[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 52 (Monday, March 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9794-9795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05033]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9990-99-Region 10]


Issuance of a NPDES General Permit for Offshore Seafood 
Processors in Federal Waters Off the Coast of Washington and Oregon; 
Permit Number WAG520000

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final NPDES General Permit.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 is issuing 
a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General 
Permit to seafood processing vessels that discharge in Federal Waters 
off the coast of Washington and Oregon. The General Permit will 
authorize discharges of seafood processing waste from the vessels. This 
is the first issuance of this General Permit, and the first time this 
sector has received NPDES permit coverage off the coast of Oregon and 
Washington.

DATES: The issuance date of the General Permit is March 18, 2019, the 
date of publication of this notice. The General Permit will become 
effective on May 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the General Permit and Response to Comments are 
available upon request at the following address: USEPA Region 10, 1200 
Sixth Avenue, Suite 155, OWW-191, Seattle, WA 98101. Electronic 
requests may be mailed to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Technical Information: Joseph Ziobro 
at (206) 553-2723 [email protected]. The General Permit, Response 
to Comments, and supporting documents may be found on the Region 10 
website at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/proposed-npdes-general-permit-offshore-seafood-processors-federal-waters-coast.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Information

    The NPDES General Permit authorizes discharges of seafood 
processing waste from seafood processing vessels that discharge in 
Federal Waters off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Federal Waters 
are defined as waters that are located between 3 and 200 miles from the 
land or baseline. The General Permit does not authorize discharges 
within the State of Washington or State of Oregon waters, this includes 
water within three miles of the land (i.e., the State's territorial 
waters). The State of Washington and the State of Oregon are the 
permitting authorities for these state waters.
    The EPA completed two public comment periods for the draft General 
Permit. The first comment period was from August 24, 2015 to October 8, 
2015 (80 FR 51253, August 24, 2015). Based on the comments received 
during the public comment period, the EPA revised the draft General 
Permit. The EPA took comment on those revisions during a second comment 
period from June 6, 2017 to August 3, 2017 (82 FR 27817, June 6, 2017).
    This will be the first issuance of this General Permit. The 
offshore seafood processing operators requested NPDES permit coverage 
for operations discharging off the coast of Washington and Oregon, 
since these vessels are currently discharging without a permit in this 
area. The vessels that will be covered under this Permit are catcher-
processors and motherships. These vessels fish and process the fish 
caught concurrently.

Other Legal Requirements

Regulatory Action

    This action is not significant and was therefore not submitted to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Executive 
Orders 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, and 13563, Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review.

Coastal Zone Management Act--Federal Consistency Determination

    Beginning in 2016, the EPA began engaging with the Washington 
Department of Ecology (Washington) and the Oregon Department of Land 
Conservation and Development (Oregon) in Coastal Zone Management Act 
(CZMA) consistency review pursuant to Section 307 of the CZMA and its 
implementing regulations at 15 CFR part 930, subpart C. In June 2017, 
the EPA provided the Washington Department of Ecology and Oregon 
Department of Land Conservation and Development with a Federal 
Consistency Determination for the permit action. The EPA determined 
that the General Permit is fully consistent

[[Page 9795]]

with the enforceable polices of the approved coastal zone management 
programs administered by the States of Washington and Oregon. In 
September 2017, Ecology and Oregon sent conditional concurrences in 
response to the EPA's Consistency Determination. The EPA and Ecology 
resolved Ecology's conditional concurrence through the addition of 
monitoring requirements in the General Permit. However, the EPA and 
Oregon did not reach resolution; thus, Oregon's conditional concurrence 
became an objection. Therefore, as required by 15 CFR 930.31(d), the 
EPA is notifying potential users of the General Permit that the General 
Permit is not available for use in the State of Oregon unless the 
potential user provides Oregon with a consistency certification under 
15 CFR part 930, subpart D and Oregon concurs. The EPA does not 
anticipate that potential users of the General Permit will need to 
provide Oregon with a consistency certification because the General 
Permit does not authorize discharges within the State of Oregon, 
including Oregon state waters, and NOAA has not authorized Oregon to 
review such activities under 15 CFR part 930, subpart D. As such, the 
EPA anticipates that it will be able to acknowledge permit coverage for 
individual operations promptly after receipt of a Notice of Intent.

Impact on Small Businesses

    After review of the facts as presented in the permit applications, 
fact sheets, and response to comments document, the EPA concludes that 
this general NPDES permit will not have a significant impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. Moreover, this Permit does not 
present a significant administrative burden on regulated sources.

    Dated: March 1, 2019.
 Daniel D. Opalski,
Office Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2019-05033 Filed 3-15-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P