(g) Determination of the Administrator or Regional Administrator. Upon receipt of the Presiding Officer's recommendations or, where no hearing has been held, upon termination of the thirty (30)-day period for requesting a hearing provided in paragraph (a) of this section, the Administrator or the Regional Administrator, as the case may be, shall make a determination with respect to the modification, revocation or suspension of the permit. Such determination shall include a description of the permit revision, revocation or limitation, the basis therefor, and the effective date. A copy of such determination shall be mailed to the permittee and each person who registered his attendance at the hearing by providing his name and mailing address.

[42 FR 60702, Nov. 28, 1977, as amended at 57 FR 5346, Feb. 13, 1992]

$223.5 Request for, scheduling and conduct of adjudicatory hearing; determination.

Within ten (10) days following the receipt of the Administrator's or Regional Administrator's determination issued pursuant to §223.4(g), any person who participated in the public hearing held pursuant to §223.4 may request that an adjudicatory hearing be held for the purpose of reviewing such determination or any part thereof. Such request shall be submitted and disposed of, and any adjudicatory hearing convened shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in §§ 222.10 (a), (b), (d), and (e) and 222.11.

PART 224-RECORDS AND REPORTS REQUIRED OF OCEAN DUMPING PERMITTEES UNDER SECTION 102 OF THE ACT

Sec.

224.1 Records of permittees. 224.2 Reports.

AUTHORITY: 33 U.S.C. 1412 and 1418.

$224.1 Records of permittees.

Each permittee named in a special, interim, emergency or research permit under section 102 of the Act and each person availing himself of the privilege conferred by a general permit, shall maintain complete records of the fol

be

lowing information, which will available for inspection by the Administrator, Regional Administrator, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, or their respective designees:

(a) The physical and chemical characteristics of the material dumped pursuant to the permit;

(b) The precise times and locations of dumping;

(c) Any other information required as a condition of a permit by the Administrator or the Regional Administrator, as the case may be.

[42 FR 2474, Jan. 11, 1977] § 224.2 Reports.

(a) Periodic reports. Information required to be recorded pursuant to § 224.1 shall be reported to the Administrator or the Regional Administrator, as the case may be, for the periods indicated within 30 days of the expiration of such periods:

(1) For each six-month period, if any, following the effective date of the permit;

(2) For any other period of less than six months ending on the expiration date of the permit; and

(3) As otherwise required in the conditions of the permit.

(b) Reports of emergency dumping. If material is dumped without a permit pursuant to paragraph (c)(4) of §220.1, the owner or operator of the vessel or aircraft from which such dumping occurs shall as soon as feasible inform the Administrator, Regional Administrator, or the nearest Coast Guard district of the incident by radio, telephone, or telegraph and shall within 10 days file a written report with the Administrator or Regional Administrator containing the information required under §224.1 and a complete description of the circumstances under which the dumping occurred. Such description shall explain how human life at sea was in danger and how the emergency dumping reduced that danger. If the material dumped included containers, the vessel owner or operator shall immediately request the U.S. Coast Guard to publish in the local Notice to Mariners the dumping location, the type of containers, and whether the contents are toxic or explosive. Notification shall also be given to the Food

§225.2 Review of Dredged Material Permits.

(a) The District Engineer shall send a copy of the public notice to the appropriate Regional Administrator, and set forth in writing all of the following information:

(1) The location of the proposed disposal site and its physical boundaries;

(2) A statement as to whether the site has been designated for use by the Administrator pursuant to section 102(c) of the Act;

(3) If the proposed disposal site has not been designated by the Administrator, a statement of the basis for the proposed determination why no previously designated site is feasible and a description of the characteristics of the proposed disposal site necessary for its designation pursuant to part 228 of this subchapter H;

(4) The known historical uses of the proposed disposal site;

(5) Existence and documented effects of other authorized dumpings that have been made in the dumping area (e.g.,

heavy metal background reading and organic carbon content);

(6) An estimate of the length of time during which disposal will continue at the proposed site;

(7) Characteristics and composition of the dredged material; and

(8) A statement concerning a preliminary determination of the need for and/ or availability of an environmental impact statement.

(b) The Regional Administrator will within 15 days of the date the public notice and other information required to be submitted by paragraph (a) of § 225.2 are received by him, review the information submitted and request from the District Engineer any additional information he deems necessary or appropriate to evaluate the proposed dumping.

(c) Using the information submitted by the District Engineer, and any other information available to him, the Regional Administrator will within 15 days after receipt of all requested information, make an independent evaluation of the proposed dumping in accordance with the criteria and respond to the District Engineer pursuant to paragraph (d) or (e) of this section. The Regional Administrator may request an extension of this 15 day period to 30 days from the District Engineer.

(d) When the Regional Administrator determines that the proposed dumping will comply with the criteria, he will so inform the District Engineer in writing.

(e) When the Regional Administrator determines that the proposed dumping will not comply with the criteria he shall so inform the District Engineer in writing. In such cases, no Dredged Material Permit for such dumping shall be issued unless and until the provisions of §225.3 are followed and the Administrator grants a waiver of the criteria pursuant to §225.4.

§225.3 Procedure for invoking economic impact.

(a) When a District Engineer's determination to issue a Dredged Material Permit for the dumping of dredged material into ocean waters has been rejected by a Regional Administrator upon application of the Criteria, the District Engineer may determine

available, he shall so advise the Regional Administrator setting forth his reasons for such determination and shall submit a report of such determination to the Chief of Engineers in accordance with 33 CFR 209.120 and 209.145.

(b) If the decision of the Chief of Engineers is that ocean dumping at the designated site is required because of the unavailability of feasible alternatives, he shall so certify and request that the Secretary of the Army seek a waiver from the Administrator of the Criteria or of the critical site designation in accordance with § 225.4.

§ 225.4 Waiver by Administrator.

The Administrator shall grant the requested waiver unless within 30 days of his receipt of the notice, certificate and request in accordance with paragraph (b) of §225.3 he determines in accordance with this section that the proposed dumping will have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or recreational areas. Notice of the Administrator's final determination under this section shall be given to the Secretary of the Army.

PART

THE

227.26 Implementation of plans.

227-CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR OCEAN DUMPING OF MATERIALS

Sec.

Subpart A-General

227.1 Applicability.

227.2 Materials which satisfy the environmental impact criteria of subpart B. 227.3 Materials which do not satisfy the environmental impact criteria set forth in subpart B.

Subpart G-Definitions

227.27 Limiting permissible concentration

(LPC).

227.28 Release zone.

227.29 Initial mixing.

227.30 High-level radioactive waste.

227.31 Applicable marine water quality criteria.

227.32 Liquid, suspended particulate, and solid phases of a material.

AUTHORITY: 33 U.S.C. 1412 and 1418.

SOURCE: 42 FR 2476, Jan. 11, 1977, unless otherwise noted.

Subpart A-General

§227.1 Applicability.

(a) Section 102 of the Act requires that criteria for the issuance of ocean disposal permits be promulgated after consideration of the environmental effect of the proposed dumping operation, the need for ocean dumping, alternatives to ocean dumping, and the effect of the proposed action on esthetic, recreational and economic values and on other uses of the ocean. These parts 227 and 228 of this subchapter H together constitute the criteria established pursuant to section 102 of the Act. The decision of the Administrator, Regional Administrator or the District Engineer, as the case may be, to issue or deny a permit and to impose specific conditions on any permit issued will be based on an evaluation of the permit application pursuant to the criteria set forth in this part 227 and upon the requirements for disposal site management pursuant to the criteria set forth in part 228 of this subchapter H.

(b) With respect to the criteria to be used in evaluating disposal of dredged materials, this section and subparts C, D, E, and G apply in their entirety. To determine whether the proposed dumping of dredged material complies with subpart B, only §§ 227.4, 227.5, 227.6, 227.9, 227.10 and 227.13 apply. An applicant for a permit to dump dredged material must comply with all of subparts C, D, E, G and applicable sections of B, to be deemed to have met the EPA criteria for dredged material dumping promulgated pursuant to section 102(a) of the Act. If, in any case, the Chief of Engineers finds that, in the disposition of dredged material, there is no economically feasible method or site available other than a dumping site, the utilization of which would result in noncompliance with the criteria established pursuant to subpart B relating to the effects of dumping or with the restrictions established pursuant to section 102(c) of the Act relating to critical areas, he shall so certify and request that the Secretary of the Army seek a waiver from the Administrator pursuant to part 225.

(c) The Criteria of this part 227 are established pursuant to section 102 of

the Act and apply to the evaluation of proposed dumping of materials under title I of the Act. The Criteria of this part 227 deal with the evaluation of proposed dumping of materials on a case-by-case basis from information supplied by the applicant or otherwise available to EPA or the Corps of Engineers concerning the characteristics of the waste and other considerations relating to the proposed dumping.

(d) After consideration of the provisions of §§ 227.28 and 227.29, no permit will be issued when the dumping would result in a violation of applicable water quality standards.

§ 227.2 Materials which satisfy the environmental impact criteria of subpart B.

(a) If the applicant satisfactorily demonstrates that the material proposed for ocean dumping satisfies the environmental impact criteria set forth in subpart B, a permit for ocean dumping will be issued unless:

(1) There is no need for the dumping, and alternative means of disposal are available, as determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in subpart C;

or

(2) There are unacceptable adverse effects on esthetic, recreational or economic values as determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in subpart D; or

(3) There are unacceptable adverse effects on other uses of the ocean as determined in accordance with the criteria set forth in subpart E.

(b) If the material proposed for ocean dumping satisfies the environmental impact criteria set forth in subpart B, but the Administrator or the Regional Administrator, as the case may be, determines that any one of the considerations set forth in paragraph (a)(1), (2) or (3) of this section applies, he will deny the permit application; provided however, that he may issue an interim permit for ocean dumping pursuant to paragraph (d) of § 220.3 and subpart F of this part 227 when he determines that:

(1) The material proposed for ocean dumping does not contain any of the materials listed in §227.5 or listed in § 227.6, except as trace contaminants; and

(2) In accordance with subpart C there is a need to ocean dump the material and no alternatives are available to such dumping; and

(3) The need for the dumping and the unavailability of alternatives, as determined in accordance with subpart C, are of greater significance to the public interest than the potential for adverse effect on esthetic, recreational or economic values. or on other uses of the ocean, as determined in accordance with subparts D and E, respectively.

§ 227.3 Materials which do not satisfy the environmental impact criteria set forth in subpart B.

If the material proposed for ocean dumping does not satisfy the environmental impact criteria of subpart B, the Administrator or the Regional Administrator, as the case may be, will deny the permit application; provided however, that he may issue an interim permit pursuant to paragraph (d) of § 220.3 and subpart F of this part 227 when he determines that:

(a) The material proposed for dumping does not contain any of the materials listed in §227.6 except as trace contaminants, or any of the materials listed in § 227.5;

(b) In accordance with subpart C there is a need to ocean dump the material; and

(c) Any one of the following factors is of greater significance to the public interest than the potential for adverse impact on the marine environment, as determined in accordance with Subpart

B:

(1) The need for the dumping, as determined in accordance with subpart C;

or

(2) The adverse effects of denial of the permit on recreational or economic values as determined in accordance with subpart D; or

(3) The adverse effects of denial of the permit on other uses of the ocean, as determined in accordance with subpart E.

Subpart B-Environmental Impact

§ 227.4 Criteria for evaluating environmental impact.

This subpart B sets specific environmental impact prohibitions, limits,

and conditions for the dumping of materials into ocean waters. If the applicable prohibitions, limits, and conditions are satisfied, it is the determination of EPA that the proposed disposal will not unduly degrade or endanger the marine environment and that the disposal will present:

(a) No unacceptable adverse effects on human health and no significant damage to the resources of the marine environment;

(b) No unacceptable adverse effect on the marine ecosystem;

(c) No unacceptable adverse persistent or permanent effects due to the dumping of the particular volumes or concentrations of these materials; and

(d) No unacceptable adverse effect on the ocean for other uses as a result of direct environmental impact.

$227.5

Prohibited materials.

The ocean dumping of the following materials will not be approved by EPA or the Corps of Engineers under any circumstances:

(a) High-level radioactive wastes as defined in § 227.30;

(b) Materials in whatever form (including without limitation, solids, liquids, semi-liquids, gases or organisms) produced or used for radiological, chemical or biological warfare;

(c) Materials insufficiently described by the applicant in terms of their compositions and properties to permit application of the environmental impact criteria of this subpart B;

(d) Persistent inert synthetic or natural materials which may float or remain in suspension in the ocean in such a manner that they may interfere materially with fishing, navigation, or other legitimate uses of the ocean.