Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 128 



implementing the National Marine Sanctuary 

 designation at Stellwagen Bank are likely to be 

 negative over time, resulting in part from a 

 fragmented approach to resource protection and 

 human activity management. 



1. Resource Protection 



Resource protection directed at species and 

 individual habitats currently is the responsibihty of 

 a limited number of Federal authorities, including 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMI^), the 

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers (COE), the U.S. Coast 

 Guard (USCG), and the U.S. Department of the 

 Interior (DOT). Agency responsibilities are 

 described in PART THREE, Section I. 



a. Ocean Discbarge and Deposit Activities 



Under the status quo alternative, protection of 

 the Stellwagen Bank environment from possible 

 harmful effects of deposit and discharge activities 

 would be dependent on existing regulatory 

 authorities which are mandated to conduct those 

 activities in an environmentally safe manner. 

 Currently, regulations exist addressing the 

 contamination of marine areas by deposits and 

 discharges from a variety of sources, including: 

 1) point sources (which require a National Pollutant 

 Discharge Elimination System permit); 2) discharges 

 of oil or other hazardous substances; and 3) ocean 

 dumping. These activities are regulated by the 

 Clean Water Act (CWA), Title I of the Marine 

 Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act 

 (MPRSA), Comprehensive Environmental 

 Response, Compensation and Liability Act 

 (CERCLA), and the National Contingency Plan 

 (NCP). 



The Clean Water Act prohibits discharge of oil 

 or other hazardous substances "which may affect 

 natural resources ... under the exclusive 

 management authority of the United States". 

 (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1367). The National 

 Contingency Plan, established under the CWA, 

 includes guidance to contain, disperse, or remove oil 

 and hazardous substances following a spill. 

 Although the CWA provides some protection for 

 marine resources, its penalties for violation are 



minimal, and do not provide strong disincentives. 

 In contrast, violation of Title III regulations under 

 the MPRSA (establishing the National Marine 

 Seinctuary Progrcim) carries maximum penalties of 

 $50,000 per day. 



The CWA also controls discharges from point 

 sources through the National Pollutant Discharge 

 Elimination System (NPDES), which issues permits 

 for discharge activities in navigable waters. 



Title I of MPRSA prohibits nearly all ocean 

 disposal activities. It allows certain disposal actions 

 under permits issued (in the instance of dredged 

 materials) by the Corps of Engineers. Title I is 

 administered by the EPA. 



While effective management and administration 

 of these authorities provide reasonable protection 

 for the resources in the immediate vicinity of the 

 activity in question, there is no particular 

 consideration given at the time of permit application 

 review to the overall marine system in which these 

 activities occur. Therefore, in the absence of 

 implementing the National Marine Sanctuary 

 designation, individual deposit and discharge 

 activities will continue to be regulated by existing 

 authorities, without the benefit of a comprehensive 

 perspective of the possible cumulative effects of 

 such activities on the surrounding marine 

 enviroimient. 



In the absence of continuing research/ 

 monitoring and review from the wider perspective 

 of effects on the Stellwagen Bank system, it may be 

 anticipated that the environmental effects of the 

 status quo alternative are potentially negative over 

 the long-term. 



b. Ocean Incineration 



At present, there is no site designated for 

 ocean incineration, pursuant to Title I of the 

 MPRSA, nor is there a pending proposal for 

 incineration activities within the Sanctuary's 

 boundaries. Under the status quo alternative, 

 although proposals for ocean incineration activities 

 would be required to meet the provisions of 

 MPRSA's Title I (40 CFR §§ 220.3(f) and 228.4(b)), 

 there is no particular assurance that: 1) an ocean 



