Draft General NPDES Permit for Seafood Processors Within Three Nautical Miles of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska General NPDES Permit No. AK-G52-P000

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5313-2]

Draft General NPDES Permit for Seafood Processors Within Three

Nautical Miles of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska General NPDES Permit No.

AK-G52-P000

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10.

[[Page 52678]]

ACTION: Notice of Draft General NPDES Permit, and Notice of Finding of

No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: The Director, Water Division, EPA Region 10, is proposing to

issue a general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

permit no. AK-G52-P000 for seafood processors within three nautical

miles of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, pursuant to the provisions of

the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. The proposed general NPDES

permit will authorize discharges from facilities discharging through

stationary outfalls on St. Paul and St. George Islands, and from mobile

vessels discharging within the three nautical mile coastal zone of the

Pribilof Islands. These facilities are engaged in the processing of

fresh, frozen, canned, smoked, salted and pickled seafoods. Discharges

authorized by the proposed permit include processing wastes, process

disinfectants, sanitary wastewater and other wastewaters, including

domestic wastewater, cooling water, boiler water, gray water,

freshwater pressure relief water, refrigeration condensate, water used

to transfer seafood to a facility, and live tank water. The proposed

permit will authorize discharges to waters of the United States in and

contiguous to the State of Alaska, except for receiving waters excluded

from coverage as protected or adjacent to a designated ``seafood

processing center.''

The proposed general NPDES permit for seafood processors within the

Pribilof Island coastal zone will not authorize discharges from the

processing of fish mince, paste or meal. The proposed permit will not

authorize discharges of petroleum hydrocarbons, toxic pollutants, or

other pollutants not specified in the permit.

A draft NPDES permit, fact sheet and other documents of the

administrative record are available upon request.

PUBLIC NOTICE ISSUANCE DATE: October 10, 1995.

PUBLIC NOTICE EXPIRATION DATE: November 13, 1995.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Interested persons may submit written comments on the

draft general NPDES permit to the attention of Florence Carroll at the

address below. All comments should include the name, address, and

telephone number of the commenter and a concise statement of comment

and the relevant facts upon which it is based. Comments of either

support or concern which are directed at specific, cited permit

requirements are appreciated. Comments must be submitted to EPA on or

before the expiration date of the public notice.

After the expiration date of the public notice, the Director, Water

Division, EPA Region 10, will make a final determination with respect

to issuance of the general permit. The tentative requirements contained

in the draft general permit will become final conditions if no

substantive comments are received during the public comment period. The

permit is expected to become effective on January 15, 1996.

Persons wishing to comment on State Certification of the proposed

general NPDES permit should submit written comments within this 30-day

comment period to the State of Alaska, Alaska Department of

Environmental Conservation (ADEC), 410 Willoughby Avenue, Suite 105,

Juneau, Alaska 99801-1795. Comments should be addressed to the

attention of Alaska Water Quality Standards Consistency Review.

Persons wishing to comment on the State Determination of

Consistency with the Alaska Coastal Management Program should submit

written comments within this 30-day comment period, to the State of

Alaska, Office of Management and Budget, Division of Governmental

Coordination, P.O. Box 110030, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0030. Comments

should be addressed to the attention of Alaska Coastal Management

Program Consistency Review.

Persons wishing to comment on the EPA Finding of No Significant

Impact (FNSI), based on the environmental assessment, should submit

written comments within this 30 day period. All comments should include

the name, address and telephone number of the commenter and a concise

statement of the basis of any comment and the relevant facts upon which

it is based. Comments should be submitted to Florence Carroll at the

address below.

PUBLIC HEARING: No public hearings have been scheduled. Persons

requesting a public hearing should submit their request to Florence

Carroll at the address below. Notice of a public hearing will be

published in the Federal Register. Notices will also be mailed to all

interested persons receiving copies of the proposed permit.

APPEAL OF PERMIT: Within 120 days following the service of notice of

EPA's final permit decision under 40 CFR 124.15, any interested person

may appeal the Permit in the Federal Court of Appeal in accordance with

Section 509(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act. Persons affected by a general

permit may not challenge the conditions of the Permit as a right of

further EPA proceedings. Instead, they may either challenge the Permit

in court or apply for an individual NPDES permit and then request a

formal hearing on the issuance or denial of an individual permit.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD: The complete administrative record for the draft

permit is available for public review at the EPA Region 10 Library,

10th Floor, at the address listed below. Copies of the draft general

NPDES permit, fact sheet, the environmental assessment, the biological

assessment, and the Pribilof Seafood Ocean Discharge Criteria

Evaluation are available upon request from the Region 10 Public

Information Center at 1-800-424-4EPA (4372).

ADDRESSES: Public comments should be sent to: Environmental Protection

Agency Region 10, NPDES Compliance Unit (WD-135), 1200 Sixth Avenue,

Seattle, Washington, 98101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Florence Carroll, of EPA Region 10, at

the address listed above or telephone (206) 553-1760.

REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ACT: After review of the facts presented in the

notice printed above, I hereby certify pursuant to the provision of 5

U.S.C. 605(b) that this general NPDES permit will not have a

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Moreover,

the permit reduces a significant administrative burden on regulated

sources.

Dated: September 21, 1995.

David Teeter,

Acting Director, Office of Water.

Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI)

To All Interested Government Agencies, Public Groups, and Individuals:

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

procedures for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA), 40 CFR Part 6, Subpart F, EPA has conducted an environmental

review of the following proposed action:

Issuance of general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

(NPDES) Permit, no. AK-G52-P000, to owners and operators of facilities,

both mobile and shore-based, engaged in the processing of seafood

within three nautical miles of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska

The general NPDES permit requirements, including effluent

limitations, monitoring provisions, and other conditions applicable to

the operations covered are specified in the proposed permit. The permit

Fact Sheet

[[Page 52679]]

describes the basis for the permit provisions.

An environmental assessment (EA) for this proposed action has been

prepared. Based on the EA and the proposed permit conditions, and in

accordance with the guidelines for determining the significance of

federal actions (40 CFR 1508.27) and EPA criteria for initiating an

environmental impact statement (EIS) (40 CFR 6.605), EPA has concluded

that issuance of this general NPDES permit will not result in a

significant effect on the human environment. This action will not

significantly affect land use patterns or population, wetlands or

floodplains, threatened or endangered species, farmlands, ecologically

critical areas, historic resources, air quality, water quality, noise

levels, fish and wildlife resources, nor will it conflict with approved

local, regional, or state land use plans or policies. For the above

reasons EPA has determined that an EIS will not be prepared.

The term of the proposed NPDES permit is two years only, during

which time additional field data will be collected. Another EA will be

prepared for the subsequent five-year permit based on analyses

utilizing that additional field data.

A copy of the EA evaluating the potential impacts of the proposed

action is available upon request by calling (206) 553-1214, or at the

above address, and is incorporated into this FNSI by reference.

Comments supporting or disagreeing with this FNSI may be submitted

to the following address for consideration: Rick Seaborne, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, WD-126,

Seattle, Washington 98101.

After evaluating the comments received, EPA will make a final

decision. No administrative action will be taken on the proposed permit

for at least 30 days after the release date (indicated above) of this

FNSI. EPA will fully consider all comments received during this public

notice period before taking final action.

Sincerely,

David Teeter,

Acting Director, Water Division.

[FR Doc. 95-25047 Filed 10-10-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P