharges, will become 
effective October 1, 2004, and will be enforced by the Coast Guard. 
Although the Coast Guard is initiating a rulemaking regarding the 
discharge of dry cargo residue on the Great Lakes, it is improbable 
that any such rulemaking would be completed before the expiration of 
the enforcement policy.

DATES: The interim enforcement policy discussed in this notice expires 
September 30, 2004. Enforcement in accordance with current statutes 
will begin October 1, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Any comments or material received from the public in regard 
to this notice, as well as documents mentioned in the notice as being 
available in the public docket, are part of docket USCG-2003-16814 and 
may be viewed online at http://dms.dot.gov or at the Docket Management 
Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions relating to the 
substance of this notice call LCDR Mary Sohlberg, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone 202-267-0713. If you have questions on viewing the docket, 
call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket Operations, Department 
of Transportation, telephone 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The historical practice of bulk dry cargo 
vessels on the Great Lakes is to wash non-hazardous and non-toxic cargo 
residues (``dry cargo residue'' or ``cargo sweepings'') overboard. In 
1987, Congress amended the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS; 
see Pub. L. 100-220, sec. 2002; see also 33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), 
adopting Annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of 
Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973. Under MARPOL interpretive 
guidelines, dry cargo residues and cargo sweepings are considered to be 
garbage. Strict application of the MARPOL interpretive guideline 
adopted the following year (33 CFR part 151) banned the discharge of 
dry cargo residue and cargo sweepings in the Great Lakes.
    To ease the difficult implementation issues that application of the 
MARPOL guidelines would create within the unique legal, environmental, 
and economic framework of the Great Lakes, the Ninth Coast Guard 
District implemented in 1993 an ``enforcement policy'' (CCGD9INST 
16460.1) that has been revised over the years and reissued in 1995 and 
in 1997. The 1997 policy is the current practice in place in the Great 
Lakes. The Coast Guard was directed by Congress in the 1998 Coast Guard 
Authorization Bill to continue its current policy regarding dry cargo 
residues on the Great Lakes until 2002. This authorization was 
subsequently extended until September 30, 2004, in Public Law 106-554, 
sec. 1117, pending completion of a study and formulation of a specific 
regulatory solution to the issue. Unless new regulations adopt elements 
of the enforcement policy, the Coast Guard has concluded that we have 
no authority to extend the enforcement policy on our own, beyond the 
September 2004 deadline. The Coast Guard contracted the completion of 
the study and has received the study report on discharge of vessel dry 
cargo residues mandated by Congress in Public Law 106-554. The study is 
available at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Because of the effects on U.S. flag commercial shipping on the 
Great Lakes of a ban on dry cargo residues discharges, that study, 
among other things, recommended that the current practice of allowing 
vessels to discharge their incidental cargo residues into certain 
portions of the Great Lakes be continued, but, citing the lack of 
available data, also recommended that an Environmental Assessment be 
performed of the long term effects of continuing that practice. We 
intend to initiate a rulemaking and, as part of the rulemaking process, 
perform an Environmental Assessment in conjunction with other 
regulatory assessments. The analyses would assist in determining 
whether the regulations regarding the discharge of dry cargo residues 
in the Great Lakes should reflect past practice, prohibit discharges 
altogether, or allow for some other course of action, taking into 
account all the circumstances and stakeholder interests. If new 
regulations are not in effect by September 30, 2004, the Coast Guard 
will enforce the existing statutes commencing October 1, 2004.

    Dated: January 7, 2004.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 04-590 Filed 1-8-04; 4:56 pm]
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