[Federal Register: May 12, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 92)]
[Notices]
[Page 27716-27717]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12my06-69]
[[Page 27716]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0003; FRL-8168-9]
National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing
Vessels Intended To Create Artificial Reefs
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the availability of the
final National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing
Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs, which provides information
on national environmentally-based best management practices for
preparation of vessels to be sunk with the intention of creating
artificial reefs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the Maritime Administration (MARAD) jointly developed this guidance
recommending environmental best management practices to be used in the
preparation of vessels for use as artificial reefs as required by
Section 3516 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2004. The first of its kind, this guidance document provides clean-up
performance goals and information on methods for achieving those goals
when preparing vessels prior to sinking.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura S. Johnson, Marine Pollution
Control Branch, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, (4504T),
U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 566-1273; fax number: (202) 566-1546; e-mail address:
johnson.laura-s@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Interested Entities
Entities potentially interested in today's notice are those who
want to transfer their vessel for reefing, have the capacity to prepare
a vessel for reefing, wish to undertake a vessel-to-reef project, or
are responsible for managing an artificial reef. Categories and
entities interested in today's notice include:
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Category Examples of interested entities
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Federal Government..................... Maritime Administration, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.
Coast Guard, U.S. Navy,
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
State/Local/Tribal Government.......... Governments owning or
responsible for artificial
reef preparation, placement,
and management; coastal
communities.
Industry and General Public............ Shipyards, salvage companies,
recreational fishing and scuba
diving interests,
environmental interest groups.
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This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be interested in this
notice. This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware
could potentially be interested in this notice. Other types of entities
not listed in the table could also be interested.
B. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?
1. Guidance Document Electronic Access. To obtain a copy of the
guidance document entitled National Guidance: Best Management Practices
for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs, please
access our Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/habitat/artificialreefs
.
2. Federal Register Docket. EPA has established a public docket for
this notice under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0003; FRL-XXXX-X. The
public docket consists of the documents specifically referenced in this
notice and other information related to this notice. The public docket
does not include information claimed as Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water
Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room B102, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water
Docket is (202) 566-2426. To view these materials, we encourage you to
call ahead to schedule an appointment. Every user is entitled to copy
266 pages per day before incurring a charge. The docket may charge 15
cents a page for each page over the 266-page limit plus an
administrative fee of $25.00.
3. Federal Register Electronic Access. You may access this Federal
Register document electronically through the EPA Internet under the
``Federal Register'' listings at: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
II. Background
Section 3516 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2004 (Act) requires that MARAD and EPA jointly develop guidance
recommending environmental best management practices (BMPs) to be used
in the preparation of vessels for use as artificial reefs. These BMPs
are to serve as national guidance for the clean-up and preparation of
obsolete and decommissioned military and commercial vessels for use as
artificial reefs. In addition, the Act requires the Secretary of the
Navy to ensure that the preparation of a vessel (that is stricken from
the Naval Vessel Registry) for use as an artificial reef is conducted
in accordance with these environmental best management practices and
applicable environmental laws.
The Act provides that the BMPs are to (A) Ensure that vessels
prepared for use as artificial reefs ``will be environmentally sound in
their use as artificial reefs,'' (B) ``promote consistent use of such
practices nationwide,'' (C) ``provide a basis for estimating the costs
associated with the preparation of vessels for use as artificial
reefs,'' and (D) include measures that will ``enhance the utility of
the Artificial Reefing Program of the Maritime Administration as an
option for the disposal of obsolete vessels.''
Options for managing obsolete and decommissioned military and
commercial vessels include re-use of the vessel or parts of the vessel,
recycling or scrapping, creating artificial reefs, and disposal on land
or at sea. The guidance document made available today addresses one of
these management options, artificial reef creation, with the intent of
promoting a consistent, national approach.
An interagency workgroup, chaired by EPA, was established to
develop national environmentally-based best management practices for
the preparation of vessels to be sunk with the intention of creating
artificial reefs. The workgroup included representatives
[[Page 27717]]
from the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, MARAD, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
On August 2, 2004, EPA published a notice of availability of the
Draft National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing
Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs for public comment. See
section I.B. of today's notice for information about viewing these
public comments and EPA's response to comments document.
III. Today's Action
Today's notice announces the availability of the final BMP
guidance. This final guidance reflects the input of the Federal
workgroup and public comments received on the Draft National Guidance:
Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create
Artificial Reefs (60 FR 46141). The guidance describes guidelines for
the preparation of obsolete and decommissioned military and commercial
vessels in a manner that is intended to help ensure that the marine
environment will benefit from their use as an artificial reef. The
guidance identifies materials or categories of materials of concern
that may be present aboard vessels, indicates where these materials may
be found, and briefly describes their potential adverse impacts if
released into the marine environment. The materials of concern include:
Fuels and oil, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), paints,
debris (e.g., vessel debris, floatables, introduced material), and
other materials of environmental concern (e.g., mercury, refrigerants).
For each material or category of material of concern identified, the
guidance provides a general clean-up performance goal and information
on methods for attaining those clean-up goals when preparing a vessel
prior to sinking. Achieving the clean-up performance goals provided in
this guidance, coupled with strategic reef site selection, will help
maximize the environmental benefits of using vessels as artificial
reefs.
Dated: May 5, 2006.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. E6-7274 Filed 5-11-06; 8:45 am]
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