Environmental Protection Agency January 21, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Dredging is essential for maintaining safe navigation in harbors and marinas in the Los Angeles County and Orange County region. Not all dredged materials are suitable for beneficial re-use (e.g., construction materials, wetlands restoration), and not all suitable materials can be deposited at the existing LA-2 ODMDS given costs and logistical constraints. The LA-3 ODMDS has been used for the disposal of dredged material by some Orange County projects in the past, but its ``interim'' status has expired. Therefore there is a need to designate LA-3 as a permanent ODMDS. No actual disposal operations are authorized by this action; and disposal can only take place after a Federal permit is secured. Before ocean disposal may take place, dredging projects must demonstrate a need for ocean disposal and the proposed dredged material must be suitable (non-toxic) according to USEPA ocean dumping criteria. Alternatives, including the option for beneficial re-use of dredged material, will be evaluated for each permit. Both LA-3 and LA-2 will be monitored periodically to ensure that each site operates as expected. This proposed site designation has been prepared pursuant to Section 102 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA). The evaluation is based on EPA's general and specific criteria. Field studies, modeling of sediment dispersion following dredged material disposal under various scenarios, incompatible use areas, and economic considerations are included in the evaluation. The preferred alternative location for a permanent LA-3 ODMDS is about 4.5 nautical miles offshore of Newport Bay and in water depths ranging from 1,500 to 1,675 feet. It is 2,400 meters southeast of the ``interim'' LA-3 site, and was determined to be the environmentally preferred location given its depth and stability. LA-3 will be managed regionally in conjunction with the existing LA-2 ODMDS. The preferred alternative in the draft EIS is to limit disposal of dredged material at the LA-3 ODMDS to a maximum of 2,500,000 cubic yards annually and to increase the maximum annual disposal limit at the LA-2 ODMDS to 1,000,000 cubic yards of dredged material. The draft EIS contains an evaluation of potential impacts associated with the preferred alternative, other combinations of managing LA-3 and LA-2 jointly, and the No-Action alternative. Comments were received during the scoping comment period and four public scoping meetings were held at Los Angeles and Orange County locations in July 2003. Revisions were made to the draft EIS to address these comments. Public Meetings: EPA is requesting written comments on this draft EIS from federal, state, and local governments, industry, non- governmental organizations, and the general public. Comments will be accepted for 45 days, beginning with the date of this Notice. Public meetings are scheduled at the following location and date:

This document announces the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) responses to Agency clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.). An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

EPA is proposing to determine that the marginal one-hour ozone nonattainment area that includes all of Washoe County, Nevada has attained the 1-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard by the applicable attainment date (1993) and has continued to attain since that time. EPA is also proposing to determine that the moderate carbon monoxide nonattainment area that includes the Truckee Meadows area of Washoe County has attained the carbon monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard by the applicable attainment date (1995) and has continued to attain since that time. EPA is proposing this action to fulfill its obligations to make such determinations under sections 179(c), 181(b)(2), and 186(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act. The intended effect of this action will be to relieve the State of Nevada of the obligation to submit revisions to the State Implementation Plan to address additional requirements under the Clean Air Act for the next higher nonattainment classifications and to satisfy one of the five statutory criteria for redesignation of these areas from nonattainment to attainment.