The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 has announced the release of a draft modification to a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit previously issued to Ocean Era, Inc. The permit pertains to a small-scale marine aquaculture facility located approximately 45 miles from Sarasota, off the coast of Florida in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed changes are now open for public comment for a period of 30 days.
The original NPDES permit was granted to Ocean Era in 2022, allowing wastewater discharge from an Aquatic Animal Production Facility with an annual production capacity of up to 80,000 pounds for one cycle. The facility is not yet operational and remains unconstructed.
In 2023, Ocean Era requested modifications to the permit, citing plans to alter certain operational aspects. These changes include switching the cultured fish species from almaco jack to red drum, changing cage net material from copper to monofilament, and altering the rearing system from a swivel point mooring system to a stationary cage mooring system.
Based on these proposed project alterations and additional information provided by Ocean Era, EPA has tentatively determined that modifying the permit is appropriate. On October 24, 2024, EPA made available the draft modified permit package on Regulations.gov. Public comments will be accepted through Docket ID EPA–R04-OW-2024-0113 for at least 30 days. It should be noted that only those conditions proposed for modification are open for public comment.
The draft modified permit and related documents can also be accessed on EPA’s website at www.epa.gov/publicnotices/ocean-era-draft-modified-npdes-permit-fl0a00001.
For further details about EPA’s NPDES Program, interested parties can visit EPA's dedicated webpage.
Comments must be submitted by November 25, 2024.
