ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Chapter I
[DOCKET EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119; FRL-9275-4]
Stakeholder Input: Listening Session to Provide Information and Solicit Suggestions for Regulations Forthcoming Under the Clean Water Act
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of listening sessions.
SUMMARY: The EPA is today announcing plans to hold “listening sessions” on March 18 and April 29, 2011, to provide information about the Clean Boating Act (CBA), and to gather recommendations from the public for forthcoming regulation of recreational vessels under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 312(o). The listening sessions will be held in Annapolis, MD. EPA may hold additional listening sessions in other locations if there is sufficient interest. The CBA, which was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2008, directs EPA to promulgate regulations to establish management practices and associated standards of performance for discharges incidental to the normal operation of recreational vessels (e.g., bilgewater, ballast water, and graywater). Because these regulations will affect the owners and operators of approximately 17 million recreational vessels, EPA seeks to inform the general public and regulated community of its plans for development of the regulations, and to hear the views of the general public, the recreational boating community, state agencies, and other interested stakeholders.
DATES: The listening sessions will be held at 210 Holiday Court, Annapolis, Maryland, 21401, on March 18 and April 29, 2011, at 7:00 PM EST. Any additional listening sessions that are scheduled will be published in a forthcoming Federal Register document. If you would prefer to provide written comments, EPA is asking for comments or relevant information from the interested public to be submitted to the docket on or before [INSERT DATE 90 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
ADDRESSES: Submit your statements or input, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119 by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: ow-docket@epa.gov. Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119.
Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 2822-1T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQOW-2011-0119.
Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket’s normal hours of operation (see below), and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119. EPA’s policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
http://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
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The
http://www.regulations.gov web site 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 http://
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, as well as 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
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
http://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
http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water 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, and the telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566–2426.
Public Listening Session: EPA intends to hold public listening sessions to provide information to and gather information from the public to assist EPA in the development of regulations for recreational vessels. Written and oral statements will be accepted at the public listening sessions. Input generated from the public listening sessions will be compiled and archived in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0119, found at
http://www.regulations.gov. The public listening session will include an EPA discussion of the background of the CBA, a discussion of the intent of the proposed regulation, and EPA’s general approach to the regulatory process.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the CBA or on the listening sessions, contact Brian Rappoli at 202-566-1548, or e-mail cleanboatingacthq@epa.gov.
The entire document can be downloaded at:
http://www.ofr.gov/(S(abzacirjhvae3noze2sen2qd))/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-04989_PI.pdf 
