[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21410-21411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8319]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7901-8]


Proposed Penalty Order Issued Under the Clean Water Act and Safe 
Drinking Water Act; Notice of Intent To Provide Internet Notice

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), Region 5, will issue notices of proposed penalty orders 
issued under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act via 
the Internet.

DATES: U.S. EPA Region 5 will commence use of Internet notice on May 
26, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The address of the Internet notice site is: http://www.epa.gov/region5/publicnotices.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard R. Wagner, Senior Attorney 
Office of Regional Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, or 
telephone him at (312) 886-7947.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By statute the Administrator of EPA is 
required to provide notice of many of its actions, and his officers and 
staff commonly do so through notification in newspapers of general 
circulation. However, given the current state of technology, Internet 
notice may provide a more effective and efficient means to provide such 
notice. The benefits of such notice include the speed with which such 
notices can be delivered as well as the relatively low cost to the 
public treasury of providing such notices. In addition, in practice, 
newspaper notices may not always reach the broadest audience. This is 
for two reasons. First, newspaper notices are nearly always published 
on one day only, irrespective of the length of any associated comment 
period. Secondly, in an attempt to provide notice to those most likely 
to be affected by an action, notice is often published in local 
newspapers. However, these newspapers often have very finite 
distribution areas, and, as a consequence, interested individuals 
outside those distribution areas may have difficulty in obtaining the 
notices. Internet notice would provide more robust review of its 
proposed actions by allowing the notice to remain available to the 
public during the entirety of the comment period, and by providing 
access to a far greater audience than is possible under current 
practices. Benefits to the public include the relative ease of access, 
and low cost of access resulting from the opportunity to access a 
larger number of notices, in one place, for a longer period of time. We 
recognize that not all members of the public may have ready access to 
the Internet, however due to the considerations listed above, as well 
as the general availability of the Internet through schools, work and 
libraries, we believe that Internet notice will likely reach a larger 
audience than has the past practice of publishing a notice in a 
newspaper. Nonetheless, in particular instances where we believe 
additional notice may be helpful, we may supplement the Internet notice 
with newspaper notice, press release or other forms of communication.
    Under the authority of the Administrator, Region 5 intends to 
commence Internet notice only for a subset of notices relating to 
proposed penalty orders issued under Sections 309(g) and 311(b)(6) of 
the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C 1319(g) and 33 U.S.C 1321(b)(6), 
respectively, as well as Section 1423(c)(3) of the Safe Drinking Water 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 300h-2(c)(3)(B). Under these provisions, the 
Administrator is authorized to assess civil penalties for violations of 
the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, after providing 
the alleged violator notice of the proposed penalty and an opportunity 
for a hearing. Notice of the proposed penalty, and opportunity to 
provide comment must also be provided to interested members of the 
public. The Administrator by rule at 40 CFR Part 22 provides that 
notice to the public may be made ``by a method reasonably calculated to 
provide notice.* * *'' 40 CFR 22.45(b)(2). Given the wide use of the 
Internet among the public and the relatively greater accessibility 
provided by the Internet when compared to traditional means of notice, 
Region 5 believes that Internet notice of these orders meets the 
regulatory requirements of 40 CFR 22.45(b)(2).
    The Region notes that public notice of certain proposed permitting 
actions under the National Pollutant Discharge

[[Page 21411]]

Elimination System has been provided through the Internet for several 
years. The Region intends to continue this practice, as well as to 
explore options for expanding use of Internet notice to other types of 
Agency actions. If EPA Region 5 decides to commence use of the Internet 
to provide notice of additional classes of Agency actions, notice of 
that decision will be provided first in the Federal Register.

Norman Niedergang,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region V.
[FR Doc. 05-8319 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am]
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