[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25166-25168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10206]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R01-OW-2012-0201; FRL-9666-5]


EPA--New England Region I; Massachusetts Marine Sanitation Device 
Standard; Receipt of Petition

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice--Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a determination by the 
Regional Administrator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, that 
adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of 
sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the waters of 
Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds and the Islands, collectively termed the 
Southern Cape Cod for the purpose of this notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by May 29, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OW-2012-0201, by one of the following methods: www.regulations.gov, 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (617) 918-0538.
    Mail and hand delivery: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--New 
England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 100, OEP06-1, Boston, MA 
02109-3912. Deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's 
normal hours of operation (8 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays), and special arrangements should be made for 
deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OW-
2012-0201. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov, or email. 
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email 
comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your 
email address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on 
the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copy-righted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 
100, OEP06-01, Boston, MA 02109-3912. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation, and special 
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The 
Regional Office is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number is (617) 918-1538.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Rodney, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency--New England Region, Five Post Office Square, Suite 
100, OEP06-01, Boston, MA 02109-3912. Telephone: (617) 918-1538, Fax 
number: (617) 918-0538; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that a petition has 
been received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting a 
determination by the Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, pursuant to Section 312(f)(3) of Public Law 92-500 
as amended by Public Law 95-217 and Public Law 100-4, that adequate 
facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage 
from all vessels are reasonably available for the Southern Cape Cod 
area.
    The Southern Cape Cod No Discharge Area will encompass the coastal 
waters for the towns of Chilmark, West Tisbury, Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, 
Edgartown, Gosnold, Falmouth, Mashpee, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, 
Harwich, Chatham and Nantucket.
    The proposed boundaries of the No Discharge Area for the Southern 
Cape Cod waters are as follows:
    The western-most contiguous area of the NDA is bound by the 
Buzzards Bay NDA and the Federal/State boundary line:

[[Page 25167]]



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         Waterbody/general area                        Latitude                            Longitude
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West of the Elizabeth Islands...........  41[deg]24'35.11'' N                 70[deg]56'54.62'' W
West of the Elizabeth Islands...........  41[deg]22'30.32'' N                 70[deg]59'51.57'' W
West of the Elizabeth Islands...........  41[deg]24'17.81'' N                 71[deg]02'06.69'' W
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    The upper-eastern area of the NDA is bound by the Outer Cape NDA:

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         Waterbody/general area                        Latitude                            Longitude
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South of Monomoy Island.................  41[deg]32'29.79'' N                 70[deg]00'36.28'' W
South of Monomoy Island.................  41[deg]29'14.59'' N                 70[deg]00'10.93'' W
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    The small triangle of Commonwealth waters at the mouth of Buzzards 
Bay will be bound by the following coordinates along the Federal/State 
boundary line:

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         Waterbody/general area                        Latitude                            Longitude
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Mouth of Buzzards Bay...................  41[deg]24'50.40'' N                 71[deg]02'48.61'' W
Mouth of Buzzards Bay...................  41[deg]25'25.66'' N                 71[deg]03'31.78'' W
Mouth of Buzzards Bay...................  41[deg]25'18.57'' N                 71[deg]04'18.47'' W
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    The two temporarily undesignated areas will be bound by the 
following coordinates:

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         Waterbody/general area                        Latitude                            Longitude
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Area 1:
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]30'33.61'' N                 70[deg]40'06.67'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]30'49.20'' N                 70[deg]39'19.65'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]30'59.29'' N                 70[deg]39'02.76'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]30'03.08'' N                 70[deg]33'54.78'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]28'22.57'' N                 70[deg]33'27.72'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]28'44.74'' N                 70[deg]35'18.74'' W
    Vineyard Sound......................  41[deg]29'08.60'' N                 70[deg]35'32.38'' W
Area 2:
    Nantucket Sound.....................  41[deg]34'27.90'' N                 70[deg]16'48.99'' W
    Nantucket Sound.....................  41[deg]34'27.90'' N                 70[deg]15'00.99'' W
    Nantucket Sound.....................  41[deg]33'20.36'' N                 70[deg]14'39.33'' W
    Nantucket Sound.....................  41[deg]31'41.73'' N                 70[deg]12'27.06'' W
    Nantucket Sound.....................  41[deg]31'07.88'' N                 70[deg]15'32.25'' W
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    The boundaries were chosen to maximize the area designated, give 
larger vessels a window in which to comply with this proposed 
regulation, and generally represent all navigational waters.
    There are marinas, yacht clubs and public landings/piers in the 
proposed area with a combination of mooring fields and dock space for 
the recreational and commercial vessels. Massachusetts has certified 
that there are 29 pumpout facilities within the proposed area available 
to the boating public. A list of the facilities, locations, contact 
information, hours of operation, and water depth is provided at the end 
of this petition.
    Massachusetts has provided documentation indicating that the total 
vessel population is estimated to be 15,283 in the proposed area. It is 
estimated that 5,075 of the total vessel population may have a Marine 
Sanitation Device (MSD) of some type.
    The various beaches, marshes, and harbors and their recreational 
opportunities attract thousands of visitors to Cape Cod and the Islands 
every year. Within the proposed NDA area, there are 143 bathing beaches 
covering over 26 miles of coastline.
    The area is known for the strong prevailing southwest winds which 
support sailing, windsurfing, and kite boarding. Numerous wildlife 
tours, recreational fishing charters operate within the waters of this 
proposed NDA, and it is an important and popular destination for 
boaters due to its natural environmental diversity.
    Six species of shellfish are harvested in the area, including soft-
shell clams, surf clams, blue mussels, oysters, ocean quahogs, and the 
state's only commercial bay scallop fishery.
    Southern South Cape Cod and Islands NDA encompasses approximately 
12,500 acres of shellfish habitat, and supports an estimated 600 
commercial shellfishermen. Recreational shellfishing alone was 
estimated to be worth over $7 million in 2002 dollars to Cape Cod.

[[Page 25168]]



                              Pumpout Facilities Within Proposed No Discharge Area
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                                                         Contact
              Name                    Location         information          Hours of operation       Depth  (ft)
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Menemsha Harbor................  Chilmark.........  508-645-2846, VHF  8 a.m.-4 p.m................            4
                                                     9, 16.
Vineyard Haven Harbor/Tashmoo    Tisbury..........  508-696-4249, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
 Pond.                                               9.
Tisbury Wharf Co...............  144 Beach Road,    508-693-9300, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            4
                                  P.O. Box 1317,     9.
                                  Tisbury.
Oak Bluffs Harbor..............  Oak Bluffs.......  508-693-4355, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
                                                     71.
Oak Bluffs Harbor Marina.......  Box 1327, Oak      508-693-4355, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            6
                                  Bluffs.            71.
Edgartown Marina...............  1 Morse Street     508-627-4746, VHF  8 a.m.-4 p.m................            6
                                  Edgartown.         9, 74.
Edgartown Harbor...............  1 Morse Street     508-627-4746, VHF  8 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
                                  Edgartown.         9, 74.
Falmouth Marine, Inner Harbor..  278 Scranton       508-548-4600, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
                                  Avenue, Falmouth.  9, 16.
McDougall's Inner Harbor.......  145 Falmouth       508-548-3146, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................           NA
                                  Heights Road,      9, 16.
                                  Falmouth.
Falmouth Town Dock.............  Falmouth.........  508-457-2550, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
                                                     9, 16.
Green Pond Marina..............  70 Green Harbor    508-457-9283, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            3
                                  Road, East         9, 16.
                                  Falmouth.
Bosun's Marine.................  1209 East          508-548-2216, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            3
                                  Falmouth           9, 16.
                                  Highway, Route
                                  28, Falmouth.
Waquoit Bay/Inner Harbor.......  Falmouth.........  508-457-2550, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................           NA
                                                     9, 16.
Popponessett Bay...............  Mashpee..........  508-539-1450, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
                                                     9, 16.
Oyster Harbor Marine...........  122 Bridge         508-428-2017, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            6
                                  Street,            9, 79.
                                  Osterville.
Crosby Yacht Yard..............  72 Crosby Circle,  508-428-6900, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
                                  Osterville, MA.    9.
Centerville Harbor/3 Bays......  Barnstable.......  508-790-6273, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
                                                     9, 16.
Bismore Park (Hyannis).........  180 Ocean Street,  508-790-6273, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
                                  Hyannis.           9, 16.
Hyannis Marine.................  1 Willow Street,   508-790-4000, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
                                  Hyannis.           9, 72.
Lewis Bay/Hyannis Harbor/Bass    Yarmouth.........  508-760-4800, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
 River.                                              66.
Bass River.....................  Packet Landing,    508-760-4800, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            3
                                  Water Street,      66.
                                  Yarmouth.
Bass River Marina..............  140 Main Street,   508-394-8341, VHF  8 a.m.- 5 p.m...............            3
                                  West Dennis.       71.
Saquatucket, Allen & Wychmere    Harwich..........  508-430-7532, VHF  9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m..........           NA
 Harbors (Within existing NDA).                      68.
Saquatucket, fuel dock (Within   Harwich..........  508-430-7532, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            5
 existing NDA).                                      68.
Stage Harbor (Within existing    Chatham..........  508-945-5185, VHF  7 a.m.-6 p.m................          5.5
 NDA).                                               16, 66.
Madaket Marine (Within Existing  Nantucket........  508-228-1163, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            3
 NDA).                                               9, 16.
Nantucket Boat Basin (Within     Nantucket........  508-325-1350, VHF  9 a.m.-5 p.m................            6
 Existing NDA).                                      9, 11.
Nantucket Harbor (Within         Nantucket........  508-228-7261, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................            6
 Existing NDA).                                      9, 14.
Nantucket Harbor (Within         Nantucket........  508-228-7261, VHF  9 a.m.-4 p.m................           NA
 Existing NDA).                                      9, 14.
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    Dated: April 18, 2012.
H. Curtis Spalding,
Regional Administrator, New England Region.
[FR Doc. 2012-10206 Filed 4-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P