[Federal Register: July 19, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 139)]
[Notices]
[Page 47540-47541]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19jy02-72]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7248-2]
National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for
Grants
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is publishing the
National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grants.
This document provides performance criteria for monitoring and
assessment of coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches, and prompt
public notification of any exceedance or likelihood of exceedance of
applicable water quality standards for pathogens and pathogen
indicators for coastal recreation waters. This document also outlines
the eligibility requirements for monitoring and notification program
implementation grants under Clean Water Act (CWA) section 406(b). This
document is intended to be used by potential grant recipients to
implement effective programs for monitoring and assessing coastal
recreation waters. The document will also serve as requirements for
Federal agencies to implement beach monitoring and notification
programs when States do not implement a program consistent with the
performance criteria.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of the document from
the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/ by
contacting the Office of Water Resources Center at 202-260-7786 (e-
mail: center.water-resource@epa.gov); mailing address is: Office of
Water Resources Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RC-4100,
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please request the
National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grants
(EPA-823-B-02-004), June 2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Kovatch, EPA, Standards and
Health Protection Division (4305T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20460, or call at (202) 566-0399 or e-mail at
Kovatch.Charles@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
What Does the BEACH Act Require?
The BEACH Act was passed on October 10, 2000. The BEACH Act amended
the CWA to add section 406, which authorizes EPA to award grants to
states and tribes to develop and implement a program to monitor and
assess, for pathogens and pathogen indicators, coastal recreation
waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of access that are used by
the public and to notify the public if applicable water quality
standards for pathogens and pathogen indicators are exceeded. EPA may
award an implementation grant only if the applicant meets all of the
statutory requirements for implementation grants. One of these
requirements is that the applicant must implement a monitoring and
public notification program that is consistent with performance
criteria published by EPA under the Act. The BEACH Act also requires
EPA to implement a monitoring and notification program for coastal
recreation waters for states and tribes that do not have a program
consistent with EPA's performance
[[Page 47541]]
criteria, using grant funds that would otherwise have been available to
those states and tribes. A complete copy of the BEACH Act can be found
at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/technical.html.
What Is the Purpose of the Document?
This document sets forth performance criteria for (1) monitoring
and assessing coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches (or similar
points of access used by the public) to determine attainment of
applicable water quality standards for pathogen indicators and (2)
promptly notifying the public of any exceedance or likelihood of
exceedance of applicable water quality standards for pathogen
indicators for coastal recreation waters. EPA is required to publish
such performance criteria under CWA section 406(a). Section 406(b)
authorizes EPA to award grants to states and tribes to implement a
monitoring and notification program, but only if the program meets
certain requirements (see CWA section 406(b)(2)(A)(i)-(v)). One of
these requirements is that the monitoring and notification programs
must be consistent with EPA's performance criteria.
The performance criteria provide the basis for EPA's evaluation of
grant applications when deciding whether to award monitoring and
notification program implementation grants under section 406(b). This
document is intended to be used by potential grant recipients to
implement effective monitoring and notification programs that will be
eligible for grants under section 406.
This document also includes EPA's recommendations for implementing
programs consistent with the performance criteria. In addition, this
document also can serve as a reference guide for how and when to
conduct preliminary beach assessments because it outlines protocols for
water sample collection, sample handling, and laboratory analysis. It
also provides information about using predictive models to estimate
indicator levels and includes procedures for notifying the public about
beach advisories, closings, and openings.
How Is the Document Organized?
The chapters in this document cover the following topics. Chapter 1
discusses human health concerns associated with exposure to pathogens
and discusses the establishment of water quality standards for
bacteria. Chapter 2 summarizes the basic requirements that an applicant
must meet to receive a program implementation grant. The chapter
identifies relevant sections of the BEACH Act, briefly describes the
corresponding performance criteria that EPA has developed, and provides
additional grant-related information. Chapter 3 describes the risk-
based evaluation process that EPA recommends for states and tribes to
classify and prioritize their recreation beaches. This step-by-step
approach allows states and tribes to assess the relative human health
risks and usage of their beaches and to assign an appropriate
management ranking to each of them. Chapter 4 discusses the performance
criteria related to monitoring and assessment and provides detailed
technical guidance. Chapter 5 describes the performance criteria and
technical guidance related to the public notification and risk
communication portions of a beach program. The appendices include
detailed technical information associated with the topics discussed in
the five chapters:
Dated: July 15, 2002
G. Tracy Mehan III,
Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. 02-18280 Filed 7-18-02; 8:45 am]
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