[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 237 (Friday, December 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76984-76985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31088]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0055; FRL-9233-9]


Notice Regarding National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
(NPDES); General Permit for Discharges Incidental to the Normal 
Operation of a Vessel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA announced the final NPDES general permit for discharges 
incidental to the normal operation of vessels, also referred to as the 
Vessel General Permit (VGP), in the Federal Register on December 29, 
2008 (73 FR 79473). The permit was finalized on December 18, 2008 and 
became effective on February 6, 2009. EPA noticed final issuance of the 
VGP for the states of Hawaii and Alaska, after receipt of a 
certification pursuant to section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) from 
Hawaii and a final response on the national consistency determination 
required by section 307(c)(1) of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) 
from Alaska, which was signed on February 2, 2009, with an effective 
date of February 6, 2009. On March 11, 2009, a notice of availability 
in the Federal Register provided notice of EPA's deletion of State 
section 401 certification conditions from the VGP for the States of New 
Jersey, Illinois, and California (74 FR 10573). Today's notice of 
availability provides notice of EPA's deletion of specific State 
section 401 certification conditions from Part 6 of the VGP for the 
States of Pennsylvania and Iowa.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the final 
vessel NPDES general permit, contact Robin Danesi at EPA Headquarters, 
Office of Water, Office of Wastewater Management, Mail Code 4203M, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; or at tel. 202-564-1846; 
or Juhi Saxena at EPA Headquarters, Office of Water, Office of 
Wastewater Management, Mail Code 4203M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; or at tel. 202-564-0719; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. General Information

    Pursuant to Clean Water Act section 401(a) and EPA's implementing 
regulations, EPA may not issue a NPDES permit (including the VGP) until 
the appropriate State certifications have been granted or waived. 40 
CFR 124.53(a). Through the certification process, States were given the 
opportunity, before the VGP was issued, to add conditions to the permit 
they believe are necessary to ensure that the permit complies with the 
Clean Water Act and other appropriate requirements of State law, 
including State water quality standards.
    Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued its 
section 401 certification for the VGP on December 12, 2008, and 
modified its certification on October 1, 2010. This modification 
deleted certification conditions 1, 2, and 3. Iowa Department of 
Natural Resources issued its section 401 certification for the VGP on 
August 8, 2008, and modified its certification on July 8, 2009. This 
modification deleted certification conditions 3 and 11. Pursuant to 
EPA's implementing regulations at 40 CFR 124.55(b), EPA may, at the 
request of a permittee, modify the VGP based on a modified 
certification received after final agency action on the permit ``only 
to the extent necessary to delete any conditions based on a condition 
in a certification invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction or 
by an appropriate State board or agency.'' 40 CFR 124.55(b). In 
accordance with this provision, EPA has removed these deleted 
certification conditions from the VGP.\1\ EPA's letters notifying the 
requesting permittees that their requests to delete the permit 
conditions were granted, and a copy of the VGP reflecting those 
deletions, can be found in the docket for the VGP (Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OW-2008-0055).\2\
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    \1\ In order for EPA to remove these deleted conditions from the 
VGP, the regulations at 40 CFR 124.55(b) also require that EPA 
receive a request from a permittee asking that the deleted State 
certification conditions be removed from the permit. EPA received 
such requests to remove deleted conditions from The Vane Brothers 
Company in Pennsylvania on November 24, 2009 and from Alter Barge 
Line, Inc. in Iowa on December 31, 2009.
    \2\ In addition, the permit may be found at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/vessels.
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B. How can I get copies of these documents and other related 
information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this 
action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0055. The official public 
docket is the collection of materials, including the administrative 
record, for the final permit, required by 40 CFR 124.18. It is 
available for public viewing at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket 
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. Although all documents in the docket are listed 
in an index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Publicly 
available docket materials are available electronically through http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room, open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading 
Room is (202) 566-1744 and the telephone number for the Water Docket is 
(202) 566-2426.
    2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register'' 
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. An electronic version of the 
public docket is available through the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) found at http://www.regulations.gov. You may use the FDMS to 
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and to access those documents in the public 
docket that are available electronically. Once at the Web site, enter 
the appropriate Docket ID No. in the ``Search'' box to view the docket.
    Certain types of information will not be placed in the EPA dockets. 
Information claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute, which is not included in the official public 
docket, will not be available for public viewing in EPA's electronic 
public docket. EPA policy is that copyrighted material will not be 
placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in 
printed, paper form in the official public docket. Although not all 
docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access 
any of the publicly available docket materials through the docket 
facility identified in Section B.1.

    Authority:  Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.


[[Page 76985]]


    Dated: November 17, 2010.
Jon M. Capacasa,
Director, Water Protection Division, EPA Region 3.
    Dated: November 17, 2010.
Karen Flournoy,
Acting Director, Water, Wetlands, and Pesticides Division, EPA Region 
7.
[FR Doc. 2010-31088 Filed 12-9-10; 8:45 am]
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