Stellwagen Bank FEIS/MP Appendices 



Page G5 



Wives Association, and two fishing vessel captains, 

 supported boundary alternative 4, encompassing 330 

 square nautical miles, and marked by LORAN-C 

 lines. Commenters stated that LORAN-C is the 

 prevailing means utilized by most vessel captains to 

 locate and navigate; and that latitude/longitude 

 coordinates are not useful to vessel operators. 



NOAA Response : Boundary alternative 4 would 

 establish a Sanctuary area sufficient to provide 

 protection and management of the Bank feature 

 itself. However, boundary alternative 4, like 

 alternative 1, would not fully encompass important 

 habitat areas for invertebrate, fish and cetacean 

 species; thus, system protection and management 

 would not be fully possible with the adoption of 

 either boundary alternative 1 or 4. 



NOAA agrees with commenters that identification 

 of sanctuary boundaries should be provided in a way 

 that is useful to both on- and off-site sanctuary 

 users, as well as to sanctuary management. To 

 facilitate identification of the Sanctuary boundary, 

 NOAA has therefore provided both LORAN-C 

 lines and latitude/longitude coordinates for the 

 Sanctuary. 



C. DISCHARGES 



1. Bilge Pumping Activities 



Several commenters, including the New England 

 Fishery Management Council, Massachusetts 

 Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and the 

 U.S. Coast Guard, commented that the Sanctuary 

 regulation proposed in the DEIS/MP prohibiting 

 discharge from vessel bilge pumps would preclude 

 smaller vessels (recreational or charterboat) from 

 routine pumping activities necessary to maintain 

 vessel buoyancy. Additionally, some commenters 

 stated that discharge from commercial ship bilge 

 pumps is already prohibited by MARPOL's "50-mile 

 rule", which prohibits any such discharge within 50 

 nautical miles of shore. 



NOAA Response : The regulatory language 

 regarding discharge from vessel bilge pumps has 

 been clarified to indicate NOAA's intended 

 consistency with existing Coast Guard requirements. 

 With regard to regulation of water discharges 



associated with vessel operation, the Sanctuary will 

 permit discharge of cooling water, deck wash down 

 and "gray water" (as defined by Section 312 of the 

 Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended). 

 Discharge of oily wastes from vessel bilges will be 

 prohibited in the Sanctuary, consistent with existing 

 Coast Guard requirements. The prohibitions do not 

 apply to emergency situations, where life, property 

 or the environment are threatened [see § 940.5(c)]. 



2. MWRA Municipal Outfall 



A large number of commenters were generically 

 opposed to the construction, placement and 

 operation of the Massachusetts Water Resources 

 Authority (MWRA) municipal outfall, and slated 

 their concern about possible adverse effects ol tlie 

 outfall on the Sanctuary's water quality and livin;;, 

 resources. 



Several commenters stated that if the MWRA 

 outfall is constructed, the Sanctuary should have 

 oversight responsibility for its operations. A similar 

 comment was that joint monitoring of the outfall's 

 effects on Sanctuary resources should be 

 established. 



NOAA Response : The new wastewater treatment 

 facility is currently being constructed on Deer 

 Island, which when completed will include an ocean 

 outfall pipe discharging secondarily-treated 

 wastewater at a point approximately 12 nautical 

 miles from the Sanctuary. 



Sanctuary regulations protect resources and qualities 

 from such activities by prohibiting discharges either 

 directly into the Sanctuary, or discharges outside the 

 Sanctuary which subsequently enter the Sanctuary 

 and cause harm to its resources or qualities. 

 Moreover, in coordination with the Massachusetts 

 Bays Program (MBP), the Sanctuary will provide a 

 larger contextual framework for far-field monitoring 

 to determine possible effects from the MWRA 

 outfall. In this manner, NOAA intends to be 

 involved in continuing investigations necessary to 

 ensuring the protection of Sanctuary resources and 

 qualities. In the event that outfall effluent enters 

 the Sanctuary and harms its resources, the MWRA 

 outfall would be in violation of Sanctuary 

 regulations, and subject to Title III actions. 



