[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31848-31849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14211]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Availability of Uniform National Discharge Standards 
(UNDS) for Vessels of the Armed Forces-Phase III Batch One

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: DoD has developed internal regulations on the design, 
construction, installation, and use of marine pollution control devices 
(MCPDs) to meet performance standards for 11 discharges incidental to 
the normal operation of a vessel of the Armed Forces into the navigable 
waters of the United States, the territorial seas, and the contiguous 
zone, and is making them publicly available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Pletke; Chief of Naval Operations 
(N45), 2000 Navy Pentagon (Rm. 2D253), Washington, DC 20350-2000; (703) 
695-5184; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 312 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), as 
amended by Section 325 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 
1996, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DoD to 
develop Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS) to control certain 
discharges incidental to the normal operation of a

[[Page 31849]]

vessel of the Armed Forces. The EPA and DoD have already issued 
required joint rules (64 FR 25126 (May 10, 1999) and 82 FR 3173 
(January 10, 2017), 40 CFR part 1700). This notice announces that DoD 
is also issuing a DoD-only internal regulation as part of this 
requirement. Although issued by DoD alone, the regulation will apply 
(by agreement with the Department of Homeland Security) not only to DoD 
but also to the U.S. Coast Guard (at all times, including when it is a 
Service in the Department of Homeland Security).
    Section 312(n)(4) of the CWA requires DoD, in consultation with EPA 
and the Secretary of the Department in which the U.S. Coast Guard is 
operating, to promulgate regulations governing the design, 
construction, installation, and use of MPCDs necessary to meet the 
discharge performance standards established in the EPA-DoD joint rules.
    These regulations are issued under the authority of the Secretary 
as an internal regulation, DoD Manual 4715.06, Volume 4, ``Regulations 
on Vessels Owned or Operated by the Department of Defense: Discharges 
Incidental to Normal Operations,'' which can be found at: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/issuances/dodm/.
    There is no notice and comment requirement for these regulations 
because they are internal to the department and to the Coast Guard and 
otherwise exempt by 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1) and (2). Furthermore, EPA and 
DoD provided for notice and comment during the promulgation of the 
joint EPA-DoD regulations, as required by the CWA.
    Because EPA and DoD determined that these regulations, once 
finalized, would have federalism implications, they had several rounds 
of consultations with state and local governments during the 
promulgation of the joint EPA-DoD regulations, as described in the 
final rule at 82 FR 3181, January 10, 2017.

    Dated: June 28, 2019.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2019-14211 Filed 7-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 5001-06-P