[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 60 (Thursday, March 29, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14807-14808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5798]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0240; FRL-8293-8]


A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change 
on the Costs of Implementing Water Quality-Based Effluent Limits at 
Publicly Owned Treatment Works in the Great Lakes Region

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, ``A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of 
Climate Change on the Costs of Implementing Water Quality-Based 
Effluent Limits at Publicly-Owned Treatment Works in the Great Lakes 
Region'' (EPA/600/R-07/034A). The document was prepared by the National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It 
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency 
policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments 
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins March 29, 2007, and ends 
April 28, 2007. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by April 28, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts 
of Climate Change on the Costs of Implementing Water Quality-Based 
Effluent Limits at Publicly-Owned Treatment Works in the Great Lakes 
Region'' is available primarily via the Internet on NCEA's home page 
under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies are available 
from NCEA's Technical Information Staff (telephone: 202-564-3261, 
facsimile: 202-565-0050). If you are requesting a paper copy, please 
provide your name, your mailing address, and the document title.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/
courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment 
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; 
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: 
[email protected].
    For technical information, contact Thomas Johnson, NCEA; telephone: 
202-564-3406; facsimile: 202-564-2018; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Project/Document

    This report describes the potential scope and magnitude of climate 
change impacts on the cost of meeting water quality based effluent 
limits at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) discharging to rivers 
and streams in the Great Lakes Region (GLR). The report is a screening 
level analysis focusing on costs of meeting water quality based 
effluent limits for a single pollutant, biochemical oxygen demand at 
all POTWs in the region discharging to currently impaired stream 
reaches. POTWs discharge billions of gallons of effluent daily to 
receiving water bodies throughout the United States. One of the 
principal pollutants associated with POTW effluent is organic matter. 
Naturally, occurring microbial populations in receiving waters consume 
dissolved oxygen (DO) as they decompose organic matter. Low DO is a 
significant source of water quality impairment. Climate change in many 
parts of the country is expected to increase the proportion of rainfall

[[Page 14808]]

occurring in high-intensity events, resulting in increased stormwater 
runoff. At the same time, a shift towards more intense storms is 
expected to decrease infiltration and groundwater recharge, resulting 
in reduced low-flow periods between events. Increased air temperatures 
and evapotranspiration could also result in reduced streamflow between 
rainfall events. Reduced low-flow events in receiving waters could 
result in increased water quality impairment below POTWs due to reduced 
dilution of effluent.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0240 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-1753.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 
202-566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center 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. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should 
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit one 
unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies of 
the comments. For attachments, provide an index, number pages 
consecutively with the comments, and submit an unbound original and 
three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2007-0240 Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will 
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is 
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket 
without change and to make the comments available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless a 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 www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 
The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, 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 http://www.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. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the 
EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: March 26, 2007.
David Bussard,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E7-5798 Filed 3-28-07; 8:45 am]
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