EPA changing draft Arctic offshore permit

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on March 21 that it is going change and re-issue its draft general permit for waste discharges from geotechnical survey operations in federal waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Both the EPA and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation have been developing similar discharge permits for geotechnical surveys, with the state permit applying to state waters within three nautical miles of the coastline.

Both draft permits were issued for public review, with public comment periods that ended on Feb. 19.

EPA now says that, as a consequence of the public review, it going to re-propose a revised draft permit and invite public comments on just the changes to the original draft. The agency says that it anticipates releasing the new draft in mid to late July, with that release to be followed by a 30-day review period. Final issuance of the permit should happen in late 2014 or early 2015, EPA says.

- Alan Bailey