[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 249 (Monday, December 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79496-79498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30804]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2004-19621]


Dry Cargo Residue Discharges in the Great Lakes; Preparation of 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments; notice of public 
scoping meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces its intent to prepare a new 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the next phase of this 
rulemaking. The new EIS will tier off the first EIS, which was prepared 
in support of the interim rule published in September 2008. Under the 
interim rule, the discharge of bulk dry cargo residue is allowed to 
continue in limited areas of the Great Lakes and under certain 
conditions. The Coast Guard plans to issue a final rule that may modify 
the interim rule and add new conditions for discharges. The new EIS 
will support the final rule. This notice requests public comments and 
begins a public scoping process to help determine the scope of issues 
to be addressed in the new EIS.

DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our 
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before March 30, 
2009 or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date. The public 
scoping meeting will be held on January 28, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management Facility 
on or before March 30, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at the Hotel Blake, 
500 South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60605. The

[[Page 79497]]

contact telephone number for the Hotel Blake is (312) 986-1234.
    In addition to submitting written statements or making verbal 
comments at the public scoping meeting, you may submit comments 
identified by docket number USCG-2004-19621 using any one of the 
following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these methods. For 
instructions on submitting comments, see the ``Public Participation and 
Request for Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions regarding this 
notice, please contact Mr. Greg Kirkbride, U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 
202-372-1479, e-mail Gregory.B. [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Ms. 
Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-
9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material during the 
public scoping process. All comments received will be posted, without 
change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal 
information you have provided.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the 
docket number for this notice (USCG-2004-19621) and provide a reason 
for each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and 
material online, or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of these means.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
select the Advanced Docket Search option on the right side of the 
screen, insert ``USCG-2004-19621'' in the Docket ID box, press Enter, 
and then click on the balloon shape in the Actions column. If you 
submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an 
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and 
material received during the comment period.
    Viewing the comments: To view the comments go to http://www.regulations.gov, select the Advanced Docket Search option on the 
right side of the screen, insert USCG-2004-19621 in the Docket ID box, 
press Enter, and then click on the item in the Docket ID column. If you 
do not have access to the internet, you may view the docket online by 
visiting the Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground 
floor of the Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. We have an agreement 
with the Department of Transportation to use the Docket Management 
Facility.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a 
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008 issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

Public Scoping Meeting

    If you need special arrangements, please use the contact 
information in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The meeting will start 
with an overview presentation, followed by a formal public comment 
period. Following the formal public comment period, we will hold an 
informal open house. At the open house, Coast Guard personnel will be 
available to provide more information about the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), Coast Guard rulemaking processes, and dry cargo 
residue discharges. A court reporter will be present during both the 
formal public comment period and the informal open house to record 
verbal comments from the public. The public will also be able to submit 
written comments related to this rulemaking at any time during the 
meeting. Verbal comments will be recorded and transcribed, and the 
transcription will be placed in the public docket along with any 
written statements that may be submitted during the meeting. These 
comments and statements will be addressed by the Coast Guard as part of 
the tiered Environmental Impact Statement.

Background and Purpose

    Bulk dry cargo vessels on the Great Lakes sometimes wash the 
residue of non-hazardous and non-toxic cargo, like taconite (iron ore) 
pellets, coal, and grain, overboard. This ``sweeping,'' or discharge, 
of dry cargo residue (DCR) is allowed, under certain conditions, by 33 
CFR 151.66, as amended by an interim rule published on September 29, 
2008 (73 FR 56492), which was supported by an EIS (the ``first EIS'').
    The interim rule also announced the Coast Guard's intent to conduct 
a second phase of this rulemaking before issuing a final rule. In the 
second phase, we want to determine what additional regulatory changes, 
if any, should be imposed on DCR discharges to offset any potential 
long term impacts from this practice. Those additional changes could 
include, among other possible measures, the mandatory use of DCR 
control measures or adjustment to the geographical boundaries within 
which discharges are currently allowed. A tiered EIS (40 CFR 1508.28; 
hereinafter referred to as the ``second EIS'') will allow the Coast 
Guard to focus on these specific issues, while excluding those that 
were decided in the first phase of the rulemaking, in order to 
determine whether further adjustments to the interim rule are needed.
    As required by 40 CFR 1501.7, a Council on Environmental Quality 
regulation that implements NEPA, this notice begins an early and open 
public ``scoping process'' for determining the scope of issues to be 
addressed in the second EIS. We invite public comment on our current 
plan for preparing the second EIS. Currently, we intend to:
     Conduct an inventory of shoreside facilities for types of 
control measures used when loading and unloading dry cargo to and from 
vessels and types of dry cargo handled.
     Conduct an inventory of vessels that carry DCR for types 
of control measures used on board the vessel when loading and 
unloading.
     Quantify the current amount of cargo residues on vessels, 
with and without control measures.
     Review and analyze vessel DCR reporting forms in order to 
quantify DCR discharge amounts by cargo type, vessel class, and control 
measure.
     Evaluate costs for implementing, operating, and 
maintaining vessel and shoreside DCR control measures.
     Update previous impact analyses of DCR discharge on water 
quality changes and DCR disposition.

[[Page 79498]]

    We may modify this plan in light of public comment received during 
the scoping process. This information will be used as a basis for 
selecting the proposed action from alternatives under consideration. 
Analysis of this information may also be used to develop additional 
alternatives not listed below that can be considered.

Possible Alternatives

    Alternatives currently being considered for future Coast Guard 
action include:
     Adopting the interim rule as a final rule without changes. 
This will allow the current level of DCR discharges to continue in 
limited areas of the Great Lakes and under certain conditions. For the 
purposes of our environmental review in this second EIS, this 
represents the ``no-action'' alternative;
     Adopting a final rule based on the interim rule, but with 
changes designed to reduce the potential environmental impact of DCR 
discharges. Possible changes would be specified and could include:
    [cir] Adoption of the mandatory use of DCR control measures;
     Control measures on vessels, and/or
     Control measures at the loading and unloading facilities;
    [cir] DCR quantity discharge limits;
     DCR quantity limits could be scaled according to vessel 
class, size and/or route length;
    [cir] Cargo type discharge limits; or
    [cir] Additional restrictions on DCR discharge locations;
     Prohibit all DCR discharges in the Western Basin
     Zero-Discharge Alternative.
    This is not an exhaustive list of alternatives. We intend to be 
guided by data on DCR discharges and DCR control measures and by 
consideration of all public comments.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping is an early and open process for determining the 
scope of issues to be addressed in this second EIS and for identifying 
the issues related to the proposed action that may have a significant 
effect on the Great Lakes environment. The scoping process begins with 
publication of this notice and ends after the Coast Guard has:
     Invited the participation of Federal, State, and local 
agencies, any affected Indian tribe, and other interested persons;
    [cir] The Coast Guard has requested the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, the National Park Service, and the United 
States Army Corps of Engineers to serve as cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of this second EIS. With this Notice of Intent, we are 
asking Federal, State, and local agencies with jurisdiction or special 
expertise with respect to environmental issues in the Great Lakes 
region, in addition to those we have already contacted, to formally 
cooperate with us in the preparation of this tiered EIS.
     Determined the scope and the issues to be analyzed in 
depth in the second EIS;
    [cir] From our first EIS, we have identified this preliminary list 
of environmental resources to receive attention in the second EIS:
     Sediment physical structure
     Protected and Sensitive Areas
     Benthic Community
     Invasive Species
     Socioeconomic Resources
     Identified and eliminated from detailed study those issues 
that are not significant or that have been covered elsewhere (for 
example, we do not anticipate detailed study of the following 
environmental resources that we determined, in the first EIS, to have 
``no impact'' from DCR discharges: fish and other pelagic organisms, 
waterfowl, and recreational or commercial fishing);
     Allocated responsibility for preparing the tiered EIS 
components;
     Indicated any related environmental assessments or 
environmental impact statements that are not part of the tiered EIS;
     Identified other relevant environmental review and 
consultation requirements, such as Coastal Zone Management Act 
consistency determinations, and threatened and endangered species and 
habitat impacts;
     Indicated the relationship between timing of the 
environmental review and other aspects of the application process; and
     Exercised our option under 40 CFR 1501.7(b) to hold the 
public scoping meeting announced in this notice.
    Once the scoping process is complete, the Coast Guard will prepare 
a draft second EIS, and we will publish a Federal Register notice 
announcing its public availability. If you wish to be mailed or e-
mailed the announcement of the second EIS's notice of availability, 
please contact the person named in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or 
send a request to be added to our contact mailing list along with your 
name and mailing address or an e-mail address online, by fax, mail, or 
hand delivery according to the Submitting Comments instructions above. 
If you provide comments on this notice, we will automatically add your 
contact information to our contact mailing list and you will 
automatically be sent an announcement of the draft second EIS's notice 
of availability. We will provide the public with an opportunity to 
review and comment on the draft second EIS. After the Coast Guard 
considers those comments, we will prepare the final second EIS and 
similarly announce its availability and solicit public review and 
comment.

    Dated: December 19, 2008.
Jeffery G. Lantz,
Director of Commercial Regulations and Standards, U.S. Coast Guard.
 [FR Doc. E8-30804 Filed 12-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P