Public Notice for Draft NPDES General Permit for Offshore Seafood Processing Facilities in Alaska
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, OWW-130
Seattle, Washington 98101
NOTICE OF NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE
ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) GENERAL PERMIT TO
DISCHARGE TO WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR OFFSHORE SEAFOOD PROCESSING FACILITIES LOCATED IN STATE AND FEDERAL WATERS DISCHARGING AT LEAST 0.5 NAUTICAL MILES OFF THE ALASKA SHORE
Notice of a
PRELIMINARY FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT (FONSI)
and
Notice of
STATE CERTIFICATION,
Public Notice No.: AKG-524-000
Public Notice Issuance Date: September 25, 2008
Public Notice Expiration Date: November 10, 2008
This Comment Period has been extended to December 10, 2008.
1. Summary
EPA is proposing to issue a general permit (GP) for offshore seafood processors, in State and Federal waters off the Alaska shore, pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. The draft general permit authorizes the discharge of treated seafood processing wastes from new and existing facilities to State and Federal Waters, at least 0.5 nautical miles from shore as delineated by mean lower low water. Interested persons may submit comments on the proposed general permit to EPA Region 10 at the address below. Comments must be received or postmarked by November 10, 2008. A fact sheet has been prepared which sets forth the principle factual, legal, policy, and scientific information considered in the development of the draft general permit.
The draft general permit contains a variety of technology-based and water quality-based effluent limitations, along with administrative and monitoring requirements, as well as other standard conditions, prohibitions, and management practices. Within state waters a 100 foot mixing zone is proposed for residues, dissolved gas, non-hydrocarbon oil and grease, fecal coliform, pH, temperature, color, turbidity, and total residual chlorine. In addition, the permit allows for the issuance of site specific zones of deposit (ZODs) by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The site specific ZODs would only be authorized for facilities discharging between 0.5-1 nautical mile from shore, upon application by the discharger. If a discharger requests a ZOD, ADEC will public notice the proposed ZOD before the ZOD is authorized. ZODs will be granted through an individual State certification that will be attached to EPA’s authorization to discharge letter.
2. Tentative Determination
The Region 10 Office of EPA has tentatively determined to issue the GP as described in the “Summary” section above.
3. Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) - AKG-54-000
This Notice will also serve as Public Notice of EPA’s issuance of a Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). In compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations at 40 CFR §1501.3 and EPA’s NEPA implementing regulations at 40 CFR § 6.205, EPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA). Based on the EA and consideration of proposed permit conditions, EPA has preliminarily concluded that the proposed general NPDES permit will not result in a significant effect on the environment. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will not be prepared and the public is invited to comment on EPA’s Preliminary FONSI.
4. State Certification
This Notice will also serve as Public Notice for the State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation, draft certification that the general NPDES permit will comply with the applicable provisions of Sections 208(e), 301, 302, 303, 306 and 307 of the Clean Water Act. The NPDES GP will not be issued until the certification requirements of Section 401 have been met. For information concerning the draft 401 certification, please contact Mr. Shawn Stokes at (907) 269-7504.
State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Certificate of Reasonable Assurance (PDF) (8pp, 5MB)
6. Public Comments
Persons wishing to comment on the tentative determinations contained in the proposed permit or preliminary FONSI, may do so in writing, within 45 days of the date of this public notice.
Comments must be received by November 10, 2008 to be considered in the formulation of final determinations regarding the general permit. All comments must include the name, address and telephone number of the commenter and a concise statement of the exact basis of any comment and the relevant facts upon which it is based. All written comments and requests should be submitted to EPA to the attention of Lindsay Guzzo, Office of Water and Watersheds, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, OWW-130, Seattle, WA 98101. Comments may also be submitted via email to Guzzo.Lindsay@epa.gov.
Persons wishing to comment on State Certification should submit written comments by November 10, 2008 to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Attn: Shawn Stokes, 555 Cordova Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. Comments may also be submitted via email to Shawn.Stokes@Alaska.gov.
7. Document Availability
The proposed NPDES GP, Fact Sheet, Environmental Assessment, Preliminary FONSI, CWA 401 certification, Biological Evaluation (including Essential Fish Habitat Evaluation), and Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation are on file and may be inspected at 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101 any time between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Copies and other information may be requested by writing to the EPA at the above address to the attention of the NPDES Permits Unit, or by calling 1-800-424-4372 or (206) 553-0171. Copies may also be requested by sending e-mail to: washington.audrey@epa.gov.
The documents are also available from the EPA Alaska Operations Office, Room 537, Federal Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, #19, Anchorage, Alaska 99513. Please contact Ms. Tara Martich at (907) 271-6592 for assistance.
Copies of the permit and fact sheet may be found on the internet at the following website:
All the documents are also available for review at the following ADEC offices:
Alaska Department of Environmental Quality
Anchorage Office
555 Cordova
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
907-269-7500
Alaska Department of Environmental Quality
Fairbanks Office
610 University Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99709
907-451-2360
Alaska Department of Environmental Quality
Juneau Office
410 Willoughby Avenue, Suite 105
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
907-465-5010
To ensure effective communication with everyone, additional services can be made available to persons with disabilities by contacting one of the above EPA representatives. For those with impaired hearing or speech, please contact EPA's telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) at (206) 553-1598.
8. Public Informational Meetings
The public is invited to attend one of the two pubic informational meetings that EPA and ADEC are hosting to give information and answer questions. The informational meetings will be held at the locations below:
Anchorage
Date: October 15, 2008
Location: Westmark Hotel Anchorage
Address: 720 West 5th Avenue, Anchorage, AK, 99501
Overview presentation 5:30 to 6:00
Question/Answer 6:00-7:30
Seattle
Date: October 28, 2008
Location: Red Lion Hotel
Address: 1415 5th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101
Overview presentation 5:00 to 5:30
Question/Answer 5:30-7:00.
Draft Permit (PDF) (50pp, 239K)
Appendix A (PDF) (10pp, 157K)
Appendix B (PDF) (83pp, 12MB)
Appendix C (PDF) (3pp, 32K)
State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Certificate of Reasonable Assurance (PDF) (8pp, 5MB)
Fact Sheet (PDF) (152pp, 34K)
Biological Evaluation (134pp, 1MB)
Environmental Assessment (158pp, 1.2MB)
Finding of No Significant Impact (7pp, 59K)
Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation (139pp, 836K)