[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1443-1444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-542]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Environmental Protection Agency
Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Proposed Findings
Document, Environmental Assessment, and Finding of No Significant
Impact
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Proposed Findings Document,
Environmental Assessment, and Finding of No Significant Impact on
Approval of Coastal Nonprofit Pollution Control Programs for
California.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the availability of the Proposed
Findings Document, Environmental Assessment (EA), and Finding of No
Significant Impact for California. Coastal states and territories were
required to submit their coastal nonprofit programs to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval in July 1995. The
Findings document was prepared by NOAA and EPA to provide the rationale
for the agencies' decision to approve the state coastal nonprofit
pollution control program. Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act
Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA), 16 U.S.C. 1455b, requires states
and territories with coastal zone management programs that have
received approval under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act
to develop and implement coastal nonpoint pollution control programs.
The EA was prepared by NOAA, pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., to assess the environmental
impacts associated with the approval of the coastal nonpoint pollution
control program submitted to NOAA and EPA by California.
NOAA and EPA have proposed to approve, with conditions, the coastal
nonpoint pollution control program submitted by California. The
requirements of 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 (Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) regulations to implement the National Environmental
Policy Act) apply to the preparation of the Environmental Assessment.
Specifically, 40 CFR section 1506.6 requires agencies to provide public
notice of the availability of environmental documents. This notice is
part of NOAA's action to comply with this requirement.
Introduction
Nonpoint source pollution, pollution caused by a wide range of
activities including agriculture, mining, urban development and
forestry, is a major cause of water quality impairment nationally and
in California. To address these problems, the State of California,
along with various federal and local agencies, private non-profit
groups and landowners are involved in many efforts to reduce and
prevent nonpoint source pollution. California's CZARA submittal, an
important part of these efforts, is a good start to describing a
program to address the challenging and critical problems associated
with nonpoint source pollution. However, the proposed findings for the
California submittal conclude that the program as currently submitted
to EPA and NOAA is not adequate to protect California's water quality.
In particular, EPA and NOAA are asking the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB) and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) to
more fully identify the activities that will be undertaken to ensure
widespread implementation of management measures for the major nonpoint
sources in the State, while providing for evaluation, feedback, public
review and program adjustments as necessary. California has agreed to
expand upon the California submittal documents prepared to date to more
adequately address the requirements of CZARA and advance the success of
the nonpoint source program.
Background: Description of California's Nonpoint Source Program
The SWRCB and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards
(RWQCBs) have primary responsibility in California for the protection
of water quality. As such, in 1988 the SWRCB adopted the California
Nonpoint Source (NPS) Management Plan that outlined a 3-tiered approach
for addressing polluted runoff: (1) Voluntary implementation of Best
Management Practices (BMPs), (2) regulatory-based encouragement of
BMPs, and (3) effluent limitations. In addition to the SWRCB and the
RWQCBs, California's program recognizes that other federal, state,
local and private entities have key responsibilities for addressing the
problems caused by nonpoint sources, such as the Board of Forestry,
Department of Pesticides, California Department of Transportation,
Natural Resource Conservation Service, and local governments.
Preparation of the State's NPS Management Plan was in response to Clean
Water Act Section 319, enacted by Congress in 1987. CWA Section 319
required states to develop an assessment report detailing the extent of
nonpoint source pollution and a management program specifying nonpoint
source controls, in order to be eligible for federal funding. As a
result, California received an annual federal funding allocation in
1997 of $5.3 million to carry out its nonpoint source program.
California's Response to Section 6217 of CZARA
CZARA requirements resulted in the expansion of the partnership for
addressing nonpoint source pollution to include the California Coastal
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Commission (CCC), in order to strengthen the links between Federal and
State coastal zone management and water quality programs. Therefore,
the SWRCB, the RWQCBs and CCC undertook a joint effort to improve the
statewide nonpoint source program and comply with CZARA requirements.
In February 1994, the State initiated a comprehensive review process to
consider the requirements of Section 6217 and update its existing
statewide nonpoint source management program rather than create a
separate program dealing exclusively with coastal waters. The State
anticipated that a statewide approach would reduce resource
expenditures and eliminate the potential for regulatory inequities
which might occur if a separate nonpoint source pollution control
program was instituted for coastal areas.
Technical advisory committees (TACs), composed of representatives
from industry, academia, environmental groups, and state and federal
agencies, were convened to provide critical input to the program
review. For one year the TAC's reviewed current nonpoint source
programs and developed consensus-based recommendations for improving
implementation, including innovative approaches for using existing
programs more efficiently, and allowing limited staff and fiscal
resources to be focused on the most pressing water quality problems.
The 10 separate technical advisory committee (TAC) reports identified a
wide range of activities aimed at implementing the CZARA management
measures, improving the State's nonpoint source program, and reducing
the water quality impacts associated with nonpoint source pollution. In
addition these reports contained several common themes, such as:
voluntary cooperation is preferred over prescriptive measures; improve
outreach and technical assistance to individuals and local groups;
support local stewardship and specific, problem-responsive measures
devised through comprehensive watershed management plans; better
coordinate activities of the various resource management agencies; and
where voluntary efforts have not succeeded and significant water
quality problems persist, utilize appropriate authorities to achieve
environmental improvements.
The SWRCB and the CCC then prepared the State of California's
response to CZARA and submitted the documents in September 1995 to EPA
and NOAA, as required by the statute. The State's submittal package
included two principal documents:
``California's Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control
Submittal,'' which is an account of the State's existing programs
related to the management of nonpoint pollution, and
``Initiatives in Nonpoint Source Management,'' which
describes several Initiatives adopted by the SWRCB to improve the
nonpoint source program, along with the associated TAC reports.
EPA and NOAA's Review of California's 6217 Submittal
The proposed findings document now available for public review
concludes that California's nonpoint source program is encouraging
because of its broad scope in terms of the State's authorities and
programs to address nonpoint source pollution, its statewide
applicability and the watershed approach being proposed. However, the
State's submittal is not sufficient to conform with the requirements of
CZARA because (in summary):
The submittal does not describe how the management
measures are incorporated into the State's program and how they will be
implemented;
The submittal does not describe how existing ``back-up''
authorities will be used to ensure implementation of the management
measures, if voluntary efforts fail;
The submittal does not adequately address key gaps and
recommendations identified by the Technical Advisory Committees;
The submittal does not incorporate the activities, roles
and responsibilities of the CCC;
The submittal does not adequately address common program
elements related to administrative coordination, technical assistance,
critical coastal areas, additional management measures and monitoring.
EPA and NOAA have reached agreement with the CCC and the SWRCB on
an ``action plan'' for improving California's Nonpoint Source Program
that will also assist the State in meeting the requirements of Section
6217 of CZARA. The ``action plan'' outlines a framework and key
activities that the CCC and the SWRCB along with the RWQCBs will
undertake to prepare an implementation strategy to improve efforts to
reduce nonpoint source pollution. EPA and NOAA anticipate that the
completion of the activities in the ``action plan'' will address the
submittal's current shortcomings in a manner that will provide
California with a more effective nonpoint source program and help meet
the conditions for programs approval identified in the proposed
findings. EPA and NOAA are encouraging the State to base this strategy,
to the fullest extent possible, on the CZARA materials submitted to
date and to continue to involve a wide range of stakeholders in
preparing and implementing a nonpoint source program that more fully
protects California's water quality and complies with CZARA.
Copies of the Proposed Findings Document, Environmental Assessment,
and Finding of No Significant Impact 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.
DATES: Individuals or organizations wishing to submit comments on the
proposed Findings or Environmental Assessment should do so by February
9, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be made to: Joseph A. Uravitch, Coastal
Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource
Management, NOS, NOAA 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland,
20910, tel. (301) 713-3155, x195. (Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog
11.419 Coastal Zone Management Program Administration)
Dated: January 6, 1998.
Captain Evelyn J. Fields,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal
Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Robert H. Wayland III,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Environmental
Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-542 Filed 1-8-98; 8:45 am]
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