[Federal Register: September 27, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 186)]
[Notices]               
[Page 57711]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27se04-69]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-16814]
RIN 1625-AA89

 
Discharge of Dry Cargo Residues in the Great Lakes

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard gives notice that Congressional authorization 
of the United States 1997 interim enforcement policy relating to the 
incidental discharge of dry cargo residue on the Great Lakes has been 
extended by new legislation until 2008 or until new regulations take 
effect. The new legislation gives us until November 7, 2004, to begin 
regulatory environmental assessment. We have already opened the 
necessary project for developing new regulations, and intend to meet 
the new legislation's environmental assessment deadline.

DATES: The interim enforcement policy will continue in force until 
September 30, 2008, unless it is replaced by new regulations at an 
earlier date. The Coast Guard must begin environmental assessment in 
connection with new regulations by November 7, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Any comments or material received from the public in regard 
to this notice, as well as documents mentioned in the notice as being 
available in the public docket, are part of docket USCG-2003-16814 and 
may be viewed online at http://dms.dot.gov or at the Docket Management 

Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions relating to the 
substance of this notice call LCDR Mary Sohlberg, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone 202-267-0713 or via e-mail msohlberg@comdt.uscg.mil. If you 
have questions on viewing the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, Department of Transportation, telephone 
202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is intended to update you 
concerning the Coast Guard's interim enforcement policy (IEP) for 
incidental vessel discharges of non-hazardous and non-toxic cargo 
residues (``dry cargo discharges'') on the Great Lakes. The IEP is set 
out in full in the 2004 Ninth District Special Notice to Mariners 
(pages 66-69) and the Ninth Coast Guard District Notice CCGD9NOTE 16460 
dated January 28, 1997, which are available in the public docket (see 
ADDRESSES). Earlier this year, we published a notice (69 FR 1994, Jan. 
13, 2004) informing you that continued Congressional authorization for 
the IEP was due to expire on September 30, 2004. We noted that, absent 
some new set of regulations, the IEP's expiration would lead to strict 
enforcement of the existing statutory framework, which bans dry cargo 
discharges on the Great Lakes. We said we would begin developing the 
new regulations, but cautioned that they probably could not be ready by 
September 2004.
    On August 9, 2004, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act 
of 2004 Pub. L. 108-293, (``the Act''), became law. Section 623 of the 
Act extends the IEP until September 30, 2008, or issuance of new 
regulations, whichever comes first. It gives the Coast Guard 90 days 
from the statute's enactment, i.e., until November 7, 2004, to begin 
environmental assessment connected with new regulations. In July 2004, 
the Coast Guard approved a dry cargo discharges regulatory project, and 
we expect to meet the Act's deadline for beginning environmental 
assessment. As we reach milestones in the environmental assessment and 
regulatory processes, we will issue additional Federal Register notices 
to keep you informed and invite your participation.

    Dated: September 20, 2004.
T.H. Gilmour,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, 
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 04-21599 Filed 9-24-04; 8:45 am]

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