[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 3 (Thursday, January 4, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 793-795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-220]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6929-2]


Public Notice of Draft NPDES General Permits for Facilities/
Operations That Generate, Treat, and/or Use/Dispose of Sewage Sludge by 
Means of Land Application, Landfill, and Surface Disposal in EPA Region 
VIII

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to issue NPDES general permits and request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: Region VIII of EPA is hereby giving notice of its tentative 
determination to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
(NPDES) general permits for facilities or operations that generate, 
treat, and/or use/dispose of sewage sludge by means of land 
application, landfill, and surface disposal in the States of CO, MT, 
ND, and WY and in Indian country in the States of CO, MT, ND, SD, WY 
and UT (except for the Goshute Indian Reservation and the Navajo Indian 
Reservation).
    On June 21, 2000 and September 21, 2000, U.S. District Judge Donald 
W. Molloy issued orders stating that until all necessary total maximum 
daily loads under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act are established 
for a particular water quality limited segment, the EPA is not to issue 
any new permits or increase permitted discharges under the NPDES 
program. (The orders were issued in the lawsuit Friends of the Wild 
Swan, Inc., et al., v. U.S. E.P.A., et al., CV 97-35-M-DWM, District of 
Montana, Missoula Division.) EPA finds that the issuance of these 
proposed general permits does not conflict with this order, because (1) 
the proposed permits would not authorize any point source discharges 
into waters of the United States and (2) as discussed under the 
``Protection of Public Health and The Environment'' section of the Fact 
Sheet, the use and/or disposal of sewage sludge in compliance with the 
conditions of these permits is not likely to have any adverse effect on 
any waterbody in Montana that has been listed under section 303(d) of 
the Clean Water Act. If any member of the public believes that EPA 
should interpret the District Court's order otherwise, EPA requests 
that this issue be brought to its attention during the public comment 
period on these proposed permits.
    Region VIII is proposing to use general permits instead of 
individual permits for permitting such sewage sludge related activities 
in order to reduce the Region's administrative burden of issuing 
separate individual permits. The administrative burden for the 
regulated sources is expected to be about the same under the general 
permits as with individual permits, but it will be much quicker to 
obtain permit coverage with general permits than with individual 
permits. The permit requirements would be essentially the same with an 
individual permit or under the general permit. Facilities or operations 
that incinerate sewage sludge are not eligible for coverage under these 
general permits and must apply for an individual permit. Wastewater 
lagoon systems that are not using/disposing of sewage sludge do not 
need to apply for permit coverage unless notified by the permit issuing 
authority. The deadlines for applying for coverage under the general 
permits are given in the permits and the Fact Sheet. For most 
facilities/operations the deadline is 90 days after the effective date 
of the permit.

DATES: Public comments on this proposal must be received, in writing, 
on or before March 5, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Public comments should be sent to: State Assistance Program 
(8P-SA); Attention: NPDES Permits; U.S. EPA, Region VIII; 999 18th 
Street, Suite 300; Denver, CO 80202-2466.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For a copy of the draft permit and 
Fact Sheet, please write William Kennedy at the above address or 
telephone (303) 312-6285. Copies of the draft permit and Fact Sheet may 
also be downloaded from the EPA Region VIII web page at http://www.epa.gov/region08/water/wastewater/biohome/biohome.html. Questions 
regarding the specific permit requirements may be directed to Bob 
Brobst, telephone (303) 312-6129.

Public Comment Period

    Public comments are invited. Comments must be written and must be 
received by no later than March 5, 2001. Comments should be sent to: 
State Assistance Program (8P-SA); Attention: NPDES Permits; U.S. EPA, 
Region VIII; 999 18th Street, Suite 300; Denver, CO 80202-2466. Each 
comment should cite the page number and, where possible, the section(s) 
and/or paragraph(s) in the draft permit or Fact Sheet to which each 
comment refers. Commenters should use a separate paragraph for each 
issue discussed.

[[Page 794]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 19, 1993, (58 FR 9248) the EPA 
promulgated ``Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge'' (40 
CFR part 503) and made revisions to the NPDES regulations to include 
the permitting of facilities/operations that generate, treat, and/or 
use/disposal of sewage sludge. The 503 regulations were amended on 
August 4, 1999 (64 FR 42551). The State of Utah currently is the only 
State in Region VIII that has been authorized to administer the 
biosolids (sludge) program. However, the State of South Dakota has 
applied for authorization to administer the biosolids program and 
Region VIII has public noticed (65 FR 59385) its intent to approve the 
application. Since the State's application is being processed, Region 
VIII does not plan to issue a general permit for South Dakota unless 
the State's application is denied. It is proposed that general permits 
be issued for facilities or operations that generate, treat, and/or 
use/dispose of sewage sludge by means of land application, landfill, 
and surface disposal within the following areas:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Area covered by the
             State                  Permit No.         general permit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado......................  COG650000          State of Colorado
                                                    except for Federal
                                                    Facilities and
                                                    Indian country.
                                COG651000          Indian country within
                                                    the State of
                                                    Colorado and the
                                                    portions of the Ute
                                                    Mountain Indian
                                                    Reservation located
                                                    in New Mexico and in
                                                    Utah.
                                COG652000          Federal Facilities in
                                                    the State of
                                                    Colorado, except
                                                    those located in
                                                    Indian country,
                                                    which are covered
                                                    under permit
                                                    COG51000.
Montana.......................  MTG650000          State of Montana
                                                    except for Indian
                                                    country.
                                MTG651000          Indian country in the
                                                    State of Montana.
North Dakota..................  NDG650000          State of North Dakota
                                                    except for Indian
                                                    country.
                                NDG651000          Indian country within
                                                    the State of North
                                                    Dakota (except for
                                                    Indian country
                                                    located within the
                                                    former boundaries of
                                                    the Lake Traverse
                                                    Indian Reservation,
                                                    which are covered
                                                    under permit
                                                    SDG651000) and that
                                                    portion of the
                                                    Standing Rock Indian
                                                    Reservation located
                                                    in South Dakota.
South Dakota..................  SDG651000          Indian country within
                                                    the State of South
                                                    Dakota (except for
                                                    the Standing Rock
                                                    Indian Reservation,
                                                    which is covered
                                                    under permit
                                                    NDG651000), that
                                                    portion of the Pine
                                                    Ridge Indian
                                                    Reservation located
                                                    in Nebraska, and
                                                    Indian country
                                                    located in North
                                                    Dakota within the
                                                    former boundaries of
                                                    the Lake Traverse
                                                    Indian Reservation.
Utah..........................  UTG651000          Indian country within
                                                    the State of Utah
                                                    except for the
                                                    Goshute Indian
                                                    Reservation, Navajo
                                                    Indian Reservation,
                                                    and Ute Mountain
                                                    Indian Reservation
                                                    (which is covered
                                                    under permit
                                                    COG651000).
Wyoming.......................  WYG650000          State of Wyoming
                                                    except for Indian
                                                    country.
                                WYG651000          Indian country within
                                                    the State of
                                                    Wyoming.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The State of Utah has been delegated permitting authority for 
sewage sludge and the State of South Dakota has applied for that 
authority, therefore general permits will be issued only for Indian 
country in those States. The general permit for Indian country in Utah 
does not include the portions of the Goshute Indian Reservation and the 
Navajo Indian Reservation in Utah because the permitting activities for 
these reservations are done by Region IX of EPA. The State of Colorado 
has not been delegated permitting authority for Federal facilities, so 
a general permit is proposed for Federal facilities not located in 
Indian country.
    Authorization under the general permits may be for one of the 
following three categories: Category 1--Facilities/operations that 
generate and/or partially treat sewage sludge, but do not use/dispose 
of sewage sludge; Category 2--Facilities/operations that use/dispose of 
sewage sludge and may also generate and/or treat sewage sludge; and 
Category 3--Wastewater lagoon systems that need to land apply sewage 
sludge on an occasional, restricted basis. Authorization under the 
general permit will be limited to one of the three categories, but 
authorization may be granted to one or more subcategories under 
Category 2. In applying for authorization under the general permit, the 
applicant will be required to specify under which category or 
subcategory(s) authorization is being requested. However, the permit 
issuing authority will have the final determination as to which 
category or subcategory(s) the authorization will be granted. The 
requirements in the permit for the use/disposal of sewage sludge are 
based primarily on 40 CFR part 503.
    Since these permits do not involve discharges to waters of the 
United States, certification under section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water 
Act is not necessary for the issuance of these permits and 
certification will not be requested.
    Economic Impact (Executive Order 
12866): EPA has determined that the issuance of this general permit is 
not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive 
Order 12866 (58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)) and is therefore not 
subject to formal OMB review prior to proposal.
    Paperwork Reduction Act: EPA has reviewed the requirements imposed 
on regulated facilities in these proposed general permits under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The information 
collection requirements of these permits have already been approved by 
the Office of Management and Budget in submissions made for the NPDES 
permit program under the provisions of the Clean Water Act.
    Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended 
by the Small Business regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA): The 
RFA requires that EPA prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for 
rules subject to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) that have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. The 
permit proposed today, however, is not a ``rule'' subject to the 
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) and is therefore not subject to the 
RFA.
    Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: Section 201 of the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (UMRA), Public Law 104-4, generally requires Federal 
agencies to assess the effects of their ``regulatory actions'' defined 
to be the same as ``rules'' subject to the RFA on tribal state, and 
local, governments and the private sector. The permit proposed today, 
however, is not a ``rule'' subject to the RFA and is therefore not 
subject to the requirements of the UMRA.

    Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.


[[Page 795]]


    Dated: December 22, 2000.
Kerrigan G. Clough,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and Regulatory 
Assistance.
[FR Doc. 01-220 Filed 1-3-01; 8:45 am]
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