[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49983-49984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20809]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6852-4]


Regulatory Reinvention (XLC) Pilot Projects; Project XLC Phase I 
(Planning) Project Agreement: Clermont County, OH.

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Project XLC Phase I (Planning) Project Agreement.

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SUMMARY: EPA is requesting comments on a proposed Project XLC Phase I 
(Planning) Project Agreement (PA) for Clermont County (hereafter 
``Clermont''). The PA is a voluntary agreement developed 
collaboratively by Clermont, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 
(OEPA), and EPA. Project XLC, announced in the Federal Register on 
November 1, 1995, (60 FR 55569), gives regulated sources the 
flexibility to develop alternative strategies that will replace or 
modify specific regulatory requirements on the condition that they 
produce greater environmental benefits.

[[Page 49984]]

    Clermont County is one of the fastest developing counties in Ohio, 
located just east of Cincinnati. The County is experiencing significant 
changes in population density and rural demographics. The Clermont 
County XLC Project focuses on the East Fork of the Little Miami River 
(EFLMR) watershed. The specific waters within the County considered 
under this Agreement include the EFLMR mainstream and tributaries, and 
Harsha Lake, which is located centrally within the EFLMR basin. The 
EFLMR is a major tributary to the Little Miami River, which is a 
designated State and National Scenic River and is the State of Ohio's 
largest Exceptional Warmwater Habitat stream.
    Clermont County proposes a comprehensive watershed management plan 
for the EFLMR. The major goal of this watershed plan is to address 
environmental management of its resources with an aggressive and 
innovative approach so that it can maintain a balance between economic 
growth and the preservation of its rural character and environment, and 
where possible strive to improve the environment and protection of the 
area's natural resources. The County will work in partnership with the 
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and EPA to design and 
implement a plan to maintain and improve water quality, land use and 
economic development in the County. The development of this watershed 
plan will empower the local community to work with the County to review 
current water quality standards and establish meaningful measures of 
environmental conditions that are based on the specific characteristics 
of the EFLMR and its tributaries. Once the water quality goals are 
established for the watershed, the primary responsibility for achieving 
those goals will be at the local level. The command and control 
regulatory framework will be replaced with a collaborative goal setting 
approach. As part of the watershed management plan, Clermont County 
will develop a sampling and monitoring program, and a County 
Environmental Protection Plan that will enable the County to compile 
data on existing watershed environmental conditions. New findings from 
the sampling program pertaining to the chemical and biological 
characteristics of the EFLMR will be used in computer-based simulations 
to make predictions regarding point and non-point source pollution. The 
plan will also use the information to identify which policy and capital 
changes regarding the land management policies must be made in order to 
attain the County's water quality goals in the watershed. In addition, 
the County anticipates using an effluent trading system in which 
pollution credits may be exchanged among point and non-point sources.
    No regulatory flexibility is needed for the initial planning phase 
of this Project. More specific details regarding regulatory flexibility 
will be identified in the development of subsequent phases that will 
implement the planning developed during the initial phase. This multi-
phased approach is expected to achieve superior environmental 
performance through greater local responsibility and management of 
point and nonpoint sources. The Project is comprehensive in scope and 
will include development issues closely tied to water quality such as 
land use, development procedures, open space and farmland preservation, 
and economic development. Most importantly, the County is being 
proactive-investing in watershed management controls not currently 
regulated by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
permits and much sooner than would otherwise be required under a waste 
load allocation and Total Maximum Daily Loads developed by OEPA. 
Because the watershed is rapidly developing and degraded water quality 
is expected if existing regulations and practices are continued, the 
baseline for this proactive approach to superior environmental 
performance is defined as no adverse trends in water quality 
indicators.

DATES: The period for submission of comments ends on August 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: All comments on the proposed Phase I (Planning) Project 
Agreement should be sent to: Mr. Christopher Murphy, US EPA, Region 5 
Water Division (WA-16J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, 
or Ms. Lisa Reiter US EPA, Ariel Rios Building, Mail Code 1802, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Comments may also be 
faxed to Christopher Murphy (312) 886-0168 or Lisa Reiter (202) 260-
3125. Comments may also be received via electronic mail sent to: 
[email protected] or [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the Project Fact 
Sheet or the proposed Phase I (Planning) Project Agreement, contact: 
Christopher Murphy, US EPA, Region 5 Water Division (WA-16J), 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, or Ms. Lisa Reiter, US EPA, Ariel 
Rios Building, Mail Code 1802, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, D.C. 20460. The PA and related documents are also available 
via the Internet at the following location: http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL. In addition, a hard copy of the proposed PA will be 
available at Clermont County's Office of Environmental Quality, 
Clermont County, 2379 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia, OH 45103--contact 
Paul Braasch, Clermont County Project XLC Coordinator for a copy: (513) 
732-7745.
    Questions to EPA regarding the documents can be directed to 
Christopher Murphy at (312) 886-0172 or Lisa Reiter at (202) 260-9041. 
To be included on the Clermont County Project XLC mailing list about 
future public meetings, XLC progress reports and other mailings from 
Clermont County on the XLC project, contact Paul Braasch, Clermont 
County Project XLC Coordinator, Office of Environmental Quality, 
Clermont County, 2379 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia, OH 45103. For 
information on all other aspects of the XLC Program, contact 
Christopher Knopes at the following address: Office of Environmental 
Policy Innovation, US EPA, Mail Code 1802, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Additional information 
on Project XLC, including documents referenced in this notice, other 
EPA policy documents related to Project XLC, Regional XLC contacts, 
application information, and descriptions of existing XLC projects and 
proposals, is available via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL.

    Dated: August 10, 2000.
Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Innovation.
[FR Doc. 00-20809 Filed 8-15-00; 8:45 am]
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