[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 189 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58273-58275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24791]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6878-6]


Stakeholder Comment on Preliminary National Enforcement and 
Compliance Assurance Priorities for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Solicitation of recommendations and comments.

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SUMMARY: This Notice is a Federal Agency request for the public to 
comment and provide recommendations on biennial national enforcement 
and compliance assurance priorities to be addressed for fiscal years 
2002 and 2003. This Notice expands Agency efforts to establish national 
enforcement and compliance assurance priorities by seeking to engage a 
broader group of stakeholders to identify those environmental problems 
that should be considered in selecting a focus for future Federal 
enforcement and compliance resources. The information submitted by 
commentors will be considered during the priority identification 
process. Final priority selections will be incorporated into the EPA's 
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Memorandum of Agreement 
Guidance (which provides national program direction for all EPA 
Regional offices). These priorities will also affect implementation of 
the enforcement and compliance goals and objectives outlined in the EPA 
Strategic Plan, as mandated under the Government Performance and 
Results Act.

DATES: The agency must receive comments and recommendations on or 
before October 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit all electronic comments and recommendations to 
[email protected]. Please reference Docket Number EC-2000-006 in the 
submission. (Comments may be submitted on disk in WordPerfect 8.0 or 
earlier versions)
    Written comments can be mailed to: Enforcement & Compliance Docket 
and Information Center (2201A). Docket Number EC-2000-006. Office of 
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.
    Comments may be delivered in person to: Enforcement & Compliance 
Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Rm 
4033, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick Stiehl, Director, 
Enforcement Planning, Targeting and Data Division; Voice: (202) 564-
2290, Fax:(202) 564-0030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

Contents

A. Background
B. Projected Process Time Frames
C. Review Information

A. Background

    The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) 
negotiates a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with each of the Agency's 
ten Regional offices. The MOA guidance, sent out by OECA, establishes 
national enforcement and compliance assurance priorities and sets short 
term (two year) program direction. The MOA guidance provides the basis 
for the individual agreements negotiated between OECA and each Region. 
These agreements describe Region-specific implementation of the 
national and local enforcement and compliance priorities as the Agency 
works to collectively meet its long term goals set forth in the EPA 
Strategic Plan. The intent of this FR Notice is to solicit stakeholder 
input during the selection process of potential FY 2002/2003 MOA 
priorities. Earlier this spring, stakeholders, EPA Regions, States, and 
Tribes, were asked to comment on current national enforcement and 
compliance priorities and suggest any changes or potential new 
priorities for fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The Office of Enforcement 
and Compliance Assurance analyzed the many excellent comments received 
thus far using the following criteria:
    (a) Risk Management: In what specific areas can the Federal 
enforcement and compliance assurance programs make a significant 
positive impact on human health or the environment? What are the

[[Page 58274]]

known or estimated public health or environmental risks?
    (b) Noncompliance: Are there particular economic or industrial 
sectors, geographic areas or facility operations where regulated 
entities have demonstrated serious patterns of noncompliance?
    (c) EPA Responsibility: What identified national problem areas or 
programs are better addressed through EPA's Federal capability in 
enforcement or compliance assistance?
    Based on the analysis of all proposals received to date and ongoing 
priority work, the Agency has drafted a preliminary list of suggested 
FY 2002/2003 priorities, as shown below. While no final decisions have 
been made, this preliminary list reflects input from field personnel, 
state and local partners, as well as EPA analyses and discussions. 
Although not all areas suggested appear on the preliminary list of 
national candidates, the opportunity certainly exists for these 
additional candidates to be adopted as Regional, State, or local level 
priorities. In considering the following list, please bear in mind that 
EPA remains committed to identifying a limited number of national 
priorities so as to provide flexibility to address some of these other 
suggestions. In addition, some of the current FY 2000/2001 priority 
areas may be carried forward and/or refined in FY 2002/2003 to complete 
unfinished work. The following list is a starting point for internal 
discussion and eventual narrowing of the list by EPA management. This 
list is divided into the current FY 2000/2001 priorities and suggested 
new areas. While the tables below include a brief description of the 
priority, greater detail and background on each proposed priority can 
be found at the DOCKET site identified in the address section of this 
Federal Register.

                          I. Current Priorities
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           Priority                        Nature of concern
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Clean Water Act/Wet Weather..  Run-off from wet weather events such as
                                overflows from Combined Sewers, Sanitary
                                Sewers, or Concentrated Animal Feeding
                                Operation (CAFO) discharges. Overflows
                                contain bacteria and other pathogens
                                which cause illnesses and lead to
                                impaired waters, including beach and
                                shellfish bed closures.
Safe Drinking Water Act/       Ensuring compliance with microbial
 Microbial Rules.               regulations and continued Federal
                                support of the President's Clean Water
                                Action Plan. Adverse health effects of
                                microbiological contamination include
                                gastrointestinal distress, fever,
                                pneumonia, dehydration (which can be
                                life threatening), or death.
Clean Air Act/New Source       Ensuring that New Source Review (NSR)
 Review/Prevention Of           requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA)
 Significant Deterioration.     are implemented. Failure to comply with
                                NSR and/or PSD requirements results in
                                inadequate control of emissions, thereby
                                contributing thousands of unaccounted
                                tons of pollution each year,
                                particularly of Nitrogen Oxides,
                                Volatile Organic Compounds, and
                                Particulate Matter.
Clean Air Act/Air Toxics.....  Ensuring reduction of public exposure to
                                toxic air emissions through the adoption
                                and implementation of Maximum Achievable
                                Control Technology (MACT) standards.
Resource Conservation and      Prevent un-permitted waste handling and
 Recovery Act/Permit Evaders.   management operations.
Petroleum Refinery Sector....  Reducing air emissions and eliminate un-
                                permitted releases from an estimated 162
                                operable domestic refineries spread
                                across the country.
Metal Services                 Addressing Metal service facilities which
 (Electroplating and Coating    generate hazardous materials, such as
 Sector).                       cadmium, chromium, cyanide, lead,
                                mercury and selenium that are not in
                                compliance and have not applied for
                                discharge permits.
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                         II. Suggested New Areas
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            Title                          Nature of concern
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fuels Management.............  Covers every aspect of the fuels handling
                                process, including, but not limited to,
                                oil production, petroleum refining,
                                fuels storage, transportation, as well
                                as distribution of fuels from pipelines
                                and underground storage tanks; releases
                                can result in contamination to the air,
                                soil, and water.
Federal Facilities...........  Operations at Federal facilities effect
                                air, soil, groundwater, and surface
                                water. Some of the more common wastes
                                are generated by hospital operations,
                                laboratory operations, and treatment
                                plant operations.
Cruise Ships.................  A growing concern is the discharges from
                                cruise ships, which include large
                                volumes of gray water, sewage, oily
                                bilge water (which may contain solid
                                waste), solid waste (plastics and paper)
                                and various amounts of hazardous wastes,
                                such as photo chemicals, dry cleaning
                                fluids, and paint.
Automotive Salvaging.........  A pervasive environmental problem due
                                primarily to pollutants such as waste
                                oils, gas, mercury, PCBs and lead, this
                                priority includes salvage yards,
                                shredder residue and dismantlers. Auto
                                yards are located throughout the United
                                States, many of which are small
                                businesses
Mining.......................  Several aspects/types of mining have been
                                cited as significant cross-media
                                problems: abandoned mines, coal mining
                                tail sites, and mineral mining
                                operations. Human health and
                                environmental problems have been linked
                                with acid leaching, air pollution, acid
                                drainage, and refuse piles.
Hazardous Waste Transport/     Particular concern has been focused
 Storage.                       around the rising number of
                                ``temporary'' storage facilities that
                                lack permits and the converse problem of
                                ``old'' storage becoming a Superfund
                                concern, with hazardous wastes leaching
                                onto land and into water.
Pesticides...................  Increasing number of reports of misuse,
                                misapplication, and mislabeling of
                                pesticide products (in particular,
                                indoor-use only products, and worker
                                protection regulated products) which
                                lead to increased exposure risk to human
                                health and the environment. Adverse
                                impacts can include pesticide poisoning
                                or groundwater contamination.
Air Emissions/PM-10..........  Particulate matter has been linked to
                                health and respiratory problems,
                                particularly among children and the
                                elderly. Excessive emissions of
                                particulate matter are widespread,
                                particularly in current non-attainment
                                areas.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 58275]]

    At this time we are inviting comment on this preliminary list. 
Comments received will provide the Agency with a foundation from which 
to collectively consider on-going priority work and emerging areas as 
we develop a limited number of recommended FY 2002/2003 priorities. 
When submitting responses to this Notice, commentors should rank which 
of the areas listed above should be a top concern for national focus, 
as well as suggesting others not included on the current list. If 
additional problem areas are identified, the commentor should provide 
supporting information relating to the previously listed criteria. 
Again, suggested priority areas which are not chosen may be candidates 
for individual Regional or State attention and/or continued 
investigation. For example, information obtained from this Notice will 
be helpful to the Agency as it follows up on the recommendations from 
the Innovation Task Force report (this task force was established by 
the National Partnership for Reinventing Government) to consider the 
exclusive or partial use of compliance assistance as a tool for 
addressing environmental risk and/or patterns of noncompliance.

B. Projected Process Time Frames

    After receiving stakeholder responses to this FR priority notice, 
EPA will complete analysis of proposed priorities and discuss the 
candidates at a November 2000 enforcement and compliance assurance 
priorities meeting. Recommendations from this meeting will be forwarded 
to EPA senior management for discussion. In January 2001, EPA will 
issue the draft Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance FY 2002/
2003 Memorandum of Agreement Guidance to Regions, States and 
stakeholders for final review. This draft guidance will include the 
proposed Agency enforcement and compliance assurance national 
priorities. The final MOA guidance including final priorities will be 
issued in April 2001.

C. Review Information

    Persons interested in obtaining for review, further background 
information regarding current or proposed FY 2002-2003 National 
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priorities may submit a request 
for hard copy or electronic version of information to: 
[email protected]., or contact the docket clerk at 202-564-2614. 
Please reference Docket Number EC-2000-006 in the request. A reasonable 
fee may be charged by EPA for copying docket materials.

    Dated: September 21, 2000.
Sylvia K. Lowrance,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and 
Compliance Assurance.
[FR Doc. 00-24791 Filed 9-27-00; 8:45 am]
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