[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 181 (Monday, September 20, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56182-56184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21065]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 112

[OPA-2004-0007; FRL-7810-5]
RIN 2050-AF11


Oil Pollution Prevention and Response; Non-Transportation-Related 
Onshore and Offshore Facilities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of data availability (NODA) and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the availability of information we 
have acquired that might be relevant to determining whether alternate 
regulatory requirements are appropriate for facilities under the Clean 
Water Act that handle oil below a certain threshold amount (``certain 
facilities''). We are

[[Page 56183]]

making this information available for public review and comment as part 
of our process of considering possible streamlined approaches that 
would ensure protection of human health and the environment from oil 
spills occurring at such facilities.
    In addition to this document, the EPA is also publishing in today's 
Federal Register a Notice of Data Availability concerning facilities 
with oil-filled and process equipment.

DATES: Written comments must be received by November 19, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. OPA-2004-
0007, by one of the following methods:
    I. Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    II. Agency Web site: http://www.epa.gov/edocket EDOCKET, EPA's 
electronic public and comment system, is EPA's preferred method for 
receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting 
comments.
    III. Mail: The docket for this rulemaking is located in the EPA 
Docket Center at 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., EPA West, Suite B-102, 
Washington, DC 20460. The docket number for the proposed rule is OPA-
2004-0007. The docket is contained in the EPA Docket Center and is 
available for inspection by appointment only, between the hours of 8:30 
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. 
You may make an appointment to view the docket by calling 202-566-0276.
    IV. Hand Delivery: Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. OPA-2004-0007. 
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change and may be made available online at http://www.epa.gov/edocket, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through EDOCKET, regulations.gov or e-
mail. The EPA EDOCKET and federal regulations.gov websites are 
``anonymous access'' systems, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through EDOCKET or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the EDOCKET index 
at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically in EDOCKET or in hard 
copy at the EPA Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number to make an appointment to view the docket is (202) 
566-0276.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA/CERCLA Call Center at 800-424-9346 or TDD 800-553-7672 (hearing 
impaired). In the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call 703-412-9810 
or TDD 703-412-3323. For more detailed information on specific aspects 
of this notice, contact Hugo Paul Fleischman at 703-603-8769 
([email protected]); or Mark W. Howard at 703-603-8715 
([email protected]), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460-0002, Mail Code 5203G.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:
    1. Explain your views fully and clearly.
    2. Describe in detail and explain all assumptions you used.
    3. Provide all technical information, data, and analyses you used 
to support your views.
    4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, provide all data and 
analyses that you used to arrive at your estimate.
    5. Provide specific examples to illustrate all your concerns.
    6. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.
    7. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate docket 
identification number in the subject line on the first page of your 
response. It would also be helpful if you provided the name, date, and 
Federal Register citation related to your comments.

    Statutory Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; 33 U.S.C. 2720; 
E.O. 12777 (October 18, 1991), 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351

    Background: On July 17, 2002, EPA published a final rule amending 
the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation (40 CFR part 112) promulgated 
under the authority of the Clean Water Act. This rule included 
requirements for Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) 
Plans, and for Facility Response Plans (FRPs). It also included new 
subparts outlining the requirements for various classes of oil; 
revising the applicability of the regulation; amending the requirements 
for completing SPCC Plans; and made other modifications. (See 67 FR 
47042.) The rule was effective on August 16, 2002. The compliance dates 
in 40 CFR 112.3(a) and (b) have been extended several times. See 69 FR 
48794, August 11, 2004 for further discussion on the compliance 
extensions.
    Today's NODA: EPA is considering an initiative that would provide 
more focused regulation for certain facilities. To assist the Agency in 
this effort, we are making available to the public a number of 
documents for review and comment to help inform us as to what measures, 
if any, we should consider. We believe that as long as protection of 
human health and the environment is maintained, we should consider 
alternatives/options that accomplish the stated objectives of the 
applicable statutes and minimize impacts of the requirement. The 
documents being made available today for comment describe possible 
streamlined alternatives that could replace parts of existing 
regulations for certain facilities. Because this approach may have 
merit, we are very interested in your comments. Specifically, we are 
interested in receiving any evidence, including data and analyses, 
related to

[[Page 56184]]

claims made within the documents. In order for the data you submit to 
be considered in making a determination, the data should be collected, 
transported, and analyzed under the proper quality assurance and 
quality control protocols as described at http://www.epa.gov/quality/.
    Data Available for Comment: The documents available for comment 
today can be found at http://www.epa.gov/oilspill under the title 
``Notice of Data Availability for Certain Facilities'' in the EDOCKET 
index at http://www.epa.gov/edocket. These documents include relevant 
portions of a June 10, 2004 letter from the U.S. Small Business 
Administration's Office of Advocacy to Thomas P. Dunne, Acting 
Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 
Response of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; relevant sections 
of a background document, Proposed Reforms to the SPCC Professional 
Engineer Certification Requirement: Designing a More Cost Effective 
Approach for Small Facilities; and additional documents submitted by 
members of the agricultural industry and other industry stakeholders.
    Request for Comments: We believe that affected parties should be 
given an opportunity to participate in the Agency's process of 
considering whether possible streamlined approaches are appropriate. We 
are especially interested in data relating to the regulatory approaches 
described in the documents available for your review today. We are 
listing the following areas, which are discussed in the documents 
available to you today, as examples of the kinds of data we request be 
submitted.

1--Data to support development of criteria (e.g. facility oil capacity, 
activity, etc.) to define a threshold for streamlined requirements for 
``certain facilities.''
2--Spill rates for facilities handling oil in various amounts.
3--Cost differences for preparation and professional engineer 
certification for the SPCC Plan related to size of facility or amount 
of oil handled.
4--SPCC compliance rates for facilities handling oil in various 
amounts.

    The Agency is soliciting comments only on the data referenced in 
this NODA; we are not soliciting comments in this NODA on any other 
topic. The data may be found at Docket No. OPA-2004-0007 (http://www.epa.gov/edocket), and on our Web site (i.e., http://www.epa.gov/oilspill).

    Dated: August 30, 2004.
Thomas P. Dunne,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 
Response.
[FR Doc. 04-21065 Filed 9-17-04; 8:45 am]
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