[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54032-54034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22815]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6865-2]
Clean Water Act Section 303(d): Availability of Total Maximum
Daily Loads (TMDLs) and Final Determination That TMDLs Are Not Needed
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability and final determination.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability for comment of the
administrative record file for six TMDLs prepared by EPA Region 6 for
waters listed in Louisiana's Mermentau and Vermilion/Teche river
basins, under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The above
TMDLs were completed in response to a Court Order dated October 1,
1999, in the lawsuit Sierra Club, et al. v. Clifford et al., No. 96-
0527, (E.D. La. Oct. 1, 1999). Under this court order, EPA is required
to establish TMDLs when needed for waters on the Louisiana 1998 section
303(d) list by December 31, 2007. This notice also announces the
Agency's final determination that TMDLs are not needed for forty-six
waterbody/pollutant combinations in the Mermentau and Vermilion/Teche
river basins and two waterbody/pollutant combinations in the Pearl
River Basin because the data show that the waterbodies are meeting
Louisiana's Water Quality Standards for the pollutants involved.
DATES: Comments on the six completed TMDLs must be submitted to EPA on
or before October 6, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the six TMDLs should be sent to Ellen Caldwell,
Environmental Protection Specialist, Water Quality Protection Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, 1445 Ross Ave., Dallas,
TX 75202-2733. For further information, contact Ellen Caldwell at (214)
665-7513. Copies of the TMDLs and their respective calculations may be
viewed at www.epa.gov/region6/water/tmdl.htm, or obtained by writing or
calling Ms. Caldwell at the above address. The administrative record
file for these TMDLs is available for public inspection at the above
address as well. Please contact Ms. Caldwell to schedule an inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Caldwell at (214) 665-7513.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1996, two Louisiana environmental groups,
the Sierra Club and Louisiana Environmental Action Network
(Plaintiffs), filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), styled Sierra Club, et
al. v. Clifford et al., No. 96-0527, (E.D. La. Oct. 1, 1999). Among
other claims, plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to establish Louisiana
TMDLs in a timely manner.
In an order dated October 1, 1999, the Court disapproved EPA's
proposed 12-year schedule for the establishment of Louisiana TMDLs.
Among other things, the court ordered the following:
(1) The defendants, EPA, shall prepare total maximum daily loads
for Louisiana waters identified as not meeting water quality standards
according to the following schedule:
(a) By December 31, 1999, for all of the waters in the Mermentau
and Vermilion/Teche basins.
(b) By December 31, 2001, for all of the waters in the Calcasieu
and Ouachita basins.
(c) By December 31, 2003, for all of the waters in the Barataria
and Terrebonne basins.
(d) By December 31, 2005, for all of the waters in the Red and
Sabine basins.
(e) By December 31, 2006, for all of the waters in the
Pontchartrain basins.
(f) By December 31, 2007, for all of the waters in the Mississippi,
Atchafalaya, and Pearl basins.
(2) The defendants, EPA, shall add or delete waters to the schedule
as new data confirms that the waters are or are not meeting water
quality standards. If a water is deleted from the identification of
waters that do not meet water quality standards, the defendants need
not prepare a total maximum daily load for the water. If an additional
water is identified as not meeting water quality standards, the
defendants shall prepare a total maximum daily load for the water by
the applicable deadline in the schedule if the water is identified at
least one year prior to the deadline. If the additional water is
identified less than one year before the total maximum
[[Page 54033]]
load would be due under the schedule, the defendants shall have
discretion to prepare the load by the scheduled deadline or to extend
the schedule.
EPA Seeks Comments on Six TMDLs
EPA regulations provide for public participation when the Agency
establishes TMDLs. By this notice, and pursuant to 40 CFR 130.7(d)(2),
EPA is seeking comment on the following six TMDLs for waters located
within the Mermentau and Vermilion/Teche basins:
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Subsegment Waterbody name Pollutant
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050102........................ Bayou Joe Marcel...... Fecal Coliform.
050201........................ Bayou Plaquemine- Total Dissolved
Brule--Headwaters to Solids.
Bayou Des Cannes.
050501........................ Bayou Que de Tortue-- Total Dissolved
Headwaters to Solids.
Mermentau River.
060204........................ Bayou Courtableau-- Fecal Coliform.
Origin To West
Atchafalaya Borrow
Pit Canal.
060204........................ Bayou Courtableau-- Sulfate.
Origin To West
Atchafalaya Borrow
Pit Canal.
060208........................ Bayou Boeuf-- Total Dissolved
Headwaters To Bayou Solids.
Courtableau.
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The administrative record file and calculations for these six TMDLs
are available for review. EPA requests the public to provide any
significant data and information that may impact these TMDLs. EPA will
review all data and information submitted during the public comment
period and revise the six TMDLs where appropriate. EPA will then
forward the TMDLs to the Court and the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality (LDEQ). LDEQ will incorporate the TMDLs into its
current water quality management plan.
Final Notice on Delisting 48 Waterbody/Pollutant Combinations
Through this notice, EPA also is providing final notice of its
determination on February 25, 2000, that TMDLs are not needed for
forty-six waterbody/pollutant combinations in the Mermentau and
Vermilion/Teche river basins and two combinations in the Pearl River
Basin.
On October 28, 1999, in response to the court order dated October
1, 1999, EPA disapproved Louisiana's 1998 CWA section 303(d) list. On
November 1, 1999, also in response to the October 1 court order, EPA
submitted its court-ordered CWA section 303(d) list and administrative
record. EPA made this court-ordered 303(d) list available for public
comment 64 FR 66635 (November 29, 1999). On February 25, 2000, after
review of water quality data and monitoring information and public
comments, EPA issued a modified section 303(d) list. Consistent with
paragraph three of the October 1 order, quoted above, EPA determined
that forty-six waterbody/pollutant combinations in the Mermentau and
Vermilion/Teche basins and two combinations in the Pearl River Basin
should be removed from the court-ordered 303(d) list because the data
and information show that the waterbodies are meeting Louisiana's Water
Quality Standards for the pollutants involved. Detailed explanations
for these determinations are set out in the Decision Document for the
modified section 303(d) list and in Appendix E to that document, which
provides as follows:
050101 Bayou Des Cannes--Headwaters to Mermentau
Copper--New data shows it is meeting Water Quality Standards
(WQS)
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050201 Bayou Plaquemine Brule--Headwaters to Bayou Des Cannes
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Phosphorus--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Turbidity--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050301 Bayou Nezpique--Headwaters to Mermentau
Copper New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050401 Mermentau River--Origin to Lake Arthur
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Mercury--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Suspended Solids--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050501 Bayou Queue de Tortue--Headwaters to Mermentau
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050601--Lacassine Bayou--Headwaters to Intracoastal Waterway
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
Suspended solids--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Turbidity--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050703 White Lake
Siltation--Assessment of data and information shows it is
meeting WQS
Turbidity--Assessment of data and information shows it is
meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
050801 Mermentau River--Catfish Point Control Structure to Gulf of
Mexico (Estuarine)
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060101 Spring Creek--Headwaters to Cocodrie Lake
Siltation--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
Turbidity--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Cadmium--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Mercury--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060102 Cocodrie Lake
Cadmium--Original basis for listing determined to be inaccurate
Copper--Original basis for listing determined to be inaccurate
Lead--Original basis for listing determined to be inaccurate
060201 Bayou Cocodrie from US Highway 167 to the Boeuf-Cocodrie
Diversion Canal
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060203 Chicot Lake
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060204 Bayou Courtableau--Origin to West Atchafalaya Borrow Pit
Canal
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060205 Bayou Teche--Headwaters at Bayou Courtableau to I-10
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060401 Bayou Teche--Keystone Locks & Dam to Charenton Canal
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
060501 Bayou Teche--Charenton Canal to Wax Lake Outlet
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
060702 Lake Fausse Point and Dauterive Lake
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
060801 Vermilion River--Headwaters at Bayou Fusilier-Bourbeaux
Junction to New Flanders (Ambassador Caffery Bridge)
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
Cadmium--New data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060802 Vermilion River from New Flanders (Ambassador Caffery
Bridge) New Bridge, LA Hwy 3073 to Intracoastal Waterway
Phosphorus--Assessment of data shows it is meeting WQS
Lead--New data shows it is meeting WQS
060902 Bayou Carlin (Delcambre Canal)
[[Page 54034]]
Lake Peigneur to Bayou Petite Anse (Estuarine)
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
061104 Vermilion Bay
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
090101 Pearl River
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
090202 West Pearl River
Copper--New data shows it is meeting WQS
110507 Bayou Anacoco
Dioxin--Original basis for listing determined to be inaccurate,
dioxin included with priority organics list
EPA requested the public to provide any significant data or
information warranting revision of EPA's decision to remove these 48
waterbody/pollutant combinations in 65 FR 19763 (April 12, 2000). No
comments, data or information were received. Thus, EPA affirms its
determination that TMDLs are not needed for the above-listed forty-
eight waterbody/pollutant combinations.
Dated: August 22, 2000.
Sam Becker,
Acting Director, Water Quality Protection Division, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 00-22815 Filed 9-5-00; 8:45 am]
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