Availability of Proposed Administrative Changes to Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Guidance

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Availability of Proposed Administrative Changes to Coastal

Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Guidance

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed administrative changes to

coastal nonpoint pollution control program guidance.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the availability of Proposed

Administrative Changes to the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control

Program Guidance (Administrative Changes), developed under section 6217

of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA), 16

U.S.C. section 1455b. CZARA requires states and territories with

coastal zone management programs that have received approval under

section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CSMA) to develop and

implement coastal nonpoint pollution control programs. Coastal states

and territories were required to submit their coastal nonpoint programs

to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval in July 1995.

In response to coastal states' concerns over the ability to target

the program. enforceable policies and mechanisms; timeframes; and

resources to implement coastal nonpoint programs, NOAA and EPA recently

completed a dialogue with the coastal states and other interested

parties, resulting in a set of proposed administrative changes.

NOAA and EPA agree that states and territories may focus resources

and will need to have sufficient flexibility to prioritize their

implementation activities. NOAA and EPA are now in the process of

refining the proposed administrative changes and are making them

available for public comment prior to producing final guidance.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed Administrative Changes should

be made to: Joseph A. Uravitch, Chief, Coastal Programs Division (N/

ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305

East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, by May 11, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Proposed Administrative Changes may be

obtained upon request from: Joseph P. Flanagan, Coastal Programs

Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management,

NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, tel.

(301) 713-3121, x201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Subsequent to enactment of CZARA in 1990, in January 1993, EPA and

NOAA published two guidances to guide the development of States' (and

Territories') coastal nonpoint pollution control programs: Guidane

Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in

Coastal Waters and Program Development and Approval Guidance. These

provided both technical and programmatic guidance on program

development. Subsequently, EPA and NOAA provided further program

clarification in a January 6, 1995 letter and a March 16, 1995 document

entitled Flexibility for State Coastal Nonpoint Programs. These actions

provided greater flexibility to States in prioritizing their

activities; extended the implementation period from three years to five

years; and clarified the range of enforceable policies and mechanisms

that could be used by States to implement their programs. The letters

also established the principle that, in recognition of the complexity

of the program, States could be granted conditional approval for

programs that are not yet fully approval, thereby affording more time

for States to fully develop their programs.

As of the date of this notice, NOAA and EPA have provided

conditional approval to 22 States and are working rapidly to approve or

conditionally approve all of the remainder of the 29 coastal States

that submitted programs for approval. In April, 1997, NOAA, EPA, the

States and other interested parties began discussions regarding the

progress made to date in developing and implementing CZARA programs and

the significant impediments to further progress. Both the States and

Federal agencies recognized that while the goals of the CZARA program

remain valid, the program and schedules originally conceived by NOAA

and EPA were extremely ambitious, and additional flexibility would be

needed to enable the States to successfully implement their programs.

Based on this understanding, the parties proceeded to discuss in detail

the specific aspects of the program that would require modification

while maintaining the overall objective that States implement

management measures needed to protect coastal waters.

Based on these discussions, EPA and NOAA have drafted a set of

administrative changes that the agencies propose to use to guide future

implementation of the CZARA program. After reviewing public comments

that are submitted in response to today's notice, NOAA and EPA intend

to issue final administrative changes to the program guidance. In some

cases, EPA and NOAA will review those findings and conditions and make

any necessary adjustments to those findings and conditions (including,

where appropriate, elimination of conditions).

On October 18, 1997, the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act,

Vice President Gore directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

[[Page 12079]]

and Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work with other Federal

agencies (including NOAA) to develop a Clean Water Action Plan within

120 days. In a memorandum for Heads of Departments and Agencies, the

Vice President specifically requested Federal agencies to ``develop a

comprehensive Action Plan that builds on the * * * clean water

successes over the past five years and addresses three major goals:

enhanced protection from public health threats posed by water

pollution; more effective control of polluted runoff; and promotion of

water quality protection on a watershed basis.'' The Action Plan is

informed by the following principles:

Agencies will develop cooperative approaches that promote

coordination and reduce duplication among Federal, State and local

agencies and Tribal governments wherever possible.

Agencies will ensure participation of community groups and

the public to the maximum extent practicable. Such participation will

include community and public access to information, to protect the

public's right-to-know about water quality issues.

Agencies will emphasize innovative approaches to pollution

control, including, where appropriate, incentives, market-based

mechanisms, and cooperative partnerships with landowners and other

private parties.

On February 19, 1998, President Clinton announced the Clean Water

Action Plan to restore and protect America's waters. NOAA and EPA view

these proposed administrative changes as supporting the goals of the

President's Clean Water Action Plan to reduce polluted runoff in

coastal areas. In particular, these changes respond to the following

key action included in the Clean Water Action Plan:

NOAA and EPA will work with coastal states and territories to

ensure that they have developed programs to reduce polluted runoff

in coastal areas and that these programs are at least conditionally

approved by June 1998 and that all programs are fully approved by

December 1999, with appropriate state-enforceable policies and

mechanisms.

NOAA and EPA are soliciting comments on the level of detail that

should be required of states in describing the process that links the

implementing and enforcement agencies, e.g., should states be required

to establish clear criteria to determine where voluntary efforts have

been unsuccessful and that enforcement actions are necessary?

In keeping with the statutory requirements of section 6217(b)(5)

that there be ``opportunities for public participation in all aspects

of the program,'' NOAA and EPA reaffirm that public participation is

necessary as the states develop changes to their programs. NOAA and EPA

also solicit suggestions on how public participation can be effectively

accomplished.

Section 6217 does not specifically establish timeframes for program

implementation. NOAA and EPA are proposing extending the timeframe for

program implementation that has been established administratively to

fifteen years from the date of first program approval action, i.e.,

conditional approval. NOAA and EPA request comments on whether the

proposed timeframe of fifteen years is appropriate or whether a shorter

timeframe, e.g., twelve years, is feasible.

The proposed Administrative Changes provide guidance to the States

on how NOAA and EPA intend to exercise their discretion in implementing

the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. As such, these proposed

Administrative Changes, as well as the previously issued guidance they

modify, are not regulations.

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog 11.419 Coastal Zone Management

Program Administration)

Dated: March 6, 1998.

Nancy Foster,

Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert Perciasepe,

Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, Environmental Protection

Agency.

[FR Doc. 98-6335 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]

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