Rhode Island Marine Sanitation Device Standard; Receipt of Petition

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5972-6]

Rhode Island Marine Sanitation Device Standard; Receipt of

Petition

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from the

State of Rhode Island requesting a determination from the Regional

Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to

section 312(f)(3) of Pub. L. 92-500 as amended by Pub. L. 95-217 and

Pub. L. 100-4, that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary

removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably

available for all waters within the 3 mile territorial limit of Rhode

Island's coastline and all coastal shore ponds which would include

Point Judith and Potter Ponds, Quonochontaug Pond, Ninigret and Green

Hill Ponds, Winnapaug Pond, the Pawcatuck River and also within the 3

mile territorial waters surrounding Block Island. The areas covered

under this petition include Latitude 71 deg.22'55'' Longitude

41 deg.53'36'' at the Providence River, Latitude 71 deg.13'09'',

71 deg.12'18'' Longitude 41 deg.42'11'', 41 deg.41'09'' in Mount Hope

Bay, Latitude 71 deg.07'04'', Longitude 41 deg.26'25'' at the

Massachusetts state border, and Latitude 71 deg.55'48'' Longitude

41 deg.16'40'' at the Connecticut border.

The State of Rhode Island has certified that there are forty-three

disposal facilities available to service vessels operating in the

marine waters of Rhode Island. A list of the facilities, phone numbers,

locations, and hours of operation is appended at the end of this

petition. Six additional facilities are pending or under construction.

Of the forty-three facilities, thirty-eight are fixed shore based

facilities, one is a mobile cart, and four are pump-out boats. Fourteen

of the thirty-eight fixed, shore based facilities discharge to holding

tanks. The other twenty-four discharge directly to municipal sewerage

systems. The four pump-out boats also discharge to the sewer. In

addition there are shoreside restrooms at all of the marinas as

mandated by Sec. 300.4 of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management

Program Rules and Regulations.

Rhode Island mandates that all fixed facilities connect to

available sewers, and holding tanks will ONLY be approved in locations

where direct connection to an existing sewer system is not possible.

The facilities which use holding tanks for boater wastes are required

to use licensed septage haulers who must abide by Sec. 6.00 of the

Rules and Regulations set forth by the Division of Waste Management,

Department of Environmental Management. The state conducts periodic

inspections for the purpose of record keeping and facility evaluation

to assure pump-out facilities are operational and functioning.

The pump-out facilities are capable of evacuating and discharging

at head differentials of 25 feet. The capacity of the holding tanks is

5,000 gallons as recommended under Rhode Island's Clean Vessel Act

grant guidelines. The tanks are fitted with alarms that activate to

ensure waste removal before the capacity is reached.

There are 31,608 boats registered with the Rhode Island Department

of Environmental Management Boating Office, 27,697 of which are

recreational and 3,911 of which are commercial. Rhode Island estimates

there are 11,203 registered boats larger than 20 feet and approximately

5,033 transient boats larger than 20 feet. Rhode Island calculates that

approximately 16,236 boats use pump-outs in their marine waters.

In 1985 the Environmental Protection Agency designated Narragansett

Bay as an ``estuary of national significance''. The Narragansett Bay

Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan recommends that the Bay

become a No Discharge Area to achieve greater water quality protection.

The area supports 25 State parks, 160 marinas, and approximately 1.3

million visits are made to bayside beaches each year. Nearly 300,000

residents and nonresidents participate in recreational and commercial

fishing.

Comments and reviews regarding this request for action may be filed

on or before May 5, 1998. Communications or requests for information

should be addressed to Ann Rodney, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency--New England Region, Office of Environmental Protection, Water

Quality Unit (CWQ), JFK Federal Building, Boston, MA 02203. Telephone:

617-565-4885.

Dated: February 23, 1998.

John P. DeVillars,

Regional Administrator.

Pump-Out Facilities Available in Rhode Island Waters

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Marina name Number Water body Hours of operation

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City of Providence................... 454-4447............... Seekonk River.......... F-Su 10 am-9:30 pm/M-Th

10 am-8 pm.

Bootlegger Marina.................... 273-2444............... Seekonk River.......... F-Su 10 am-9:30 pm/M-Th

10 am-8 pm.

Edgewood Yacht Club.................. 466-1000/ext: 3245..... Providence River....... 24 Hours.

Port Edgewood Marina................. 941-2000............... Providence River....... 24 Hours.

Pawtuxet Cove Marina................. 941-2000............... Providence River....... 24 Hours.

Rhode Island Yacht Club.............. 941-0220............... Providence River....... 24 Hours.

[[Page 11253]]

Cove Haven Marina.................... 246-1600, Ch 9......... Bullocks River......... 24 Hours.

Warren Town Dock..................... 245-7340............... Warren River........... 24 Hours.

Bristol--BOAT........................ 253-1700............... Kickamuit River/Bristol Daily 8 am-12 pm.

Harbor.

Rockwell Town Pier................... 253-1700............... Bristol Harbor......... W 3 pm-6 pm/Sa-Su 10 a-

p.

Brewer's Sakonnet Marina............. 683-3551, Ch 9......... Sakonnet River......... Daily 8 am-5 pm.

Pirates Cove Marina.................. 683-3030, Ch 9......... Sakonnet River......... Daily 8 am-5 pm.

East Passage Yachting Center......... 683-4000, Ch 9......... East Passage........... May-Sep 7 am-7 pm/Oct-

Apr 8 am-5 pm.

Alden Yacht.......................... 683-4200, Ch 71........ East Passage........... Call 683-4200.

Bay Marina Inc....................... 739-6435............... Warwick Cove........... Call 739-6435.

Carlson's Marina..................... 738-4278, Ch 9......... Warwick Cove........... Apr-Nov 8 am-5 pm.

Wharf Marina......................... 737-2233............... Warwick Cove........... 24 Hours.

Harbor Light Marina.................. 737-6353............... Warwick Cove........... Daily 8 am-9 pm.

Warwick Cove Marina.................. 737-2446............... Warwick Cove........... Daily 7 am-8 pm.

Apponaug Harbor Marina............... 739-5055............... Apponaug Cove.......... M-F 9 am/Sa 12 pm-4 pm.

Brewer's Yacht Yard at Cowesett...... 884-0544, Ch 9......... Greenwich Bay/Apponaug M-Sa 8 am-4:30 pm.

Cove.

Greenwich Bay Marina Club............ 884-1810, Ch 9......... Greenwich Bay & Cove... Apr-Nov 8 am-5 pm.

East Greenwich Yacht Club............ 884-7700, Ch 9......... Greenwich Cove......... Daily 9 am-4 pm.

Allen Harbor Marina.................. 294-1212............... Allen Harbor........... Call 294-1212.

Brewer's Wickford Cove Marina........ 884-7014, Ch 9......... Wickford Harbor........ Daily 7 am-6 pm.

Wickford Marina...................... 294-8160, Ch 10........ Wickford Harbor........ Daily 8 am-6 pm.

Goat Island.......................... 849-5655, Ch 9......... Newport Harbor......... Daily 7:30 am-8 pm.

Long Wharf Marina--BOAT.............. 849-2210, Ch 9......... Newport Harbor......... Daily 8 am-6 pm.

Newport Yachting Center.............. 846-1600, Ch 9 & 11.... Newport Harbor......... Daily 8 am-7:30 pm.

Newport Yacht Club................... 846-1600............... Newport Harbor......... Daily 8 am-8 pm.

Ida Lewis Yacht Club................. ....................... Newport Harbor......... Members & Guests.

New York Yacht Club.................. ....................... Newport Harbor......... Members & Guests.

East Ferry Town Dock--2.............. 423-7262............... Jamestown Harbor....... Daily 8 am-8 pm.

West Ferry Town Dock................. 423-1556............... Dutch Island........... 24 Hours.

Ram Point Marina..................... 738-4535, Ch 1 & 9..... Point Judith Pond...... 24 Hours.

Avondale Boat Yard................... 348-8187............... Little Narr./Pawcatuck Daily 8 am-5 pm.

River.

Block Island Boat Basin.............. 466-2631, Ch 9......... Great Salt Pond........ Daily 7 am-7 pm.

Champlins Marina..................... 466-2641, Ch 68........ Great Salt Pond........ Daily 7 am-9 pm.

Payne's Dock......................... 466-5572............... Great Salt Pond........ Daily 7 am-6 pm.

Block Island Harbor Dept.--2 BOATS... 466-3204, CH 12........ Great Salt Pond........ Daily 7 am-11 am/1 pm-

sunset.

Block Island Town Dock--cart......... 466-3204............... Old Harbor............. Daily 7 am-5 pm.

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All phone numbers use area code 401.

Pending Pump-Out Facilities

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Marina Number Water body Hours of operation

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Warren--BOAT............................ 245-7340 Warren River.............. To be determined.

Jamestown--BOAT......................... .............. Jamestown Harbor.......... To be determined.

Galilee State Pier...................... .............. Point Judith Pond......... To be determined.

Southern View Marina.................... .............. Point Judith Pond......... To be determined.

Frank Hall Boat Yard.................... .............. Little Narr Bay/Pawcatuck May-Nov 8 am-4 pm.

River.

Watch Hill--BOAT........................ .............. Little Narr Bay/Pawcatuck To be determined.

River.

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[FR Doc. 98-5317 Filed 3-5-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P