[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 140 (Friday, July 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37743-37744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18196]


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[[Page 37744]]


ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5536-4]


Notice of Availability of Permits Improvement Team; Concept Paper 
on Environmental Permitting and Task Force Recommendations; Final Draft 
Recommendation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the document 
``Concept Paper on Environmental Permitting and Task Force 
Recommendations'' and the Agency's request for stakeholder comment. As 
part of the Administration's program to ``Reinvent Environmental 
Regulation,'' the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created a 
Permits Improvement Team (PIT) to evaluate the Agency's permitting 
programs, those administered by states, tribes and local agencies and 
those administered directly by EPA, and to develop recommendations to 
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the permitting process.

DATES: Written comments must be postmarked or submitted by hand or 
electronically by no later than September 3, 1996. Due to the previous 
stakeholder involvement in the development of the PIT recommendations, 
including the recent (May 10, 1996) Federal Register notice, this 
comment period will not be extended. Thus, this is the final 
opportunity for public comment on these recommendations.

ADDRESSES: To submit comments, the public must send an original and two 
copies to Docket Number F-96-PT2A-FFFFF, located at the RCRA Docket. 
The official address is: RCRA Information Center, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (5035W), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. 
Although the mailing address for the RCRA Information Center has not 
changed, the office was physically moved in November 1995. Therefore, 
hand-delivered comments should be taken to the new address: 1235 
Jefferson Davis Highway, First Floor, Arlington, Virginia. (Also see 
the section under ``Supplementary Information'' regarding the paperless 
office effort for submitting public comments.) The RCRA Information 
Center is open for public inspection and copying of supporting 
information from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, except for 
Federal holidays. The public must make an appointment to review docket 
materials by calling (703) 603-9230. The public may copy a maximum of 
100 pages from any regulatory document at no cost. Additional copies 
cost $0.15 per page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lance Miller, PIT Executive Director 
at Permits Improvement Team, Mail Stop 100, 2890 Woodbridge Ave., 
Edison NJ 08837, phone: (908) 321-6782.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Document

    The PIT Concept Paper on Environmental Permitting and Task Force 
Recommendations follows this notice. In addition, the document can be 
obtained via the internet at `gopher://gopher.epa.gov' or `http://
www.epa.gov'. After reaching either of these internet sites, locate the 
search function and type `Permit Improvement Team' to locate the 
Concept Paper on Environmental Permitting and Task Force 
Recommendations.

Background Information

    The PIT was established in July 1994 and is composed of 
representatives from EPA Headquarters and Regional offices and state, 
tribal and local permitting agencies. The PIT held numerous stakeholder 
meetings to solicit input on the most critical permitting issues as 
well as to obtain feedback on the PIT's initial recommendations.
    Although significant input on the PIT's recommendations has been 
received through the stakeholder meetings, a final opportunity to 
review and comment on the recommendations is being provided to ensure 
that all stakeholders have an opportunity to participate in the 
development of the significant change in direction for permitting 
programs that is being contemplated. The Agency intends to use the 
concept paper on environmental permitting as an overall guide for 
reforms to permit programs, where appropriate. The individual 
recommendations contained in the document will be considered by program 
and regional offices as they develop specific plans in response to the 
concepts discussed in the PIT recommendations. These plans will include 
providing assistance to states and tribes that choose to consider and 
implement appropriate permit reform. As specific program changes are 
developed, opportunities for stakeholder input will be provided. It is 
anticipated that stakeholders will use the final concept paper, as well 
as other relevant documents and authorities such as applicable 
statutes, in their review of specific permit program changes. This will 
help to provide all stakeholders with a common context when commenting 
on these specific changes.
    For some permitting programs, minor changes may be needed to 
implement many of the concepts specified in the document; while other 
programs may require more significant modifications. Some of these 
modifications may also require changes to statutes and regulations and 
could necessitate technical research and analysis prior to revising 
permit programs to conform with the recommendations. Therefore, the 
time-frame to implement the recommendations could range from several 
months to many years. The Agency notes that current permitting system 
were developed over the last three decades, and that changes need to be 
made within the existing systems while they evolve to the approach 
envisioned in the concept paper. Furthermore, as implementation 
proceeds, it is likely that some of the concepts will require revision 
based on new information.

Paperless Office Effort

    EPA is asking prospective commenters to voluntarily submit one 
additional copy of their comments on labeled personal computer 
diskettes in ASCII (TEXT) format or a word processing format that can 
be converted to ACSII (TEXT). It is essential to specify on the disk 
label the word processing software and version/edition as well as the 
commenter's name. This will allow EPA to convert the comments into one 
of the word processing formats utilized by the Agency. Please use 
mailing envelopes designed to physically protect the submitted 
diskettes. EPA emphasizes that submission of comments on diskettes is 
not mandatory, nor will it result in any advantage or disadvantage to 
any commenter. Rather, EPA is experimenting with this procedure as an 
attempt to expedite our internal review and response to comments. This 
expedited procedure is in conjunction with the Agency ``Paperless 
Office'' campaign.
Elliott P. Laws,
Designated Federal Official.
[FR Doc. 96-18196 Filed 7-18-96; 8:45 am]
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