139 



Mr. Studds. 1980? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Right. 



Mr. Studds. You did make reference at one point in your testi- 

 mony to some regulations being ready in approximately 18 months. 

 What were they? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Those are new source performance standards for 

 the offshore oil and gas subcategory of oil and gas production or oil 

 and gas facilities. 



Mr. Studds. When do you expect to issue draft permits for 

 Georges Bank? 



Ms. CoMPTON. By December of this year. That is the schedule 

 that we have right now. We expect that the bioassay and bioaccu- 

 mulation data to be into the region 1 office in Boston by the middle 

 of September. We have some of it now. 



Mr. Studds. So extrapolation can get under way in earnest by 

 the end of September? 



Ms. CoMPTON. We will be reviewing the data on an ongoing 

 process. 



Mr. Studds. Dr. Bolton, you look like you were about to say 

 something. 



Dr. Bolton. No, I am just cold. 



Mr. Studds. It is very cold. 



Dr. Bolton. Yes. 



Mr. Studds. Are there any other questions? 



Mr. Breaux? 



Mr. Breaux. What I am trying to get set in my mind is that a 

 permittee who applies for a permit from EPA gives you the concen- 

 trations of all of the chemicals that make up drilling fluids — is that 

 correct? 



Ms. CoMPTON. And then what? 



Mr. Breaux. Is that correct, so far, a permittee who applies for a 

 discharge permit to discharge drilling mud, you ask them to pro- 

 vide you with information and I take it from your testimony what 

 you ask them to provide you is the makeup of the drilling muds 

 and the concentrations of various chemicals that make up drilling 

 mud? 



Ms. CoMPTON. We ask them for the chemical elements in the 

 drilling muds and for the concentrations. I would steer away from 

 the word makeup. 



Mr. Breaux. You don't get the percentages but you get the 

 concentrations of the chemicals that comprise the drilling fluids? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Yes. 



Mr. Breaux. What do you do with it then? 



Ms. CoMPTON. The information? 



Mr. Breaux. Yes. 



Ms. CoMPTON. Well, we are also waiting for more information, as 

 I indicated earlier, from the applicants to determine whether those 

 chemicals and those particular muds will cause acute or chronic 

 toxic effect on the marine organisms that may be 



Mr. Breaux. Is there a Federal statute somewhere that says that 

 the applicant has to bear that burden or is that a regulatory 

 decision on the part of EPA? 



Ms. CoMPTON. I believe section 308 of the Clean Water Act gives 

 us the authority to request from any applicant or any discharger 



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