[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 24]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR227.27]



[Page 214-215]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)

 

PART 227_CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR OCEAN 

DUMPING OF MATERIALS--Table of Contents

 

                          Subpart G_Definitions

 

Sec.  227.27  Limiting permissible con cen tra tion (LPC).





    (a) The limiting permissible concentration of the liquid phase of a 

material is:

    (1) That concentration of a constituent which, after allowance for 

initial mixing as provided in Sec.  227.29, does not exceed applicable 

marine water quality criteria; or, when there are no applicable marine 

water quality criteria,

    (2) That concentration of waste or dredged material in the receiving 

water which, after allowance for initial mixing, as specified in Sec.  

227.29, will not exceed a toxicity threshold defined as 0.01 of a 

concentration shown to be acutely toxic to appropriate sensitive marine 

organisms in a bioassay carried



[[Page 215]]



out in accordance with approved EPA procedures.

    (3) When there is reasonable scientific evidence on a specific waste 

material to justify the use of an application factor other than 0.01 as 

specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, such alternative 

application factor shall be used in calculating the LPC.

    (b) The limiting permissible concentration of the suspended 

particulate and solid phases of a material means that concentration 

which will not cause unreasonable acute or chronic toxicity or other 

sublethal adverse effects based on bioassay results using appropriate 

sensitive marine organisms in the case of the suspended particulate 

phase, or appropriate sensitive benthic marine organisms in the case of 

the solid phase; and which will not cause accumulation of toxic 

materials in the human food chain. Suspended particulate phase 

bioaccumulation testing is not required. These bioassays are to be 

conducted in accordance with procedures approved by EPA, or, in the case 

of dredged material, approved by EPA and the Corps of Engineers. \1\

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    \1\An implementation manual is being developed jointly by EPA and 

the Corps of Engineers, and announcement of the availability of the 

manual will be published in the Federal Register. Until this manual is 

available, interim guidance on the appropriate procedures can be 

obtained from the Marine Protection Branch, WH-548, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, or 

the Corps of Engineers, as the case may be.

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    (c) Appropriate sensitive marine organisms means at least one 

species each representative of phytoplankton or zooplankton, crustacean 

or mollusk, and fish species chosen from among the most sensitive 

species documented in the scientific literature or accepted by EPA as 

being reliable test organisms to determine the anticipated impact of the 

wastes on the ecosystem at the disposal site. Bioassays, except on 

phytoplankton or zooplankton, shall be run for a minimum of 96 hours 

under temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen conditions 

representing the extremes of environmental stress at the disposal site. 

Bioassays on phytoplankton or zooplankton may be run for shorter periods 

of time as appropriate for the organisms tested at the discretion of 

EPA, or EPA and the Corps of Engineers, as the case may be.

    (d) Appropriate sensitive benthic marine organisms means two or more 

species that together represent filter-feeding, deposit-feeding, and 

burrowing characteristics. These organisms shall be chosen from among 

the species that are most sensitive for each type they represent, and 

that are documented in the scientific literature and accepted by EPA as 

being reliable test organisms to determine the anticipated impact on the 

site; provided, however, that until sufficient species are adequately 

tested and documented, interim guidance on appropriate organisms 

available for use will be provided by the Administrator, Regional 

Administrator, or the District Engineer, as the case may be.



[42 FR 2476, Jan. 11, 1977; 43 FR 1071, Jan. 6, 1978, as amended at 59 

FR 26572, May 20, 1994; 59 FR 52652, Oct. 18, 1994; 61 FR 51203, Sept. 

30, 1996; 65 FR 47325, Aug. 2, 2000]