[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46985-46986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19105]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 152 / Tuesday, August 7, 2012 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 46985]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
15 CFR Part 922
Revisions of Boundaries for the Monterey Bay National Marine
Sanctuary; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement; Scoping
Meetings
AGENCY: Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Revise Boundaries; Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement; Scoping Meetings.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 304 of the National Marine
Sanctuaries Act, as amended, (NMSA) (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), the
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has initiated a review of the
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS or sanctuary) boundaries,
to evaluate the opportunity and effects of expanding the sanctuary's
boundary. The process required by NMSA will be conducted concurrently
with a public process under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). This notice also informs the public
that NOAA will coordinate its responsibilities under section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 470) with its
ongoing NEPA process, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(a), including the use of
NEPA documents and public and stakeholder meetings to also meet the
requirements of section 106. NOAA anticipates completion of the final
environmental impact statement and concomitant documents will require
approximately twelve months from the date of publication of this Notice
of Intent.
DATES: Comments must be received by October 10, 2012. Dates for scoping
meetings are:
(1) August 16, 2012
(2) August 23, 2012
(3) September 12, 2012
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any one of the following
methods:
--Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit
electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal with Docket
Number NOAA-NOS-2012-0153.
--Mail: Maria Brown, Sanctuary Superintendent, Gulf of the Farallones
National Marine Sanctuary, 991 Marine Drive, The Presidio, San
Francisco, CA 94129.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public
record. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA will accept
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, Wordperfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie Abramson, Advisory Council
Coordinator, at [email protected] or 415-561-6622 x306.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), designated in
1992, is a Federally protected marine area offshore of California's
central coast. Stretching from Marin to Cambria, the MBNMS encompasses
a shoreline length of 276 miles and 6,094 square miles of ocean,
extending an average distance of 30 miles from shore. At its deepest
point, the MBNMS reaches down 12,713 feet (more than two miles). The
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) has
administrative jurisdiction over the northern portion of the MBNMS from
the San Mateo/Santa Cruz County line northward to the existing boundary
between the two sanctuaries, and maintains an office in San Francisco.
When the MBNMS was designated, the urban waters of San Francisco,
Daly City, and Pacifica were deemed incompatible with sanctuary
regulations and excluded from MBNMS designation. This unprotected area
is referred to as the San Francisco-Pacifica Exclusion Area. The
following activities taking place at the time of MBNMS designation were
listed as reasons for excluding the region:
1. Pollution problems stemming from the combined sewer overflow
component of the City and County of San Francisco's sewage treatment
program;
2. High vessel traffic in the area;
3. Potential pollutants from dredge spoils deposited in the
exclusion area.
The Sanctuary has received reports that these three conditions are
no longer valid issues for exclusion of this area. The San Francisco
Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Oceanside Wastewater Treatment
Plant has functioned for 17 years without a permit violation and is
viewed as a national model of environmental sustainability. Recommended
vessel traffic patterns have been moved offshore of the exclusion area
and dredge materials are reported to be clean and are permitted under
the Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2008, the Joint Management Plan Review for Cordell Bank, Gulf of
the Farallones and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries determined
that GFNMS would ``facilitate a public process in the next five years
to consider whether the exclusion area should be incorporated into the
MBNMS.'' At the February 23, 2012 and June 7, 2012 GFNMS Advisory
Council meetings, the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) unanimously
recommended that the sanctuary superintendent explore the option of
incorporating the exclusion area into MBNMS boundaries.
In accordance with Section 304 of the NMSA, ONMS is initiating a
review of the MBNMS boundaries to ``evaluate and assess a proposed
expansion'' for the sanctuary. NOAA is proposing to administratively
add the exclusion area to the sanctuary as a way to protect additional
nationally-significant seascape, wildlife, shipwrecks, and to promote
ecotourism. An expanded sanctuary could protect up to an additional
seventy-seven square nautical miles (101 square statute
[[Page 46986]]
miles), from the waters west of the Golden Gate Bridge to the current
sanctuary boundaries, and would support the Administration's focus on
growing travel and tourism in the United States and in particular in
the San Francisco Bay Area.
Review Process
The review process is composed of four primary stages:
1. Information collection and characterization, including public
scoping meetings.
2. Preparation and release of a draft environmental impact
statement (DEIS) as required by Section 304(a) of the NMSA that
identifies boundary expansion alternatives, as well as a notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the sanctuary regulations to
reflect any new boundary if proposed.
3. Public review and comment on the DEIS and NPRM; and
4. Preparation and release of a final environmental impact
statement, including a response to public comments, with a final rule
if appropriate.
NOAA anticipates that the completion of the final environmental
impact statement and concomitant documents will require approximately
twelve months.
At this time, NOAA is opening a public comment period to:
1. Gather information and public comments from individuals,
organizations, and government agencies on whether MBNMS should expand
its boundary and the potential effects of a boundary expansion;
2. Help determine the scope of issues to be addressed in the
preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) pursuant to the
NEPA, if warranted; and
3. Conduct a series of public scoping meetings to collect public
comment. The public scoping meeting schedule is presented below.
Public Scoping Meetings: The public scoping meetings will be held
on the following dates and at the following locations and times:
1. Santa Cruz, CA
Date: August 16, 2012.
Location: Louden Nelson Community Center.
Address: 301 Center Street,
Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
Time: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
2. San Francisco, CA
Date: August 23, 2012.
Location: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Headquarters.
Address: Upper Fort Mason, Bldg. 201, San Francisco, CA.
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
3. Pacifica, CA
Date: September 12, 2012.
Location: Pacifica Community Center, The Card Room.
Address: 540 Crespi Drive Pacifica, CA 94044.
Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Consultation Under National Historic Preservation Act
This notice confirms that NOAA will fulfill its responsibility
under section 106 of the NHPA through the ongoing NEPA process,
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(a), including the use of NEPA documents and
public and stakeholder meetings to meet the section 106 requirements.
The NHPA specifically applies to any agency undertaking that may affect
historic properties. Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.16(1)(1), historic
properties includes: ``any prehistoric or historic district, site,
building, structure or object included in, or eligible for inclusion
in, the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the
Secretary of the Interior. The term includes artifacts, records, and
remains that are related to and located within such properties. The
term includes properties of traditional religious and cultural
importance to an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization and that
meet the National Register criteria.''
In fulfilling its responsibility under the NHPA and NEPA, NOAA
intends to identify consulting parties; identify historic properties
and assess the effects of the undertaking on such properties; initiate
formal consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer, the
Advisory Council of Historic Preservation, and other consulting
parties; involve the public in accordance with NOAA's NEPA procedures,
and develop in consultation with identified consulting parties
alternatives and proposed measures that might avoid, minimize or
mitigate any adverse effects on historic properties and describe them
in any environmental assessment or draft environmental impact
statement.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 470.
Dated: July 30, 2012.
Daniel J. Basta,
Director for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
[FR Doc. 2012-19105 Filed 8-6-12; 8:45 am]
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