New York State Prohibition of Marine Discharges of Vessel Sewage; Receipt of Petition and Final Affirmative Determination

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Notice is hereby given that a petition has been received from the State of New York requesting a determination by the Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--Region 2, that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER), New York. The waters of the proposed No Discharge Zone (NDZ) fall within the jurisdictions of the Town of Southampton, the Town of Brookhaven, the Town of Islip, the Town of Babylon, the Town of Oyster Bay and the Town of Hempstead. The entities submitted an application prepared by the Peconic Baykeeper for the designation of a Vessel Waste No Discharge Zone. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation certified the need for greater protection of the water quality. EPA published a tentative affirmative determination on July 6, 2009 in the Federal Register. Public comments were solicited for 30 days and the comment period ended on August 5, 2009. EPA Region 2 received a total of twenty five (26) comments via letter (14) and e-mail (12). The comment tally was twenty three (23) in favor and three (3) are questioning or o