15 C.F.R. Subpart F—Environmental Effects
Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade
The Act contains several provisions which relate to environmental protection. For example, section 105(a)(4) requires that, before the Administrator may issue a commercial recovery permit, he must find that the commercial recovery proposed in the application cannot reasonably be expected to result in a significant adverse environmental effect. In addition, each permit issued must contain TCRs which prescribe actions the permittee must take in the conduct of commercial recovery activities to assure protection of the environment (section 109(b)). The Act also provides for modification by the Administrator of any TCR if relevant data and information indicate that modification is required to protect the quality of the environment (section 105(c)(1)(B)). The Administrator also may order an immediate suspension or modification of activities (section 106(c)), or require use of best available technologies (section 109(b)), to prevent a significant adverse environmental effect. Furthermore, each permit issued under the Act must require the permittee to monitor the environmental effects of commercial recovery activities in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator, and to submit information the Administrator finds necessary and appropriate to assess environmental effects and to develop and evaluate possible methods of mitigating adverse effects (section 114). Before issuing a permit for the commercial recovery of deep seabed hard mineral resources, the Administrator must find that: (a) The issuance of a permit cannot reasonably be expected to result in a significant adverse environmental effect, or, if there is insufficient information to make that determination, that no irreparable harm will result during a period when monitoring of commerical recovery is undertaken to gather sufficient information in order to determine the potential for or occurrence of any significant adverse environmental effect. In examining this issue, NOAA will give consideration to the following Ocean Discharge Criteria of the Clean Water Act (40 CFR part 125, subpart M), as they may pertain to discharges and other environmental perturbations related to the commercial recovery operations: (1) The quantities, composition and potential for bioaccumulation or persistence of the pollutants to be discharged; (2) The potential transport of such pollutants by biological, physical or chemical processes; (3) The composition and vulnerability of the biological communities which may be exposed to such pollutants including the presence of unique species or communities of species, the presence of species identified as endangered or threatened pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, or the presence of those species critical to the structure or function of the ecosystem such as those important for the food chain; (4) The importance of the receiving water area to the surrounding biological community, including the presence of spawning sites, nursery/forage areas, migratory pathways, or areas necessary for other functions or critical stages in the life cycle of an organism; (5) The existence of special aquatic sites including but not limited to marine sanctuaries and refuges, parks, national and historic monuments, national seashores, wilderness areas and coral reefs; (6) The potential impacts on human health through direct and indirect pathways; (7) Existing or potential recreational and commercial fishing, including finfishing and shellfishing; (8) Any applicable requirements of an approved Coastal Zone Management plan; (9) Such other factors relating to the effects of the discharge as may be appropriate; (10) Marine water quality criteria developed pursuant to section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act; and (b) The applicant has an approved monitoring plan (§971.603) and the resources and other capabilities to implement it. (a) Determination of significant adverse environmental effects. The Administrator will determine the potential for or the occurrence of any significant adverse environmental effect or impact (for the purposes of sections 103(a)(2)(D), 105(a)(4), 106(c) and 109(b) (second sentence) of the Act), on a case-by-case basis. (b) Basis for determination. Determinations will be based upon the best information available, including relevant environmental impact statements, NOAA-collected data, monitoring results, and other data provided by the applicant or permittee, as well as consideration of the criteria in §971.601(a). (c) Related considerations. In making a determination the Administrator may take into account any TCRs or other mitigation measures. (d) Activities with no significant adverse environmental effect. NOAA believes that exploration-type activities, as listed in the license regulations (15 CFR 970.701), require no further environmental assessment. (e) Activities with potential for significant adverse environmental effects. NOAA research has identified at-sea testing of recovery equipment, the recovery of manganese nodules in commercial quantities from the deep seabed, and the construction and operation of commercial-scale processing facilities as activities which may have some potential for significant adverse envirnomental effects. (f) Related terms, conditions and restrictions. Permits will be issued with TCRs containing environmental requirements with respect to protection (pursuant to §971.419), mitigation (pursuant to §971.419), or best available technology requirements (pursuant to §971.423), as appropriate, and monitoring requirements (pursuant to §971.424) to acquire more information on the environmental effects of deep seabed mining. (a) An applicant must submit with its application a monitoring plan designed to enable the Administrator to assess environmental impacts and to develop and evaluate possible methods of mitigating adverse environmental effects, to validate assessments made in the EIS, and to assure compliance with the environmental protection requirements of this part. (b) The monitoring plan shall include a characterization of the proposed mining system in terms of collector contact, benthic discharge and surface discharge. (c) The monitoring plan shall include determination of (1) the spatial and temporal characteristics of the mining ship discharges; (2) the spatial extent and severity of the benthic impact, including recovery rate and pattern of benthic recolonization; and (3) any secondary effects that result from the impact of the mining collector and benthic plume. (d) The monitoring of benthic impact shall involve the study of two types of areas, each selected by the permittee in consultation with NOAA, which areas shall be representative of the environmental characteristics of the permittee's site: (1) An impact reference area, located in a portion of a permit area tentatively scheduled to be mined early in a commercial recovery plan; and (2) An interim preservational reference area, located in a portion of a permit area tentatively determined: to be non-mineable, not to be scheduled for mining during the commercial recovery plan, or to be scheduled for mining late in the plan. Reference areas may be selected provisionally prior to application for a commercial recovery permit. (e) The following specific environmental parameters must be proposed for examination in the applicant's monitoring plan: (1) Discharges— (i) Salinity, temperature, density. (ii) Suspended particulates concentration and density. (iii) Particulate and dissolved nutrients and metals. (iv) Size, configuration, and velocities of discharge. (2) Upper water column— (i) Nutrients. (ii) Endangered species (observations). (iii) Salinity, temperature, density. (iv) Currents and direct current shear. (v) Vertical distribution of light. (vi) Suspended particulate material advection and diffusion. (vii) In-situ settling velocities of suspended particulates. (viii) Zooplankton and trace metals uptake. (ix) Fish larvae. (x) Behavior of biota, including commercially and recreationally valuable fish. (3) Lower water column and seafloor— (i) Currents. (ii) Suspended particulate material advection and diffusion. (iii) In-situ settling velocities of suspended particulates. (iv) Benthic scraping and blanketing, and their impacts and recovery. (f) The monitoring plan shall include provision for monitoring those areas impacted by the permittee's mining activities, even if such areas fall outside its minesite, where the proposed activities have the potential to cause significant adverse environmental effect or irreparable harm in the outside area. (g) After the Administrator's approval of the monitoring plan, this plan will become a permit TCR. The monitoring plan TCR will include, to the maximum extent practicable, identification of those activities or events that could cause suspension or modification due to environmental effects under §971.417, or permit revocation in the event that these effects cannot be adequately mitigated. The TCR also will authorize refinement of the monitoring plan prior to testing and commercial-scale recovery, and at other appropriate times, if refinement is necessary to reflect accurately proposed operations or to incorporate recent research or monitoring results. (h) If test mining is proposed, the applicant shall include in the monitoring plan a monitoring plan for the test(s) as well as a strategy for using the result to monitor more effectively commercial-scale recovery. This monitoring shall address concerns expressed in the PEIS and in the permit EIS. (i) The monitoring plan shall include a sampling strategy that assures: that it is based on sound statistical methods, that equipment and methods be scientifically accepted, that the personnel who are planning, collecting and analyzing data be scientifically well qualified, and that the resultant data be submitted to the Administrator in accordance with formats of the National Oceanographic Data Center and other formats as may be specified by the Administrator. (j) Pursuant to section 114(1) of the Act, the Administrator intends to place observers onboard mining vessels, not only to ensure that permit TCRs are followed, but also to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring strategies, both in terms of protecting the environment and in being cost-effective (See §971.1005), and if necessary, to develop potential mitigation measures. If modification of permit TCRs or regulations is required to protect the quality of the environment, the Administrator may modify TCRs pursuant to §971.414, or the regulations pursuant to §971.804. (a) The Administrator shall require in all activities under new permits, and wherever practicable in activities under existing permits, the use of the best available technologies for the protection of safety, health, and the environment wherever such activities would have a significant adverse effect on safety, health, or the environment, except where the Administrator determines that the incremental benefits are clearly insufficient to justify the incremental costs of using such technologies. Because of the embryonic nature of the industry, NOAA is unable either to specify particular equipment or procedures comprising BAT or to define performance standards. Until such experience exists, the applicant shall submit such information as is necessary to indicate, as required above, the use of BAT, the alternatives considered to the specific equipment or procedures proposed, and the rationale as to why one alternative technology was selected in place of another. This analysis shall include a discussion of the relative costs and benefits of the technologies considered. (b) NOAA is not specifying particular mitigation methodologies or techniques at this time (such as requiring the sub-surface release of mining vessel discharges), but expects applicants and permittees to develop and carry out their operations, to the extent possible, to minimize adverse environmental effects and to be able to demonstrate efforts to that end. The applicant must submit a plan describing how he would mitigate a problem, if it were caused by the surface release of mining vessel discharges, including a plan for the monitoring of any discharges. Based upon monitoring results, NOAA may find it necessary in the future to specify particular procedures for minimizing adverse environmental effects. These procedures would be incorporated into permit TCRs. (c) NOAA will require the permittee to report, prior to implementation, any proposed technological or operational changes that will increase or have unknown environmental effects. Changes in composition, concentration or size distribution of suspended particulates discharged from the mining vessel, water depth of vessel discharges, depth of cut in the seafloor of the mining collector, and direction or amount of sediment discharged at the seafloor are factors of concern to NOAA. In reporting any such change, the permittee shall submit information to indicate the use of BAT, alternatives considered, and rationale for selecting one technology in place of another, in a manner comparable to and to the extent required in paragraph (a) of this section. If proposed changes have a high potential for increasing adverse environmental effects, the Administrator may disapprove or require modification of the changes.
Title 15: Commerce and Foreign Trade
PART 971—DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS
Subpart F—Environmental Effects
§ 971.600 General.
§ 971.601 Environmental requirements.
§ 971.602 Significant adverse environmental effects.
§ 971.603 At-sea monitoring.
§ 971.604 Best available technologies (BAT) and mitigation.
§ 971.605 Stable Reference Areas. [Reserved]
§ 971.606 Onshore information.
(a) To assist the Administrator in complying with NEPA requirements and to enable NOAA to function as lead agency in preparing permit site-specific environmental impact statements (EISs) and facilitating the preparation and processing of other environmental documents and permits, the applications must include the following information:
(1) The location and affected environment of port, transport, processing and waste disposal facilities and associated facilities (e.g., maps, land use and layout);
(2) A description of the environmental consequences and socio-economic effects of construction and operation of the facilities, including waste characteristics and toxicity;
(3) Any mitigating measures that may be proposed;
(4) Certification of consistency with the federally approved State coastal management program, where applicable, and evidence of the status of compliance with other State or local requirements relating to protection of the environment; and
(5) Alternative sites and technologies considered by the applicant and the considerations which eliminate their selection.
(b) The applicant must consult with NOAA as early as possible concerning the information to be submitted to NOAA to prepare an adequate environmental impact statement. The applicant is encouraged to consult with potentially affected States as early as is practicable [see also §§971.200(g) and 971.213].
(c) The requirements of paragraphs (a)(1)–(3) and (5) of this section also apply if approval of processing outside the United States is requested by the applicant, in accordance with Executive Order 12114 which requires the environmental review of major Federal actions abroad. Information detailing the socio-economic impacts of foreign processing activities is not required.
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