[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 52427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22052]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6859-7]


Regulatory Reinvention (XL) Pilot Projects

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Project XL Draft Final Project 
Agreement for the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer 
District.

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SUMMARY: EPA is requesting comments on a Draft Project XL Final Project 
Agreement (FPA) for the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan 
Sewer District's (MSD) Jeffersontown Sewershed/Chenoweth Run Watershed 
Pretreatment Reinvention Project. The FPA is a voluntary agreement 
developed collaboratively by MSD, stakeholders, the state of Kentucky, 
and EPA. Project XL, announced in the Federal Register on May 23, 1995 
(60 FR 27282), gives regulated entities the flexibility to develop 
alternative strategies that will replace or modify specific regulatory 
or procedural requirements on the condition that they produce greater 
environmental benefits.
    In the draft FPA, MSD's proposed project for the Jeffersontown 
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) pretreatment program consists of 
three phases. Phase 1 consists of data collection and development of 
Pretreatment Program Performance Measures. In order to achieve the 
project goals, MSD's approach is to develop a strong safety net, 
namely, Pretreatment Performance Measures, and then use the baseline 
data to target the resources where the most significant environmental 
improvements can be achieved. Development and use of the proposed 
performance measures has required MSD to conduct extensive monitoring 
and analysis (more than the current program requires) and to make 
comparisons to environmental criteria. The information gathered for 
performance measures has already proven to be of great value in 
understanding the loadings patterns in the system. The data also 
provides MSD with a technical basis for determining risk potential of 
various pollutant sources.
    Phase 2 consists of pretreatment program redevelopment in the 
Jeffersontown WWTP Sewershed. In this phase, MSD and Stakeholders have 
worked closely together to define the criteria for redevelopment of the 
pretreatment program. The elements of redevelopment include: criteria 
for pollutants of concern, regulatory revisions, superior environmental 
performance, and project accountability.
    Phase 3 will be program implementation. In this phase, the baseline 
monitoring data (from Phase 1) and the criteria for redevelopment (from 
Phase 2) will be used to determine the site specific applications to 
the Jeffersontown Sewershed/Chenoweth Run Watershed pretreatment 
program. Once the proposed regulatory revisions are made effective with 
re-issuance of the Jeffersontown Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) 
NPDES permit, resources will be reallocated according to a specific 
Prioritization Strategy.
    The first and second phases of the project were completed during 
the Phase 1 Agreement, which was published for notice and comment in 
the Federal Register on December 14, 1999. This Final Project Agreement 
will allow implementation of the third phase of this project.
    A rulemaking setting forth regulatory flexibility to enable 
implementation of this project will also be developed in the future and 
will ensure that the project fully comply with applicable federal 
requirements under the Clean Water Act. Opportunities for public 
comment will be provided once the rule has been drafted.

DATES: The period for submission of comments ends on September 12, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: All comments on the draft Final Project Agreement should be 
sent to: Melinda Greene, USEPA REGION 4, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., 
Atlanta, GA 30303-8960. Comments may also be faxed to Ms. Greene at 
(404) 562-9728. Comments will also be received via electronic mail sent 
to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the draft Final 
Project Agreement, contact: Melinda Greene, USEPA REGION 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street, S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303-8960. The document is also available 
via the Internet at the following location: ``http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL''. In addition, public files on the Project are located at 
EPA Region 4 in Atlanta. Questions to EPA regarding the documents can 
be directed to Melinda Greene at (404) 562-9771, or Chad Carbone at 
(202) 260-4296. Additional information on Project XL, including 
documents referenced in this notice, other EPA policy documents related 
to Project XL, application information, and descriptions of existing XL 
projects and proposals, is available via the Internet at ``http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL'.

    Dated: August 23, 2000.
Elizabeth A. Shaw,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation.
[FR Doc. 00-22052 Filed 8-28-00; 8:45 am]
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