[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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