The 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments require all areas of the country to be categorized according to their NAAQS attainment/non-attainment status for the specified pollutants. Also, States have been required to submit to EPA for approval State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for attaining compliance with the NAAQS. Each of the Middle-Atlantic States where onshore sale-related facilities could be located have approved or conditionally-approved Coastal areas that are not in attainment for primary or secondary standards within these States are given in Table III.A.4-4.

Onshore emission sources are regulated by State and local air pollution control agencies and by the Federal EPA. Currently, EPA is developing a New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) for air emissions from onshore gas processing facilities, scheduled to be promulgated in 1984. This standard will be applicable to new facilities constructed in association with development from OCS activities.

Facility siting must also comply with Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) provisions. Under these PSD provisions, areas are designated by EPA as either Class I, pristine areas such as national parks and wilderness areas which accommodate almost no industrial growth, or Class II, where moderate growth is allowed and which includes all other areas. States may reclassify Class II areas to Class I or to a third class, Class III, which allows fairly intensive industrial development. The Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Atlantic County, New Jersey has been classified by EPA under the PSD system as a Class I area, thereby precluding it from any industrial activity. There are no Class III areas throughout the Mid-Atlantic coastal region.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is obligated under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended, to protect onshore air quality. Section 5(a)(8) of the Act states, "The regulations prescribed by the Secretary [Department of the Interior] under this subsection shall include, but not be limited to, provisions . . . for compliance with the national ambient air quality standards pursuant to the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq.), to the extent that activities authorized under this Act significantly affect the air quality of any State." The Department of the Interior promulgated OCS air quality regulations (30 CFR 250.57) to carry out its responsibility under the Act.

Facilities used for the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in OCS waters are covered by DOI air quality regulations. Examples of facilities are exploratory drilling vessels, production platforms, and pipelines. During production, multiple installations or devices will be considered to be a single facility if the installations or devices are directly related to the production of oil or gas at a single site. Any vessel used to transfer production from an OCS facility will be considered part of the facility while it is physically attached to the facility. Crew boats, supply boats, and tankers while in transit to or from OCS facilities are not regulated by the DOI air quality regulations. However, any air emissions from a tanker while connected to a production platform or an oil or gas transfer mooring system in the OCS-activity area are covered. Additionally, pile driver barges or other construction-related vessels are covered while at the site of a platform or pipeline.

The air quality regulations set up by DOI specify emission exemption levels. If a source exceeds the exemption level, air quality modeling is required to determine whether it would significantly affect onshore air quality. The highest annual total amount of emissions from the facility for each air pollutant is compared to an emission exemption amount. This exemption level is based on distance from shore. Exemption levels are established for carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), total suspended particulates (TSP), and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Current and planned facilities with projected emissions below these levels are exempt from further regulatory review, unless the facility, in combination with other facilities in the area, would significantly affect the air quality of an onshore area [30 CFR 250.57-1(j)]. The exemption level for CO is E = 3400 D2/3 where E is the emission rate in tons per year and D is the distance of the proposed facility from shore in statute miles.

TSP, NO2, SO2, and VOC, the exemption level is E = 33.3 D. The exemption levels apply to any offshore installation and related storage and processing facilities.

For any facility with projected emissions above the exemption levels for any pollutant other than VOC, computer modeling must be performed to determine whether the facility would cause significant air quality impacts onshore. If maximum calculated concentrations are below the DOI Significance Levels (Table III.A. 4-3), no further regulatory review would be required. If concentrations exceed the DOI Significance Levels, the applicant would be required to apply Best Available Control Technology (BACT), an emission limitation based on maximum degree of reduction considering energy, environmental, and economic impacts. For TSP and S02, additional controls may be required if projected concentrations exceed the DOI Maximum Allowable Increases in an attainment area (designated region in which existing pollution levels meet Federal ambient standards). The Maximum Allowable Increases for the three types of PSD-classified regions are listed in Table III.A.4-4.

The projected VOC emissions from any non-exempt facility are considered to significantly affect the air quality of an onshore area for VOC. Emission reductions would be required through the application of BACT [Section 250.571(g)(3)].

If projected emissions from an OCS facility significantly affect onshore air quality of a non-attainment area (designated region in which pollution levels do not meet Federal ambient standards), the emissions shall be "fully reduced." "Fully reduced" means that the lessee's net emissions increase must be reduced to zero. This shall be done through the application of additional emission controls or through the acquisition of offshore or onshore offsets [Section 250.57-1(g)(i) and 250.57-3(i)].

The projected emissions for future facilities are listed by lessees in the Environmental Report that accompanies Plans of Exploration or Plans of Development and Production. The exact information required is contained in 30 CFR 250.34-3.

III.A.5. Chemical Oceanography and Water Quality

Within the proposed lease sale area the surface water is characterized by three, general water masses (shelf, slope, and Gulf Stream water), each having distinct physical, chemical, and biological characteristics (see Figure III.A.2.1). Shelf water has relatively low salinity and is subject to strong seasonal cooling, warming, and tidal effects, whereas the Gulf Stream water is less variable and has characteristically higher salinity and temperature. Slope water (including rise water), which normally occupies the majority of the proposed lease sale area, is a complex and dynamic water mass representing a mixing or transition area between the adjoining shelf and Gulf Stream waters (see section III.A.2, Physical Oceanography).

An understanding of the chemical characteristics and interactions of water masses in the proposed lease area and the Middle Atlantic Bight requires a recognition of the physical characteristics and influences pertinent to these waters. These physical characteristics include such items as water circulation patterns (surface, subsurface, and within canyons), ocean fronts (between shelf and slope waters and between shelf and Gulf Stream waters), eddies (warm-core and cold-core), Gulf Stream meanders, and water column stratification (seasonal and permanent thermoclines). These physical parameters are described in section III.A.2 on physical oceanography.

The materials of primary concern that could increase in concentration in the water column as a result of offshore oil and gas operations, and thereby affect existing water quality, are hydrocarbons, particulate matter, and trace metals such as barium, chromium, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, nickel, mercury, and zinc.

a. Outer Continental Shelf, Slope, and Rise

Water quality within the proposed lease sale area appears generally good in that water is affected (degraded) only to a small degree from ambient man-made inputs. Some limited water quality degradation results from ocean dumping (at the 106-Mile Ocean Waste Disposal Site) and along 'the shelf as the heavily contaminated inner New York Bight area is approached. Dissolved oxygen in seawater comes from atmospheric oxygen dissolved at the sea surface and from the dissolution of oxygen released during photosynthetic processes within the photic (sunlit) zone (Williams and Godshall, 1977). Oxygen is a fundamental requirement for marine life and the amount in seawater is generally considered an indicator of the life-supporting capacity of the waters; levels below 4 mg/1 cause stress in animals (US EPA, 1981a).

Results of a benchmark study (Ruzecki et al., 1977) conducted in the Middle Atlantic Bight OCS area (shelf and upper slope) in 1975-76 indicated dissolved oxygen levels of 5 to 10 mg/1 through the water column during the fall, and 6 to 10 mg/1 in the winter except at mid-depth and bottom at deeper stations. During the spring, levels dropped to 3.5 mg/1 between the 50- and 75-m isobaths but were overlain by dissolved oxygen maxima (approximately 7 to 9 mg/1) in the vicinity of the thermocline-pycnocline. During the strong vertical stratification period in summer, anoxic (oxygen-depleted) water was found along the bottom of the inner shelf with an oxygen-minimum zone extending seaward. Warsh (1975), as reported in US EPA (1981a), summarized historical,

dissolved oxygen data for the 106-Mile Ocean Waste Disposal Site which is located in the northeast portion of the proposed lease sale area (Visual No. 1). Oxygen values for surface waters at the site ranged from 4.9 to 7.5 mg/1 with an oxygen-minimum zone (2.8 to 3.5 mg/1) occurring between 200 and 300 m--a depth just below the permanent stratification boundary. Nutrients (primarily inorganic phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and hydrated silicate) in seawater are needed for the growth of phytoplankton which, in turn, affects fisheries production. Phytoplankton consumes nutrients in the upper, lighted (euphotic) layers of the ocean, which permits photosynthesis and growth. Some nutrients are regenerated as planktonic organisms die and the resultant nutrients are recycled within the euphotic zone. Other nutrients, which tend to accumulate in deeper, darker layers of water, are made available to phytoplankton by vertical transport (mixing) of these waters to the euphotic zone.

Peterson (1975) reported average concentrations of nutrients for water samples taken during May 1974 at the 106-Mile Ocean Waste Disposal Site (US EPA, 1980a). These concentration values ranged vertically from surface (upper 15 m) to 500-m depth by 0.1/0.2 mg/1 for phosphate, 0.01/1.22 for nitrate, 0.09/1.28 for silicate, and 0.0071/0.0068 for ammonia. Matte et al. (1983) presented nutrient data from extensive sampling of the Atlantic Middle and Outer Continental Shelf from Cape Hatteras to Nova Scotia. Their data demonstrated considerable seasonal variation in nutrient concentrations and a general increase in concentration with depth; only nitrate showed a consistent concentration increase seaward.

Hydrocarbon baseline data from within or near the proposed lease area do not show unusual or elevated levels, whether these hydrocarbons be from spillage or discharge of petroleum or from natural sources such as biosynthesis. Smith et al. (1979), reporting on results of studies conducted in the Middle Atlantic Bight during 1975-77, concluded that "The U.S. Middle Atlantic continental shelf petroleum levels in water samples, sediments and biota are low or non-detectable." No systematic distribution in the water column of hydrocarbons, either particulate or dissolved, were detected. Mean particulate aliphatic hydrocarbon concentrations were 0.84 ug/1 (ppb) for surface waters and 3.38 ug/1 for bottom waters; mean concentration of dissolved aliphatic hydrocarbons in surface waters were 0.2 to 0.5 ug/1 (Smith et al., 1977).

In sediments, Smith et al. (1979) found that both total aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon levels in the outer Middle Atlantic Bight were generally less than 1 ug/g (ppm). The concentrations showed a strong correlation with the amount of silt-clay in sediments, suggesting that, whether inputs are general or localized, hydrocarbons tend to accumulate where fine-grained sediments are deposited.

Greig and Wenzloff (1977) found concentrations of hydrocarbons (C15+) in and near the 106-Mile Disposal Site to be similar (approximately 20 ug/1) to those of continental shelf sediments presumed to be uncontaminated (US EPA, 1980a). These hydrocarbon concentrations noted by Smith et al. (1979) and Greig and Wenzloff (1977) fall within the lower part of the range of 1 to 100 ug/g reported by Farrington and Meyers (1975) (in TI, 1979) for sediments in continental slope and shelf areas.