Draft National Coastal Condition Report IV, 31327-31328 [2011-13400]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 31, 2011 / Notices Any person or the Commission’s staff may, within 60 days after issuance of the instant notice by the Commission, file pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission’s Procedural Rules (18 CFR 385.214) a motion to intervene or notice of intervention and pursuant to section 157.205 of the regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.205), a protest to the request. If no protest is filed within the time allowed therefore, the proposed activity shall be deemed to be authorized effective the day after the time allowed for filing a protest. If a protest is filed and not withdrawn within 30 days after the allowed time for filing a protest, the instant request shall be treated as an application for authorization pursuant to section 7 of the NGA. Dated: May 24, 2011. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2011–13473 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA–HQ–OW–2007–0119; FRL–9313–2] Draft National Coastal Condition Report IV Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments. AGENCY: This Notice invites public comment on the draft National Coastal Condition Report IV (NCCR IV), which describes the condition of the Nation’s coastal waters. Clean coastal waters provide environmental, public health, recreational, and economic value; however, these waters are vulnerable to pollution and other stressors from a variety of sources. According to the draft NCCR IV, the overall condition of the Nation’s coastal waters continues to be fair, with marginal improvement from EPA’s 2008 National Coastal Condition Report III. EPA expects that this Report on the condition of coastal waters will increase public awareness about the extent and seriousness of pollution in these waters and will support more informed decisions concerning protection of this resource. DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 1, 2011. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. [EPA–EPA– HQ–OW–2007–0019], by one of the following methods: Email: ow-docket@epa.gov, mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:27 May 27, 2011 Jkt 223001 Mail: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room 3334, Washington, DC 20460, Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room 3334, Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket’s normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA–EPA–HQ–OW– 2007–0019. EPA’s policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through https:// www.regulations.gov. The https://www.regulations.gov website is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through https:// www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at https:// www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https:// www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 31327 materials are available either electronically in https:// www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The 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. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Colianni, Ocean and Coastal Protection Division, Office of Water, 4504T, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone number: 202–566–1249; fax number: 202–566–1336; email address: Colianni.Gregory@epa.gov or Virginia Engle, Gulf Ecology Division, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561; telephone number: (850) 934–9354; fax number: (850) 934–9201; email address: Engle.Virginia@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. General Information This report is designed to help us better understand the condition of the nation’s coastal waters, whether that condition is getting better or worse, and how different regions compare. This report, however, cannot represent all individual coastal and estuarine systems of the U.S. and is based on a limited number of ecological indices and component indicators for which nationally consistent data sets are available to support estimates of ecological condition. The assessments provided in this report, and more importantly, the underlying data used to develop the assessments, provides a picture of historical coastal conditions at state, regional, and national scales. For example, the National Coastal Assessment (NCA) data have been used to provide insight into the conditions in the estuaries of Louisiana and Mississippi prior to Hurricane Katrina. These data may also be used, along with data and studies by others, to help us understand conditions in Gulf of Mexico estuaries prior to the Deepwater Horizon incident and subsequent BP oil spill. However, the methodology and data used in this report were not designed to assess all impacts related to oil spills as an ecological stressor. This report does not include, for example, indicators for all oil-related contaminants such as oil itself, grease, alkylated PAHs, or volatile organic compounds, dispersant compounds, or other indicators of oil spill-related E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM 31MYN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 31328 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 31, 2011 / Notices exposure that might be required in a comprehensive environmental assessment. Any comparisons to environmental data collected to assess the impact of the BP oil spill on Gulf of Mexico estuaries should be limited to the indicators and methods presented in this report, and to broad generalizations about coastal conditions at state, regional or national scales. Nevertheless, in light of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, EPA recognizes that some may wish to use the 2003–2006 data presented in the draft NCCR IV as a basis for comparison of ecological conditions in Gulf of Mexico coastal waters following the oil spill. EPA seeks comments from the scientific community on the utility and limitations of the information presented in the draft NCCR IV for this type of impact analysis. The National Coastal Condition Reports represent collaboration among EPA (Office of Water (OW) and Office of Research and Development (ORD)), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), and coastal state agencies. The first National Coastal Condition Report published in 2001 in partnership with NOAA, USFWS, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) included some data from about 70% of the U.S. coastal waters. Based upon available data from 1990–1996, the Report concluded that the Nation’s coastal waters were in fair condition. The second National Coastal Condition Report, released in 2005, included some data from all of the Nation’s coastal waters in the conterminous 48 states and Puerto Rico, and concluded that these waters continued to be in fair condition. The third National Coastal Condition Report, released in 2008, built upon the previous reports and provided assessments based on data collected from 2001 to 2003. The third Report similarly concluded that the overall condition of the Nation’s coastal waters was fair. According to the draft NCCR IV, the overall condition of the Nation’s coastal waters continues to be fair, with marginal improvement from EPA’s 2008 National Coastal Condition Report III. With each successive report the geographic scope of NCA coverage has expanded. This fourth edition of the NCCR includes for the first time an assessment of estuarine condition in American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands along with updated assessment of coastal waters of the conterminous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The NCCR IV data were collected from 3,144 sites from 2003 VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:27 May 27, 2011 Jkt 223001 through 2006. This Report serves as a useful tool for analyzing the progress of coastal programs implemented since the first Report and as a ‘‘benchmark’’ for future comparisons and therefore allows for the analysis of trends in condition over time. The information presented in the NCCR IV is more streamlined than the NCCR III, with a greater focus on NCA indicators rather than highlights of other coastal programs. In addition to expanded NCA geographic coverage, the NCCR IV also includes several new sections: Summaries of offshore ocean condition for three areas (Mid-Atlantic Bight, South Atlantic Bight, and the West Coast) and comparisons of these waters with near-shore condition, trends in regional beach closures, a Great Lakes fisheries section, and a chapter on emerging coastal issues. The Draft National Coastal Condition Report IV is also undergoing an external peer review led by EPA’s Office of Research and Development. The peer review plan, including the peer review charge questions, is available upon request by contacting Virginia Houk at: Houk.Virginia@epa.gov. The draft document can be found on the Web at: https://nccr4.rti.org/ Username = nccr4 Password = Coastal10! Dated: May 20, 2011. Nancy K. Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. [FR Doc. 2011–13400 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL–9313–6] Good Neighbor Environmental Board Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of meeting. AGENCY: Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92463, EPA gives notice of a meeting of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board (Board). The Board usually meets three times each calendar year, twice at different locations along the U.S. border with Mexico, and once in Washington, DC. It was created in 1992 by the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Act, Public Law 102–532, 7 U.S.C. Section 5404. Implementing authority was delegated to the Administrator of EPA under Executive Order 12916. The Board is responsible for providing advice to the President and the Congress on SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 environmental and infrastructure issues and needs within the States contiguous to Mexico in order to improve the quality of life of persons residing on the United States side of the border. The statute calls for the Board to have representatives from U.S. Government agencies; the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas; and Tribal and private organizations with experience in environmental and infrastructure issues along the U.S.Mexico border. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the Board’s 14th report, which will focus on the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy development in the border region. A copy of the meeting agenda will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/ocem/ gneb. The Good Neighbor Environmental Board will hold an open meeting on Thursday, June 16, from 8:30 a.m. (registration at 8 a.m.) to 6 p.m. The following day, June 17, the Board will meet from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. DATES: The meeting will be held at the US Grant Hotel, 326 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101, phone number: 619/ 232–3121. The meeting is open to the public, with limited seating on a firstcome, first-served basis. ADDRESSES: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Joyce, Acting Designated Federal Officer, joyce.mark@epa.gov, 202–564– 2130, U.S. EPA, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Management and Outreach (1601M), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. If you wish to make oral comments or submit written comments to the Board, please contact Mark Joyce at least five days prior to the meeting. General Information: Additional information concerning the GNEB can be found on its Web site at https:// www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb. Meeting Access: For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Mark Joyce at 202–564–2130 or by e-mail at joyce.mark@epa.gov. To request accommodation of a disability, please contact Mark Joyce at least 10 days prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Dated: May 23, 2011. Mark Joyce, Acting Designated Federal Officer. [FR Doc. 2011–13406 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560–50–P E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM 31MYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31327-31328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13400]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2007-0119; FRL-9313-2]


Draft National Coastal Condition Report IV

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This Notice invites public comment on the draft National 
Coastal Condition Report IV (NCCR IV), which describes the condition of 
the Nation's coastal waters. Clean coastal waters provide 
environmental, public health, recreational, and economic value; 
however, these waters are vulnerable to pollution and other stressors 
from a variety of sources. According to the draft NCCR IV, the overall 
condition of the Nation's coastal waters continues to be fair, with 
marginal improvement from EPA's 2008 National Coastal Condition Report 
III. EPA expects that this Report on the condition of coastal waters 
will increase public awareness about the extent and seriousness of 
pollution in these waters and will support more informed decisions 
concerning protection of this resource.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 1, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. [EPA-EPA-
HQ-OW-2007-0019], by one of the following methods:
    Email: ow-docket@epa.gov,
    Mail: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room 3334, 
Washington, DC 20460,
    Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room 
3334, Washington, DC 20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should 
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-EPA-HQ-OW-
2007-0019. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through https://www.regulations.gov.
    The https://www.regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through https://www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you 
submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to 
consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special 
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or 
viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the 
EPA Docket Center homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in https://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Docket, EPA/DC, 
EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The 
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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Colianni, Ocean and Coastal 
Protection Division, Office of Water, 4504T, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, 
telephone number: 202-566-1249; fax number: 202-566-1336; email 
address: Colianni.Gregory@epa.gov or Virginia Engle, Gulf Ecology 
Division, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561; telephone 
number: (850) 934-9354; fax number: (850) 934-9201; email address: 
Engle.Virginia@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

    This report is designed to help us better understand the condition 
of the nation's coastal waters, whether that condition is getting 
better or worse, and how different regions compare. This report, 
however, cannot represent all individual coastal and estuarine systems 
of the U.S. and is based on a limited number of ecological indices and 
component indicators for which nationally consistent data sets are 
available to support estimates of ecological condition. The assessments 
provided in this report, and more importantly, the underlying data used 
to develop the assessments, provides a picture of historical coastal 
conditions at state, regional, and national scales. For example, the 
National Coastal Assessment (NCA) data have been used to provide 
insight into the conditions in the estuaries of Louisiana and 
Mississippi prior to Hurricane Katrina. These data may also be used, 
along with data and studies by others, to help us understand conditions 
in Gulf of Mexico estuaries prior to the Deepwater Horizon incident and 
subsequent BP oil spill. However, the methodology and data used in this 
report were not designed to assess all impacts related to oil spills as 
an ecological stressor. This report does not include, for example, 
indicators for all oil-related contaminants such as oil itself, grease, 
alkylated PAHs, or volatile organic compounds, dispersant compounds, or 
other indicators of oil spill-related

[[Page 31328]]

exposure that might be required in a comprehensive environmental 
assessment. Any comparisons to environmental data collected to assess 
the impact of the BP oil spill on Gulf of Mexico estuaries should be 
limited to the indicators and methods presented in this report, and to 
broad generalizations about coastal conditions at state, regional or 
national scales.
    Nevertheless, in light of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of 
Mexico, EPA recognizes that some may wish to use the 2003-2006 data 
presented in the draft NCCR IV as a basis for comparison of ecological 
conditions in Gulf of Mexico coastal waters following the oil spill. 
EPA seeks comments from the scientific community on the utility and 
limitations of the information presented in the draft NCCR IV for this 
type of impact analysis.
    The National Coastal Condition Reports represent collaboration 
among EPA (Office of Water (OW) and Office of Research and Development 
(ORD)), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), and coastal state 
agencies. The first National Coastal Condition Report published in 2001 
in partnership with NOAA, USFWS, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and 
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) included some data from about 70% 
of the U.S. coastal waters. Based upon available data from 1990-1996, 
the Report concluded that the Nation's coastal waters were in fair 
condition. The second National Coastal Condition Report, released in 
2005, included some data from all of the Nation's coastal waters in the 
conterminous 48 states and Puerto Rico, and concluded that these waters 
continued to be in fair condition. The third National Coastal Condition 
Report, released in 2008, built upon the previous reports and provided 
assessments based on data collected from 2001 to 2003. The third Report 
similarly concluded that the overall condition of the Nation's coastal 
waters was fair. According to the draft NCCR IV, the overall condition 
of the Nation's coastal waters continues to be fair, with marginal 
improvement from EPA's 2008 National Coastal Condition Report III.
    With each successive report the geographic scope of NCA coverage 
has expanded. This fourth edition of the NCCR includes for the first 
time an assessment of estuarine condition in American Samoa, Guam, and 
the U.S. Virgin Islands along with updated assessment of coastal waters 
of the conterminous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The NCCR IV 
data were collected from 3,144 sites from 2003 through 2006. This 
Report serves as a useful tool for analyzing the progress of coastal 
programs implemented since the first Report and as a ``benchmark'' for 
future comparisons and therefore allows for the analysis of trends in 
condition over time.
    The information presented in the NCCR IV is more streamlined than 
the NCCR III, with a greater focus on NCA indicators rather than 
highlights of other coastal programs. In addition to expanded NCA 
geographic coverage, the NCCR IV also includes several new sections: 
Summaries of offshore ocean condition for three areas (Mid-Atlantic 
Bight, South Atlantic Bight, and the West Coast) and comparisons of 
these waters with near-shore condition, trends in regional beach 
closures, a Great Lakes fisheries section, and a chapter on emerging 
coastal issues.
    The Draft National Coastal Condition Report IV is also undergoing 
an external peer review led by EPA's Office of Research and 
Development. The peer review plan, including the peer review charge 
questions, is available upon request by contacting Virginia Houk at: 
Houk.Virginia@epa.gov.
    The draft document can be found on the Web at:
    https://nccr4.rti.org/
    Username = nccr4
    Password = Coastal10!

    Dated: May 20, 2011.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. 2011-13400 Filed 5-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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