[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 25, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40775-40776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3608]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 25, 2007 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 40775]]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

15 CFR Part 922


Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary 
Management Plan Review

AGENCY: National Marine Sanctuary Program, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program 
(NMSP) is preparing a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(SDEIS) to supplement and/or replace information contained in the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Channel Islands National 
Marine Sanctuary (CINMS or Sanctuary) management plan review. The SDEIS 
will analyze revisions to the Sanctuary's proposed action that would, 
in effect, prohibit the following discharges within the Sanctuary: (1) 
All sewage from vessels 300 gross registered tons (GRT) or more, 
including cruise ships and oceangoing ships; and (2) graywater from 
vessels 300 GRT or more, including from cruise ships, and from 
oceangoing ships with the capability to hold graywater while within the 
Sanctuary.

DATES: Because the NMSP has previously requested (64 FR 31528 and 71 FR 
29096) and received extensive information from the public on issues to 
be addressed in the SDEIS, and because the Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) do not require additional scoping for this SDEIS 
process (40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4)), the NMSP is not asking for further 
public scoping information and coment at this time. Upon release of the 
SDEIS the NMSP will provide a 45-day public review/comment period.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the 2006 DEIS are available at Channel Islands 
National Marine Sanctuary, 113 Harbor Way, Suite 150, Santa Barbara, 
California and on the Web at http://channelislands.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Murray at (805) 884-1464 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the DEIS public review period (May 15 
through July 21, 2006) NOAA received a wide range of comments, 
including substantial public and agency comments about changes proposed 
for Sanctuary regulation of sewage \1\ and graywater discharges from 
large vessels.\2\ The DEIS provided three regulatory alternatives: The 
preferred alternative, alternative 1, and the no-action alternative. 
The DEIS preferred alternative and NOAA's then-proposed action would 
clarify that a type I or II marine sanitation device (MSD) is required 
for discharge of treated sewage within the Sanctuary and proposes that 
graywater discharge from all vessels be excepted from the discharge 
prohibition. Alternative 1 also proposes a graywater exception from the 
prohibition for all vessels, but would prohibit discharge into the 
Sanctuary of treated or untreated sewage from large vessels (greater 
than or equal to 300 GRT). The no action alternative would retain the 
status quo regulation on discharge, which is ambiguous with regard to 
graywater and imprecise with regard to the type of MSD required for 
vessel sewage discharge within the sanctuary.
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    \1\ Sewage means human body wastes and the wastes from toilets 
and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body wastes (40 
CFR 140.1(a)).
    \2\ ``Large vessel'' is used herein to mean any vessel of 300 
GRT or more. 300 GRT is an established state and federal size class 
threshold for vessel discharge regulation purposes. This includes 
oceangoing ships and cruise ships. ``Oceangoing ship'' means a 
private, commercial, government, or military vessel of 300 GRT or 
more, not including cruise ships. ``Cruise ship'' means a vessel 
with 250 or more passenger berths for hire.
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    Comments included a request that NOAA adopt the discharge 
regulation under alternative 1, which would prohibit any sewage 
discharges from large vessels, whether treated or untreated. Comments 
also included a request that NOAA prohibit cruise ship discharges in 
Sanctuary waters. In addition, there were suggestions that NOAA 
implement recommendations contained in the water quality needs 
assessment developed by a working group of the Sanctuary Advisory 
Council (available at http://www.channelislands.noaa.gov/sac/pdf/10-17-05.pdf), which provides a comprehensive evaluation of water quality 
threats and provides a broad range of management advice. This 
assessment includes a recommendation that NOAA prohibit cruise ship 
discharges in Sanctuary waters. In addition, comments from State 
agencies and a suite of environmental non-governmental organizations 
indicated that NOAA's proposed exception for graywater discharges is 
inconsistent with the California Clean Coast Act (California Public 
Resources Code Sec 72420-72422) that prohibits graywater discharges 
from vesels 300 gross registered tons or more within state waters. The 
types of comments described above were the only types of comments 
received on the issues of graywater and sewage discharge from large 
vessels.
    In May 2006 NOAA submitted its Coastal Zone Management Act 
consistency finding to the California Coastal Commission (Commission), 
in compliance with Federal consistency regulations (15 CFR part 930). 
In July 2006 the Commission conditionally concurred with the finding 
that the proposed revised Sanctuary management plan and regulations are 
fully consistent with the enforceable policies of the California 
Coastal Management Program. The Commission voted to concur with the 
consistency finding on the condition that NOAA revise the proposed 
discharge and deposit regulation to prohibit vessels of 300 GRT or more 
from discharging sewage or graywater into the waters of the Sanctuary.
    After reviewing these public comments, considering the Commission's 
action, and further analyzing the vessel discharge issues raised, NOAA 
proposes to revise its proposed action with regard to prohibition of 
graywater and sewage discharges from large vessels. NOAA also proposes 
to define the terms ``oceangoing ship`` and ``cruise ship'' within the 
Sanctuary regulations. The SDEIS, in conjunction with the

[[Page 40776]]

concomitant supplemental proposed rule, will evaluate the revised 
proposed action and provide the public with an opportunity for 
additional review and comment.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.

Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog Number 11.429 Marine Sanctuary 
Program.

    Dated: July 18, 2007.
William Corso,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 07-3608 Filed 7-24-07; 8:45 am]
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