[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 116 (Monday, June 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28044-28045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12765]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9995-20-Region 10]


Reissuance of NPDES General Permit for Offshore Seafood 
Processors in Alaska (AKG524000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Reissuance of final NPDES General Permit.

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SUMMARY: The Director of the Water Division, EPA Region 10, is 
reissuing a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
General Permit to Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska. The General 
Permit authorizes discharges of seafood processing waste from 
facilities (also referred to as ``vessels'') that discharge at least 3 
nautical miles (NM) or greater from the Alaska shore as delineated by 
mean lower low water (MLLW) or a closure line; and which engage in the 
processing of fresh, frozen, canned, smoked, salted or pickled seafood, 
the processing of mince, or the processing of meal, paste and other 
secondary by-products.

DATES: The issuance date of the General Permit is June 17, 2019. The 
General Permit will become effective July 17, 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, WD-19-C04, Seattle, WA 98101-3188. Electronic 
requests may be mailed to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Permit documents may be found on the 
EPA Region 10 website at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/npdes-general-permit-offshore-seafood-processors-alaska. Copies of the 
general permit, Fact Sheet and Response to Comments are also available 
upon request. Requests may be made to Audrey Washington at (206) 553-
0523 or to Joseph Ziobro at (206) 553-2723. Requests may also be 
electronically mailed to: [email protected], or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

    There are currently fewer than 100 permitted seafood processors 
that discharge effluent and operate more than 3 NM from the Alaskan 
shore or closure line. Most of the seafood processed on the vessels are 
pollock and Pacific cod. Other species have included sablefish, 
arrowtooth flounder, Pacific

[[Page 28045]]

hake, jack mackerel, Alaska plaice, Pacific Ocean perch, rockfish, 
sculpin, lumpsucker, skate, sole, Greenland turbot, bairdi, opilio, and 
king crab. The permit authorizes the discharge of seafood processing 
wastes that are mostly waste solids (shell, bones, skin, scales, flesh 
and organs), blood, body fluids, slime, oils and fats from cooking and 
rendering operations; disinfectants; and miscellaneous wastewaters. 
This Permit does not authorize the discharge of pollutants from any 
shore-based facilities, nor any pollutants from vessels transporting 
seafood processing waste solely for the purpose of dumping materials 
into ocean waters. The median annual waste discharged from a vessel in 
2014 and 2015 was 7.1 and 6.2 million pounds, respectively.
    Facilities will receive a written notification from the EPA whether 
permit coverage and authorization to discharge under the general permit 
is approved.
    The draft Permit, Fact Sheet, Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation, 
and associated Permit forms were made available for a 45-day public 
comment from March 25, 2019 to May 9, 2019. The EPA received comments 
from the At-Sea Processors Association, the Groundfish Forum, and the 
Freezer Longline Coalition. As a result of comments, the EPA modified 
Section V.B.4 of the permit to reduce the number of representative 
pictures required quarterly from four to at least one. The EPA prepared 
a Response to Comment document, which is available on EPA's website at: 
https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/npdes-general-permit-offshore-seafood-processors-alaska.
    The EPA has prepared a Biological Evaluation for this Permit 
action. Consultations under the Endangered Species Act between the EPA 
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have been completed. The 
EPA has not yet completed consultation with NMFS. On June 1, 2019, NMFS 
provided the EPA with an excerpt from their Draft Incidental Take 
Statement for the Biological Opinion (BO) on EPA's Proposed Reissuance 
of General Permit AKG524000 for Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska, 
which included draft Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs). NMFS 
indicated to the EPA that, while the agency would not be able to issue 
a final BO prior to Permit issuance, their final BO will include final 
RPMs for the Western Distinct Population Segment Steller Sea Lions (DPS 
SSLs). As such, the EPA has incorporated the draft RPMs from NMFS as 
final permit conditions, resulting in changes to the Daily Sea Surface 
Visual Monitoring Requirements and a change to an Effluent Limitation 
Requirement. The Sea Surface Visual Monitoring Requirements in Section 
VI.C. of the Permit have been modified to include a required Steller 
sea lion visual monitoring program for any vessel discharging unground 
waste. The Effluent Limitation Requirement at V.A.3. has been modified 
to require that in all waters west of 144[deg] West longitude, the 
discharge of any unground waste must cease whenever Steller sea lion(s) 
are present within 250 meters in any direction of the vessel(s).
    The EPA is issuing the final permit pending completion of ESA 
consultation, consistent with Section 7(d) of the Endangered Species 
Act. The EPA does not believe that issuing this permit pending the 
completion of consultation poses interim risks of concern to Western 
DPS SSLs, and if further consultation with NMFS were to reveal new 
information that the EPA determines warrants modification to the permit 
to protect listed species or critical habitat, the EPA has authority to 
take appropriate action to modify the permit pursuant to 40 CFR 
122.62(a)(2).

II. Other Legal Requirements

    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.

    Dated: June 7, 2019.
Angela Chung,
Associate Director, Water Division, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2019-12765 Filed 6-14-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P