[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 4 (Monday, January 7, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 736-738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-297]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7126-4]


Sole Source Aquifer Determination for Glen Canyon Aquifer System, 
Moab, Utah

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final determination.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 
the Acting Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) in Region VIII has determined that the Glen Canyon Aquifer 
System at Moab, Utah and the immediately adjacent recharge area is the 
sole or principal source of drinking water for the area. The area is 
located in southeast Utah extending from the City of Moab, southeast, 
encompassing approximately 76,000 acres in Townships 25 through 28 
South and Ranges 21 through 24 East

[[Page 737]]

SLB&M. The area is irregularly shaped with maximum dimensions of about 
22 miles from southeast to northwest and approximately 9 miles from 
southwest to northeast. The entire area is within Grand County, Utah. 
No viable alternative sources of drinking water with sufficient 
available supply exist within the area for which this application for 
sole source designation has been submitted. If this aquifer becomes 
contaminated, a significant hazard to public health would occur.
    The boundaries of the designated area have been reviewed and 
approved by EPA. As a result of this action, federal financially 
assisted projects constructed in the approximately 119 square mile area 
mentioned above will be subject to EPA review to ensure that these 
projects are designed and constructed in a manner which does not create 
a significant hazard to public health. For the purposes of this 
designation the Aquifer Service Area and the Project Review Area are 
the same as the Designated Area.

DATES: This determination shall be promulgated for purposes of judicial 
review at 1:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on January 7, 2002.

ADDRESSEES: The data upon which these findings are based, and a map of 
the designated area are available to the public and may be inspected 
during normal business hours at the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region VIII, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202-2466 
or the Moab City Library, 25 South 100 East, Moab Utah 84523.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William J. Monheiser, Regional Sole 
Source Aquifer Coordinator, Ground Water Program, 8P-W-GW, USEPA Region 
VIII, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202-2466, Phone: 
303.312.6271, Fax: 303.312.7084, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to 
section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300f, 300h-
3(e), Public Law 93-523 as amended, the Acting Regional Administrator 
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8 has determined 
that the Glen Canyon Aquifer System is the sole or principal source of 
drinking water for the Moab area of southeast Utah described above. 
Pursuant to section 1424(e), federal financially assisted projects 
constructed anywhere in the Sole Source Aquifer area described above 
will be subject to EPA review.

I. Background

    Section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act states:

    ``If the Administrator determines, on his own initiative or upon 
petition, that an area has an aquifer which is the sole or principal 
drinking water source for the area and which, if contaminated, would 
create a significant hazard to public health, he shall publish 
notice of that determination in the Federal Register. After the 
publication of any such notice, no commitment for federal financial 
assistance (through a grant, contract, loan guarantee, or otherwise) 
may be entered into for any project which the Administrator 
determines may contaminate such aquifer through a recharge zone so 
as to create a significant hazard to public health, but a commitment 
for federal financial assistance may, if authorized under another 
provision of the law, be entered into to plan or design the project 
to assure that it will not so contaminate the aquifer.''

    Effective March 9, 1987, authority to make a Sole Source Aquifer 
Designation was delegated to the U.S. EPA Regional Administrators.
    On May 7, 2001 a petition was received from the City of Moab, 115 
West 200 South, Moab Utah 84532, requesting that EPA designate the 
ground water resources of the Glen Canyon Aquifer System near the City 
of Moab as a Sole Source Aquifer. In response to this petition, EPA 
published a notice of a Public Meeting in the Times-Independent, a 
newspaper of general circulation in the Moab area. This notice 
announced receipt of the petition and requested public comment in 
writing or oral comments at the public meeting held August 14, 2001 and 
for a 34 day comment period following the meeting. Comments received by 
mail, telephone, Fax and e-Mail were also accepted. The public comment 
period extended from August 14, 2001 to September 17, 2001.
    Subsequently, EPA determined that the petition is both 
administratively and technically complete and adequate.

II. Basis for Determination

    Among the factors considered by the Regional Administrator for 
designation of a Sole Source Aquifer under section 1424(e) are: (1) 
Whether the aquifer is the area's sole or principal source of drinking 
water, (2) if the designated area has been adequately delineated and, 
(3) whether contamination of the aquifer would create a significant 
hazard to public health.
    On the basis of information available to EPA, the Regional 
Administrator has made the following findings of fact, which are the 
basis for this determination:
    1. The Glen Canyon Aquifer System serves as the ``sole source'' of 
drinking water for approximately 6000 permanent residents within the 
City of Moab. Most domestic wells and stock wells in the area derive 
their water from the shallow valley fill aquifer and are not affected 
by this action. There is no unappropriated alternative drinking water 
source or combination of sources which could provide fifty percent or 
more of the drinking water to the designated area, nor is there any 
projected future alternative source capable of supplying the area's 
drinking water needs at an economical cost.
    2. Although the Glen Canyon Aquifer System underlies much of 
southeast Utah, in the Moab area the aquifer is of very high quality, 
able to be used as a drinking water source with the minimal treatment 
required by the State of Utah. This constitutes a limited resource in 
this immediate area that if contaminated would create a significant 
hazard to public health and result in significant economic, social and 
environmental costs. Potential sources of contamination include: (1) 
Petroleum, mineral exploration, and geophysical drilling, (2) poorly 
designed development (3) accidental spills along roadways, (4) 
abandoned but unplugged petroleum, mineral and geophysical wells, 
tunnels and (5) non-sustainable agricultural and forestry practices.
    3. The City of Moab's petition and supporting documentation have 
appropriately delineated the boundaries of the subject aquifer.

III. Description of the Petitioned Aquifer

    The designated area of the Glen Canyon Aquifer System encompasses 
about 76,000 acres in an irregularly shape area approximately 22 miles 
long by 9 miles wide. Drinking water production is from one developed 
spring from the Wingate Sandstone and three developed springs and five 
drilled wells from the Navajo Sandstone. The lower Jurassic Wingate 
Sandstone, overlain by the lower Jurassic Kayenta Sandstone, overlain 
by the lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone comprise the approximately 800 
feet thick Glen Canyon Aquifer System. Water production is primarily 
due to fracture flow. Combined production of the water system can be 
greater than 4,775 gallons per minute with 3,000,000 gallons of 
storage. The boundaries of the aquifer were determined by hydrogeologic 
mapping, which is the area interpreted to contribute water to the 
springs and well. The aquifer is exposed at the surface within its 
service area and considered to be moderately to very vulnerable.

[[Page 738]]

IV. Information Utilized in Determination

    The information utilized in this determination includes the 
petition from the City of Moab, review of available literature, and the 
results of ground water investigations conducted by the State on the 
ground water resources of the area. These data are available to the 
public and may be inspected during normal business hours at EPA Region 
VIII, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202-2466 or at the 
Moab City Library, 25 South 100 East, Moab, Utah, 84532.

V. Project Review

    EPA, Region VIII, will work with the Federal Agencies that may, in 
the future, provide financial assistance to projects in the designated 
area. Interagency procedures will be developed in which EPA will be 
notified of proposed funding commitments for projects which could 
contaminate the aquifer. EPA will evaluate such projects and, where 
necessary, conduct an in-depth review, including soliciting public 
comments where appropriate. Should EPA determine that a project may 
contaminate the aquifer, so as to create a significant hazard to public 
health, no commitment for federal assistance may be entered into. 
However, a commitment for federal assistance may, if authorized under 
another provision of law, be entered into to plan or design the project 
to assure that it will not contaminate the aquifer.
    Although the project review process cannot be delegated to state or 
local agencies, the EPA will rely upon any existing or future state and 
local control mechanisms, to the maximum extent possible, in protecting 
the ground-water quality of the aquifer. Included in the review of any 
federal financially assisted project will be coordination with local 
agencies. Their comments will be given full consideration, and the 
Federal review process will attempt to complement and support state and 
local ground water quality protection mechanisms.

VI. Public Comments

    In response to the Public Notice and Public Meeting, a detailed 
discussion of all questions, a transcript of the public meeting as well 
as all written comments can be found in the Administrative Record and 
may be inspected during normal business hours at EPA Region VIII, 999 
18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202-2466. Participants at 
the Public Meeting voiced unanimous support for designation. Of the 52 
written comments received all were supportive of designation except for 
one. All comments are addressed in EPA's Responsiveness Summary, which 
is part of the Administrative record.
    No additional data were presented during the public comment period 
regarding aquifer characteristics, boundary delineation or potential 
errors of fact presented in the petition.

VII. Economic and Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 
5 U.S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify that this designation will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. For 
purposes of this Certification, ``small entity'' shall have the same 
meaning as given in section 601 of the RFA. This action is only 
applicable to projects with the potential to impact the Glen Canyon 
Aquifer System Sole Source Aquifer as designated.
    The only affected entities will be those businesses, organizations 
or governmental jurisdictions that request federal financial assistance 
for projects which have the potential for contaminating the Sole Source 
Aquifer so as to create a significant hazard to public health. EPA does 
not expect to be reviewing small isolated commitments of financial 
assistance on an individual basis, unless a cumulative impact on the 
aquifer is anticipated; accordingly, the number of affected small 
entities will be minimal.
    For those small entities which are subject to review, the impact of 
today's action will not be significant. Many projects subject to this 
review will be preceded by a ground water impact assessment required 
pursuant to other federal laws, such as the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) as amended 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. Integration of 
those related review procedures with sole source aquifer review will 
allow EPA and other federal agencies to avoid delay or duplication of 
effort in approving financial assistance, thus minimizing any adverse 
effects on those small entities which are affected. Finally, today's 
action does not prevent grants of federal financial assistance which 
may be available to any affected small entity in order to pay for the 
redesign of the project to assure protection of the aquifer.
    Under Executive Order 12866, EPA must judge whether a regulation is 
``major'' and therefore subject to the requirement of a Regulatory 
Impact Analysis. This regulation is not major because it will not have 
an annual effect of $100 million or more on the economy, will not cause 
any major increase in costs or prices, and will not have significant 
adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or the ability of United States enterprises to compete in 
domestic or export markets. Today's action only affects the Glen Canyon 
Aquifer System in Grand County, Utah. It provides an additional review 
of ground water protection measures, incorporating state and local 
measures whenever possible, for only those projects which request 
federal financial assistance.

VIII. Summary

    This determination affects only the Glen Canyon Aquifer System, 
located in Moab Utah. As a result of this designation all federal 
financially assisted projects proposed in the delineated area will be 
subject to EPA review to ensure that they do not create significant 
hazard to public health,

Jack W. McGraw,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VIII.
[FR Doc. 02-297 Filed 1-4-02; 8:45 am]
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