01-22910. Clean Water Act Section 303(d): Availability of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces the availability for comment of the administrative record file for TMDLs, prepared by EPA Region 6, addressing pesticides listings in Louisiana's Mermentau and Vermilion/Teche river basins. These TMDLs include 22 waters listed with pesticides as a cause of impairment under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). EPA prepared these TMDLs in response to a Court Order dated October 1, 1999, in the lawsuit Sierra Club, et al. v. Clifford et al., No. 96-0527, (E.D. La.). Under this court order, EPA is required to prepare TMDLs when needed for waters on the Louisiana 1998 section 303(d) list by December 31, 2007.

DATES:

Comments on the TMDLs must be submitted in writing to EPA on or before October 15, 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Comments on the TMDLs should be sent to Ellen Caldwell, Environmental Protection Specialist, Water Quality Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, 1445 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75202-2733. For further information, contact Ellen Caldwell at [phone]. The administrative record file for these TMDLs is available for public inspection at this address as well. Copies of the TMDLs and their respective calculations may be viewed at www.epa.gov/​region6/​water/​tmdl.htm. The administrative record files may be obtained by calling or writing Ms. Caldwell at the above address. Please contact Ms. Caldwell to schedule an inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Caldwell at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In 1996, two Louisiana environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Louisiana Environmental Action Network (plaintiffs), filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), styled Sierra Club, et al. v. Clifford et al., No. 96-0527, (E.D. La.). Among other claims, plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to establish Louisiana TMDLs in a timely manner. Discussion of the court order may be found at 65 FR 54032 (September 6, 2000).

EPA Seeks Comments on 27 TMDLs

By this notice EPA is seeking comments on the following 23 pesticides TMDLs on the 1999 court-ordered 303(d) list within the Mermentau and Vermilion/Teche basins and 4 newly identified TMDLs for waters located within the Mermentau basin. The pesticides of concern identified were carbofuran and fipronil.

Subsegment	Waterbody name	Pollutants
050101	Bayou Des Cannes—Headwaters to Mermentau River	Pesticides (carbofuran & fipronil)
050701	Grand Lake	Pesticides (carbofuran)
050702	Intracoastal Waterway	Pesticides (carbofuran)
050901	Bays and Gulf Waters to State 3-mile Limit	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060205	Bayou Teche—Headwaters At Bayou Courtableau to I-10	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060207	Bayou des Glaises Diversion Canal	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060301	Bayou Teche—I-10 to Keystone Locks and Dam	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060401	Bayou Teche—Keystone Locks and Dam to Charenton Canal	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060701	Tete Bayou	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060801	Vermilion River—Headwaters at Bayou Fusilier-Bourbeaux Junction to New Flanders (Ambassador Caffery Bridge At Hwy 3073)	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060802	Vermilion River—From New Flanders (Ambassador Caffery Bridge) at Hwy 3073 to Intracoastal Waterway	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060803	Vermilion River Cutoff	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060901	Bayou Petite Anse	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060902	Bayou Carlin (Delcambre Canal)—Lake Peigneur to Bayou Petite Anse (Estuarine)	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060903	Bayou Tigre	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060904	Vermilion River B890 Basin New Iberia Southern Drainage Canal	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060906	Intracoastal Waterway	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060907	Franklin Canal	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060910	Boston Canal and Associated Canals (Estuarine)	Pesticides (carbofuran)
060911	Vermilion-Teche River Basin	Pesticides (carbofuran)
061101	Bayou Petite Anse	Pesticides (carbofuran)
061102	Intracoastal Waterway	Pesticides (carbofuran)
050201	Bayou Plaquemine Brule—headwaters to Bayou Des Cannes	Pesticides (fipronil)
050401	Mermentau River—origin to Lake Arthur	Pesticides (fipronil)
050501	Bayou Queue de Tortue—headwaters to Mermentau River	Pesticides (fipronil)
050603	Bayou Chene—includes Bayou Grand Marais	Pesticides (fipronil)

EPA requests that the public provide to EPA any water quality related data and information that may be relevant to the calculations for these TMDLs, or any other comments relevant to these TMDLs. EPA will review all data and information submitted during the public comment period and revise the TMDLs where appropriate. EPA will then forward the TMDLs to the Court and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). LDEQ will incorporate the TMDLs into its current water quality management plan.

Dated: September 4, 2001.

Richard G. Hoppers,

Acting Director, Water Quality Protection Division, Region 6.