[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 247 (Monday, December 27, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77147-77148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28227]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

33 CFR Part 151

[USCG-2004-19621]
RIN 1625-AA89


Dry Cargo Residue Discharges in the Great Lakes

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; request for 
information.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces that it has begun a rulemaking 
project

[[Page 77148]]

for the regulation of non-hazardous and non-toxic dry cargo residue 
discharges by vessels operating on the Great Lakes. As part of the 
rulemaking project, the Coast Guard will conduct an environmental 
assessment. In order to conduct this environmental assessment, the 
Coast Guard intends to determine the current status of dry cargo 
operations on the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard requests information in 
response to any of these matters.

DATES: All relevant information and related material must reach the 
Docket Management Facility on or before March 28, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2004-19621 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Commander Mary Sohlberg, 
U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Standards Division, telephone: 202-267-
0713, e-mail: [email protected]. If you have questions on 
viewing the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program Manager, Docket 
Operations, telephone: 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    In a related non-rulemaking docket (USCG-2003-16814), the Coast 
Guard previously published two notices on the subject of non-hazardous 
and non-toxic dry cargo residue discharges by vessels operating on the 
Great Lakes (``dry cargo discharges''; see 69 FR 57711, Sep. 27, 2004; 
69 FR 1994, Jan. 13, 2004). At present, some incidental dry cargo 
discharges are allowed under the Coast Guard?s Interim Enforcement 
Policy (IEP), which the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 
2004 (``the Act'') continues until September 30, 2008. Unless we issue 
new regulations in accordance with the rulemaking authority provided by 
the Act, those discharges will be prohibited after September 30, 2008.
    The Act requires the Coast Guard to begin a regulatory 
environmental assessment not later than November 7, 2004. We met that 
requirement on September 29, 2004.
    A first step in the environmental assessment is to collect and 
examine information on current dry cargo residue discharge operations 
in the Great Lakes. We will compare that information to the ``Study of 
Dry Cargo Residue in the Great Lakes'' that we compiled in 2000, which 
is docketed in USCG-2003-16814. This will allow us to see if the 2000 
data are still valid or if dry cargo residue discharge operations on 
the Great Lakes have changed, and if any trends can be discerned.
    The information we want to collect includes what types of vessels 
engage in cargo residue discharge, where they discharge, what they 
discharge, how they discharge, and how much they discharge. We expect 
to complete this study during the summer of 2005, and complete the 
rulemaking before the IEP expires in 2008. Therefore, we ask that you 
provide any relevant information on dry cargo residue discharges in the 
Great Lakes (see DATES).
    Once we have collected and reviewed information regarding dry cargo 
residue discharges in the Great Lakes, we will formulate a proposed 
regulatory action and alternatives for an environmental assessment. 
Under the environmental assessment, we presently plan to focus 
primarily on toxicity data to make sure any residue discharges we might 
allow are neither hazardous nor toxic, and assess the environmental 
impact of allowing some incidental discharges to continue.
    Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coast Guard has 
initiated an environmental assessment in which we will consider 
alternative courses of action, including a ``no action'' alternative, 
which in this case means declining to issue a regulation and letting 
the policy expire, thus prohibiting incidental discharges of dry cargo 
residues. Other alternatives might include continuing the current 
policy, or modifying it as to the quantities or locations of incidental 
discharges, or engineering alternatives. We welcome any suggestions you 
may have on what alternatives we should consider.
    We will continue to issue additional Federal Register notices to 
keep you informed and to invite your continued participation, as we 
proceed with the environmental assessment and regulatory processes.

Request for Information

    We ask that you submit your comments, or other relevant 
information, on dry cargo residue discharges in the Great Lakes. As 
discussed in ``Background and Purpose'', we are particularly interested 
in information that will help us determine what types of vessels 
perform these discharges, where they discharge, what they discharge, 
and how much they discharge. We will consider all comments and 
information received during the comment period.
    Submissions should include:
     Docket number USCG-2004-19621.
     Your name and address.
     Your reasons for making each comment or for bringing 
information to our attention.

Submit comments or material using only one of the following methods:
     Electronic submission to the Docket Management Facility's 
Docket Management System (DMS) (http://dms.dot.gov).
     Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the Docket Management 
Facility (see ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered submissions must be 
unbound, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and suitable for copying 
and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want to know 
when it reaches the Facility, include a stamped, self-addressed 
postcard or envelope.
    Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material, 
all submissions will be posted, without change, to the DMS Web site 
(http://dms.dot.gov), and will include any personal information you 
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You 
may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is available on the DMS 
Web site, or the Department of Transportation Privacy Act Statement 
that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
    You may view docket submissions in person, at the Docket Management 
Facility (see ADDRESSES), or electronically on the DMS Web site.

    Dated: December 13, 2004.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security & Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 04-28227 Filed 12-23-04; 8:45 am]
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