[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1643-1644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00156]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, REGION 9
[FRL-9905-23-Region 9]
Reissuance of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) General Permit for Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration,
Development and Production Operations Off Southern California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of final NPDES general permit.
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SUMMARY: EPA Region 9 is today publishing this notice of availability
of its final general NPDES permit (permit No. CAG280000) for discharges
from offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production
facilities located in Federal waters off the coast of Southern
California. The general permit establishes effluent limitations,
prohibitions, and other conditions for discharges from facilities that
engage in such operations within the geographic coverage area of the
general permit. The general permit applies to 23 existing development
and production platforms as well as to any new exploratory drilling
operations located in and discharging to the specified lease blocks on
the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf covered by the permit. The new
general permit replaces the previous general permit issued on September
22, 2004 (69 FR 56761).
DATES: For purposes of judicial review the permit is considered issued
on January 23, 2014. The final permit was signed on December 20, 2013
and is effective on March 1, 2014.
ADDRESSES: The final general permit and other related documents in the
administrative record are on file and may be inspected any time between
8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays, at the following address: U.S. EPA, Region 9, NPDES Permits
Office (WTR-5), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Bromley, EPA, Region 9, NPDES
Permits Office (WTR-5), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California
94105-3901, or telephone (415) 972-3510. Copies of the final general
permit, Addendum to Fact Sheet and the Response to Public Comments will
be provided upon request and are also available at EPA, Region 9's Web
site at: http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/permits.html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public notice of Region 9's tentative
decision to issue the permit was published in the Federal Register on
December 20, 2012 (77 FR 75429), and in the Santa Barbara News-Press on
December 19, 2012. The public comment period closed on February 4,
2013. Region 9 received written comments from eight parties concerning
the proposed permit. Region 9 prepared a separate document (Response to
Public Comments) which discusses these comments in more detail and
Region 9's responses to the comments.
For the most part, the final permit is very similar to the permit
proposed in December 2012. However, the monitoring requirements for
produced water discharges were revised based on public comments and
also discussions between Region 9 and California Coastal Commission
(CCC) staff concerning Region 9's consistency determination for the
permit pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Region 9
also added a requirement to maintain an inventory of the chemicals used
to formulate well treatment, completion and workover fluids, and if
there is a discharge of the fluids, to report the chemical formulation
with the quarterly discharge monitoring report. This requirement was
added in response to recent concerns regarding the potential effects of
discharges of fluids used for offshore hydraulic fracturing operations.
The final permit also includes a number of technical corrections
and other relatively minor revisions based on public comment or other
sources. These revisions are discussed in more detail in the Response
to Public Comments and the final Addendum to Fact Sheet.
[[Page 1644]]
B. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA and its implementing
regulations (50 CFR Part 402) require EPA to ensure, in consultation
with the Secretary of the Interior or Commerce, that any action
authorized, funded or carried out by EPA is not likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of any threatened or endangered species or
adversely affect its critical habitat.
For the 2004 permit, Region 9 concluded that the authorized
discharges would not affect listed species or critical habitat for the
species. For the general permit reissuance, Region 9 reconsidered this
matter, but again concluded that the discharges would not affect such
species. Region 9 also forwarded the draft permit and fact sheet to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) for review and comment on Region 9's
conclusion, but no comments were received.
C. Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The CZMA provides that a
Federal license or permit for activities affecting the coastal zone of
a state may not be granted until a state with an approved Coastal
Management Plan (CMP) concurs that the activities authorized by the
permit are consistent with the CMP. In California, the CZMA authority
is the CCC.
In accordance with the requirements of the CZMA and its
implementing regulations at 15 CFR Part 930, Region 9 submitted a
consistency determination for the draft permit to the CCC in a letter
dated December 20, 2012. Region 9 and CCC staff also met in spring 2013
to discuss the permit and conditions necessary to ensure consistency
with the CMP. Based on those discussions, Region 9 submitted an amended
consistency determination in a letter dated May 2, 2013. At a public
meeting held on June 12, 2013, the CCC concurred with Region 9's
consistency determination.
D. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The
1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act set forth a number of new mandates for NMFS, regional
fishery management councils, and Federal agencies to identify and
protect important marine and anadromous fish habitat. Regional fishery
management councils, with assistance from NMFS, are required to
delineate essential fish habitat (EFH).
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that Federal agencies consult
with NMFS on all actions undertaken by the agency which may adversely
affect EFH. For the 2004 general permit, EPA concluded that the
discharges would not have a significant adverse effect on EFH. After a
consultation was held regarding the 2004 permit, NMFS concurred with
Region 9's conclusion.
For the general permit reissuance, Region 9 reconsidered the
effects of the discharges on EFH, but again concluded that the
discharges would not have a significant adverse effect on EFH. The
draft permit and fact sheet were forwarded to NMFS for review and
comment on Region 9's conclusion, but no comments were received.
E. Permit Appeal Procedures. Within 120 days following the date the
permit is considered issued for purposes of judicial review, any
interested person may appeal the permit decision in the Federal Court
of Appeals in accordance with Section 509(b)(1) of the CWA. Persons
affected by a general permit may not challenge the conditions of a
general permit as a right in further Agency proceedings. They may
instead either challenge the general permit in court, or apply for an
individual permit as specified at 40 CFR 122.21 (and authorized at 40
CFR 122.28), and then petition the Environmental Appeals Board to
review any condition of the individual permit (40 CFR 124.19).
F. Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq, requires that EPA prepare a regulatory flexibility
analysis for regulations that have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities. The permit issued today is not a
``rule'' subject to the Regulatory Flexibility Act. EPA prepared a
regulatory flexibility analysis, however, on the promulgation of the
Offshore Subcategory guidelines on which many of the permit's effluent
limitations are based. That analysis has shown that issuance of this
permit would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of
small entities.
G. Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection required by
this final permit has been approved by Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et. seq., in submissions made for the NPDES permit program and
assigned OMB control numbers 2040-0086 (NPDES permit application) and
2040-0004 (discharge monitoring reports).
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: December 20, 2013.
Jane Diamond,
Director, Water Division, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2014-00156 Filed 1-8-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P