[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 101 (Friday, May 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30100-30101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11613]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA--New England Region I--EPA-R01-OW-2008-20214; FRL-8570-5]


Massachusetts Marine Sanitation Device Standard--Receipt of 
Petition

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice--Receipt of Petition.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from 
the state of Massachusetts requesting a determination by the Regional 
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that adequate 
facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage 
from all vessels are reasonably available for the waters of Cape Cod 
Bay in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, 
Brewster, Dennis, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Sandwich and Bourne.

DATES: Comments are due by June 23, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OW-2008-0214 by one of the following methods: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting 
comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (617) 918-0538.
    Mail and hand delivery: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--New 
England Region, One Congress Street, Suite 1100, COP, Boston, MA 02114-
2023. Deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal 
hours of operation (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays), and special arrangements should be made for deliveries 
of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OW-
2008-0212. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov, or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, One Congress Street, Suite 1100, 
COP, Boston, MA 02114-2023. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the Regional Office's normal hours of operation, and special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The 
Regional Office is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number is (617) 918-1538.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Rodney, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, One Congress Street, Suite 1100, 
COP, Boston, MA 02114-2023. Telephone: (617) 918-1538, Fax number: 
(617) 918-0538; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that a petition has 
been received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a 
determination by the Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, pursuant to Section 312(f)(3) of Public Law 92-500 
as amended by Public Law 95-217 and Public Law 100-4, that adequate 
facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage 
from all vessels are reasonably available for the area within the 
following boundaries:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Waterbody/general area            Latitude            Longitude
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Eastern Landward Boundary-Line    ..................  70[deg]10[min]00[s
 of longitude.                                         ec] W
Northeastern Seaward Boundary...  42[deg]08[min]00[s  70[deg]10[min]00[s
                                   ec] N.              ec] W
Boundary curves west along the 3- 42[deg]09[min]00[s  70[deg]42[min]00[s
 mile limit and intersects with    ec] N.              ec] W
 the Mean High Water line.
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[[Page 30101]]

    The proposed NDA boundary includes the municipal waters of 
Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, Brewster, Dennis, 
Yarmouth, Barnstable, Sandwich and Bourne and extends to the boundary 
between state and federal waters. Cape Cod Bay is bordered on three 
sides by the geographic landforms of Cape Cod and the South Shore of 
Massachusetts.
    There are marinas, yacht clubs and public landings/piers in the 
proposed area with a combination of mooring fields and dock space for 
the recreational and commercial vessels. Massachusetts has certified 
that there are seven pumpout facilities within the proposed area 
available to the boating public and two additional facilities pending. 
The majority of facilities are connected to a holding tank, which is 
emptied by a licensed septic hauler that transports the waste to an 
approved disposal facility. A list of the facilities, phone numbers, 
locations, and hours of operation is provided at the end of this 
petition.
    Massachusetts has provided documentation indicating that the total 
vessel population is estimated to be 3250 in the proposed area. It is 
estimated that 2010 of the total vessel population may have a Marine 
Sanitation Device (MSD) of some type.
    In 1974, the Massachusetts Oceans Sanctuaries Act recognized Cape 
Cod Bay as an important ocean sanctuary. In 1990, EPA designated Cape 
Cod Bay as an ``Estuary of National Significance'' under its National 
Estuary Program as part of the Mass Bays Program. Four state-recognized 
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern are within Cape Cod Bay. Cape 
Cod Bay also contains federally designated Critical Habit for rare and 
endangered species of marine mammals, including the endangered Northern 
Atlantic Right whale and Humpback whale. In addition, Cape Cod Bay 
contains critical habitat (e.g., eelgrass beds, mud flats, estuaries, 
etc.) for other rare, endangered, and/or economically important species 
of coastal and pelagic birds (Roseate Tern and Piping Plover), fish 
(winter flounder, haddock, cod, stripped bass, herring, lobster, crabs, 
etc.), and turtles (Hawksbill sea turtle, Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, 
Leatherback sea turtle, Green turtle, Loggerhead sea turtle and 
Diamondback Terrapin). Cape Cod Bay has over 390 public beaches and 
there are an estimated 410,000 acres of shellfish growing areas between 
Provincetown and the Back River in Hull. All of these important natural 
resources would benefit from a No Discharge Area.

                              Pumpout Facilities Within Proposed No Discharge Area
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                                                                                                Mean low water
              Name                    Location          Contact info.           Hours               depth
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Sandwich Marina................  Sandwich..........  (508) 833-0808 VHF  8 a.m.-5 p.m. 7     5 ft.
                                                      9, 16.              days a week.
Barnstable Town Marina.........  Barnstable........  (508) 790-6272 VHF  8 a.m.-4 p.m. 7     4.5 ft.
                                                      9, 16.              days a week.
Northside Marina...............  East Dennis.......  (508) 385-3936 VHF  8 a.m.-5 p.m. 7     8 ft.
                                                      7.                  days a week.
Orleans Town Pier at Rock        Orleans...........  (508) 240-3755 VHF  8 a.m.-4 p.m. 7     4 ft.
 Harbor.                                              16, 66.             days a week.
Town of Wellfleet Marina.......  Wellfleet.........  (508) 349-0320 VHF  8 a.m.-6 p.m. 7     6 ft.
                                                      9.                  days a week.
Provincetown Harbor............  Provincetown......  (508) 487-7030 VHF  10 a.m.-4 p.m. 7    6 ft.
                                                      9,16.               days a week.
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                                          Pending
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** Dennis......................  Dennis............  TBD...............  TBD...............  N/A.
Provincetown...................  Provincetown......  TBD...............  TBD...............  N/A.
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** = Pending facilities, installation to be completed by June 30, 2008.


    Dated: May 16, 2008.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, New England Region.
 [FR Doc. E8-11613 Filed 5-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P