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The existing effluent limitations guidelines for the Alaskan Seafood subcategories of the Canned and Preserved Seafood Processing ELGs (40 CFR 408) were promulgated in the 1970s. The seafood processing ELGs created two subcategories for seafood processing facilities in Alaska based on location: "non-remote" and "remote." The ELGs for remote facilities are applicable to seafood processors not located in a "population or processing centers" and the ELGs established numerical limits on particle size discharged (1/2 inch) based on grinding to reduce the size of the pieces prior to discharge For non-remote locations (those located in "population or processing centers," including but not limited to, Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, and Petersburg),. the ELGs established numerical limits for total suspended solids and oil and grease and an allowable range for pH based on screening the solids from the wastewater prior to discharge and solids handling of screened solids by some means other than near shore direct discharge. These regulations were litigated and upheld in the Ninth Circuit. However, in 1980, certain members of the Alaskan seafood processing industry subsequently submitted two petitions along with new data and information to the EPA requesting that it suspend the non-remote ELGs for facilities located in Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg and instead subject them to the less stringent requirements for "remote" locations. The non-remote ELGs would remain in effect for Kodiak. On May 19, 1980, the EPA temporarily suspended the existing requirements for facilities in the five "non-remote" centers covered in the petition and instead subjected them to the less stringent limits based on grinding, until October 15, 1980. On January 9, 1981, the EPA issued a proposal to deny the petition to modify and amend the ELGs for Anchorage, Cordova, Ketchikan and Petersburg, but to grant the petition to remove Juneau from the non-remote subcategories. EPA also solicited comment on subjecting additional geographic locations including two specific locations, Dutch Harbor and Kenai Peninsula, to the "non-remote" requirements. In the 1981 proposal, the EPA stated that the May 1980 suspension would remain in effect until the EPA made a final decision. The Agency has not made a final decision and the suspension has remained in effect since 1980. In response to comments received on the Alaska Seafood Processors NPDES General Permit in 2001, EPA gathered new data and information and performed supporting analyses to update the 1981 proposal. On November 7, 2013, the EPA published a Notice of Data Availability and provided new data and information gathered since the 1981 proposal. The notice described the EPA's recent data and information gathering; provided EPA's preliminary analyses of the new data; and summarized what the Agency learned from the new data and analyses. It provided preliminary results of the EPA's analyses of the updated data for the five petition locations as well as preliminary analysis for possible additional locations. Finally, it provided preliminary indications of how these results may be reflected in the EPA's final response to petitions submitted in 1980 by certain members of the Alaskan seafood processing industry, and in amended effluent limitations. The EPA is reviewing the comments received from the notice and is preparing responses. The EPA expects to take final action in Spring 2017.