[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 179 (Monday, September 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48610-48612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19985]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0463; FRL 9999-83-OW]
Notice of Intent To Develop a Policy on the Determination of a
Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) and Hypoxia as an Event of National
Significance in Freshwater Systems
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public
comment to inform the development of an Agency policy for determining
if a harmful algal bloom (HAB) or hypoxia event in freshwater is an
``event of national significance.'' Recent amendments to the Harmful
Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA), provide the
EPA with the statutory authority to make such a determination in the
case of a freshwater HAB or hypoxia event. Public comments are intended
to inform the development of a policy for the EPA to make such
determinations, specifically for events in freshwater. A federal
determination that such an occurrence is an event of national
significance enables mobilization of federal resources to assess and
mitigate its detrimental effects, subject to the availability of
appropriations. The EPA requests input on what the Agency should
specifically consider for determining a ``HAB or Hypoxia event of
national significance'' in freshwater, and related factors in order to
inform development of a draft EPA policy. On July 25, 2019, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a
separate notice to solicit comments on HAB or hypoxia events of
national significance in marine and coastal waters.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 31, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
0463 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located
outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions,
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commentingepa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Lesley V. D'Anglada, Health and
Ecological Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-1125; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
1. Docket. The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-0463. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard
copy at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal
Register'' listings FDsys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. What are harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia and why is the EPA
concerned about them?
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by certain types of
photosynthetic organisms that under certain conditions form large
accumulations of algae that can adversely affect human health and the
environment and can cause local economic losses. In freshwater,
cyanobacteria are the major HABs-forming taxon. Cyanobacteria are
microorganisms that can produce harmful cyanotoxins that, if ingested
in sufficient amounts, can kill fish, shellfish, livestock, wildlife,
and adversely impact human health. Algal blooms, both those that
produce cyanotoxins and those that do not, can also harm aquatic
environments by depleting oxygen needed to sustain freshwater aquatic
life. HABs can negatively impact drinking water systems, recreation,
commercial and recreational fishing, property values and public health.
Recent notable drinking water cyanotoxin-related events include the
2018 HAB event in Detroit Lake, Oregon, that resulted in do not drink
advisories in the City of Salem, and the 2014 HAB event on Lake Erie
that resulted in do not drink advisories in the City of Toledo. In
2016, a cyanobacteria bloom in Lake Okeechobee traveled into St. Lucie
Estuary, resulting in the largest cyanobacterial bloom reported in the
state of Florida in ten years. The bloom
[[Page 48611]]
in the St. Lucie River resulted in beach closures and economic losses.
Hypoxia is a condition where the concentration of dissolved oxygen
(DO) in a portion of the water column decreases to a level that can no
longer support aquatic life, typically less than 2-3 milligrams DO per
liter. A variety of factors cause low or zero oxygen conditions in
waterbodies, including nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and waterbody
stratification, or layering, due to temperature gradients. Low
dissolved oxygen conditions are a serious environmental concern that
can impact valuable fisheries and disrupt sensitive ecosystems. In
freshwater lakes, hypoxia in deeper waters coupled with warm shallow
waters can severely limit the habitat available for fish species, such
as trout. Exposure to hypoxia can cause adverse effects to aquatic
life, such as reduced growth and reproduction. For more details on
HABs, please refer to this site: https://www.epa.gov/cyanohabs, and for
more information on Hypoxia, please refer to this site: https://www.epa.gov/ms-htf/hypoxia-101.
III. Information on the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and
Control Act
In 1998, Congress recognized the severity of these threats and
passed the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act
(HABHRCA 1998, Pub. L. 105-383). The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia
Research and Control Amendments Act of 2004 (HABHRCA 2004, Pub. L. 108-
456) and 2014 (HABHRCA 2014, Pub. L. 113-124) reaffirmed and expanded
the mandate for NOAA to advance the scientific understanding and
ability to detect, monitor, assess, and predict HAB and hypoxia events.
Congress most recently reauthorized and amended HABHRCA through the
National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of
2018 (Pub. L. 115-423, Sec. 9). This most recent reauthorization and
amendment of HABHRCA is referred to as the Harmful Algal Bloom and
Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2017 (HABHRCA 2017).
HABHRCA 2017 provides NOAA and EPA with authority to make a
determination of a ``HAB or hypoxia event of national significance,''
for marine or coastal events or freshwater events, respectively, either
in the discretion of the Agency head or at the request of a Governor of
an affected state (33 U.S.C. 4010). Following such a determination,
federal officials may ``make sums available to the affected State or
local government for the purposes of assessing and mitigating the
detrimental environmental, economic, subsistence use, and public health
effects of the event of national significance.'' Funds would be subject
to the availability of appropriations, though either of the respective
agencies may accept donations of funds, services, facilities,
materials, or equipment determined necessary for the purpose of
assessing and mitigating the detrimental effects, and donated funds may
be expended without further appropriation and without fiscal year
limitation. As directed under HABHRCA 2017, EPA, in coordination with
NOAA, intends to develop a policy for determining a HAB or Hypoxia
occurrence as an ``event of national significance'' in freshwater
systems in the United States. NOAA issued a separate notice to solicit
comments on marine and coastal hypoxia or HAB events in 84 FR 35854 on
July 25, 2019. After consideration of comments on this notice, the EPA
anticipates developing a draft policy for which the Agency would
solicit further comment.
HABHRCA 2017 identified the following six factors to be considered
in making the determination of a ``HAB or hypoxia event of national
significance:'' the toxicity of the harmful algal bloom; the severity
of the hypoxia; its potential to spread; the economic impact; the
relative size in relation to the past five occurrences of harmful algal
blooms or hypoxia events that occur on a recurrent or annual basis; and
the geographic scope, including the potential to affect several
municipalities, to affect more than one state, or to cross an
international boundary.
IV. Solicitation of Public Comments
The EPA is soliciting public comments regarding the factors
provided by the amendments for the EPA to determine a HAB or Hypoxia
Event of National Significance in freshwater systems. The EPA requests
separate comment on the application of those factors for HAB and
hypoxia events as it is likely that the factors would be considered
differently for the different types of events. Specifically, the EPA is
soliciting public comments on how to define, quantify, and weigh the
following statutory parameters:
A. Toxicity of the harmful algal bloom--What metrics should the EPA
use to assess toxicity in determining national significance? For
example, should the EPA consider reports of human or animal illnesses
or deaths, or adverse effects on aquatic life? Are there other relevant
metrics the EPA should consider? Should the toxicity of the event be
considered differently based on its frequency and duration?
B. Severity of hypoxia--What metrics should the EPA use to
determine whether the severity of a hypoxic event makes it nationally
significant? For example, should the severity of the event include
consideration of human health, economic, and environmental impacts? Are
there other relevant metrics the EPA should consider?
C. Potential to spread--What metrics should the EPA use in
determining whether the potential for the spread of a HAB or hypoxia
event makes it nationally significant? For example, should historical
information be used to inform a decision on the potential for a HAB or
hypoxia event to spread? Are there other relevant metrics the EPA
should consider?
D. Economic impact--What metrics should the EPA use for economic
impact in determining national significance? For example, should
economic status (i.e., make-up of the state, local, and tribal
government economy and its reliance on the affected waterway for
tourism or drinking water) be considered when determining the national
significance of an event? If so, how should economic status be
considered? Are there other relevant metrics the EPA should consider?
E. Relative size of an event in relation to the past 5 occurrences
of HABs or hypoxia events that occur on a recurrent or annual basis--
What metrics should the EPA use for recurrence in determining national
significance, and specifically whether the size and scope of an event
or occurrence is significant relative to past events? For example,
should the EPA assign a specific number of years, seasons, or months
between events in considering national significance? Are there other
relevant metrics the EPA should consider?
F. Geographic scope, including the potential to affect several
municipalities, to affect more than one state, or to cross an
international boundary--What metrics should the EPA use in determining
whether the geographic scope of a HAB or hypoxia event is nationally
significant? For example, for an event that has or might impact more
than one state should the EPA make a single determination for that
event applicable to all states impacted including those states that may
be impacted by expansion, movement, or intensification of the event?
Should the EPA limit its consideration of national significance to the
area requested by a state based on the then-current location and
geographic extent of the event?
The EPA is also requesting comments on whether the Agency should
consider developing additional criteria and
[[Page 48612]]
whether to establish specific procedures for making such
determinations. For example:
A. Should the EPA consider the state's access to critical resources
(human, financial, and infrastructure) in determining national
significance? For example, does the state have access to technical
expertise, necessary supplies/equipment, and alternate sources of
water? If the EPA considers such access, what metrics should the EPA
use to measure the capacity of state and local or tribal governments to
address the bloom event?
B. Should the EPA consider certain factors when an event impacts or
threatens drinking water sources or finished drinking water? How should
duration, magnitude, frequency, extent, and toxicity of HAB impacts on
drinking water supplies be considered in determining events of national
significance?
C. Should the EPA consider certain factors when an event has
impacts on or threatens recreational waters? How should these impacts
be weighed in determining national significance?
D. Should a determination of national significance be made only if
funding has been appropriated to the agencies? If two or more states
request determinations, and the determinations of national significance
would otherwise qualify each state for funding consistent with the
factors considered in making the determination, but only limited funds
are available, how should amounts be distributed? Should the funding be
equally proportioned or distributed according to some sort of a
relative rank or score derived from a weighting of factors considered
in the determination of national significance?
E. What information should an impacted state provide to the EPA
when requesting a determination of a freshwater event of national
significance or a request to make sums available to the impacted state
or local government to assess and mitigate an event of national
significance?
F. Should the EPA consider whether a state or local government that
requests a determination that a HAB or hypoxia is an event of national
significance concurrently requests other Federal relief for the same
event or occurrence? If so, how should the EPA prioritize funding, for
example, based on consideration of a particular factor or multiple
factors?
G. Should the EPA require that an affected state or local
government request a determination of a freshwater event of national
significance within certain timeframes with respect to the start or end
of the event or occurrence?
H. Other than funds, what tools and methods should the EPA make
available after a determination of a freshwater event of national
significance is made?
Dated: September 6, 2019.
David P. Ross,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2019-19985 Filed 9-13-19; 8:45 am]
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