[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30134-30135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12170]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9911-43-Region-1; EPA-R01-OW-2014-0202]


Massachusetts Marine Sanitation Device Standard--Notice of 
Determination

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of determination.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA)--New England Region, has determined that adequate 
facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage 
from all vessels are reasonably available for the remaining state 
coastal waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

ADDRESSES: Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 electronically in 
www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Rodney, U. S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, Office of Ecosystem Protection, 
Oceans and Coastal Protection Unit, Five Post Office Square, Suite 100, 
OEP06-1, Boston, MA 02109-3912. Telephone: (617) 918-1538. Fax number: 
(617) 918-0538. Email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 28, 2014, EPA published a notice 
that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had petitioned the Regional 
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, to determine that 
adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of 
sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the remaining 
coastal waters of Massachusetts. The petition was filed pursuant to 
Section 312 (f) (3) of Public Law 92-500, as amended by Public Laws 95-
217 and 100-4, for the purpose of declaring these waters a No Discharge 
Area (NDA).
    Section 312 (f) (3) states: After the effective date of the initial 
standards and regulations promulgated under this section, if any State 
determines that the protection and enhancement of the quality of some 
or all of the waters within such State require greater environmental 
protection, such State may completely prohibit the discharge from all 
vessels of any sewage, whether treated or not, into such waters, except 
that no such prohibition shall apply until the Administrator determines 
that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and 
treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for such 
water to which such prohibition would apply.
    This determination covers three areas: A strip near the state-
federal boundary

[[Page 30135]]

spanning from Manchester-By-The-Sea to Marshfield, a corridor in 
Vineyard Sound, and a corridor in Nantucket Sound. The state wide NDA 
will seamlessly integrate the 20 smaller NDAs that have been designated 
in Massachusetts since 1991. The boundaries for this statewide NDA 
encompass all Commonwealth of Massachusetts coastal waters: from mean 
low water along the coast of Massachusetts, seaward to the state-
federal boundary, north to the border with New Hampshire, and south to 
the border with Rhode Island: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/czm/program-areas/coastal-water-quality/ndas/.
    Massachusetts has certified that there are a total of 132 pumpout 
facilities in coastal Massachusetts: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/czm/program-areas/coastal-water-quality/clean-boating/pumpout-list.html.
    Based on the examination of the petition and its supporting 
documentation, and information from site visits conducted by EPA New 
England staff, EPA has determined that adequate facilities for the safe 
and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are 
reasonably available for the area covered under this determination. 
This determination is made pursuant to Section 312 (f) (3) of Public 
Law 92-500, as amended by Public Laws 95-217 and 100-4.

    Dated: May 14, 2014.
H. Curtis Spalding,
Regional Administrator, New England Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-12170 Filed 5-23-14; 8:45 am]
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