[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57572-57573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19935]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796; FRL-8480-2]
 RIN 2050-AE81


Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion 
Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments; Extension of Comment 
Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability; Extension of Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the 
comment period for the Notice of Data Availability (NODA) entitled 
``Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes 
in Landfills and Surface Impoundments.'' This notice announces the 
availability of new information and data concerning the management of 
coal combustion wastes (CCW) in landfills and surface impoundments and 
will be used by the Agency in determining how, if at all, this 
additional information should affect the Agency's decisions as it 
continues to follow-up on its Regulatory Determination for CCW disposed 
of in landfills and surface impoundments. This NODA was published on 
August 29, 2007 (72 FR 49714), and the comment period was scheduled to 
end on November 27, 2007. However, a number of environmental groups 
have requested additional time to respond to the issues raised in the 
NODA and its accompanying documents. Therefore, we are extending the 
comment period an additional 60 days, which would extend the comment 
period to January 28, 2008.

DATES: The comment period is extended from the original closing date of 
November 27, 2007 to January 28, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
RCRA-2006-0796, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) 
to: [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796. 
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is 
not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail comment 
directly to the docket without going through EPA's electronic public 
docket, EPA's e-mail system automatically captures your e-mail address. 
E-mail addresses that are automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system 
are included as part of the comment that is placed in the official 
public docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
     Fax: Comments may be faxed to 202-566-0272. Attention 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796.
     Mail: Send two copies of your comments to Notice of Data 
Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes in Landfills and 
Surface Impoundments, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver two copies of your comments to the 
Notice of Data

[[Page 57573]]

Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes in Landfills and 
Surface Impoundments Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796. Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
docket's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays), and special arrangements 
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2006-0796. 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.regulations.gov, 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 www.regulations.gov 
or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov website 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. We also request that interested parties who would like 
information they previously submitted to EPA to be considered as part 
of this action, identify the relevant information by docket entry 
numbers and page numbers. For additional instructions on submitting 
comments, go to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexander Livnat, Office of Solid 
Waste (5306P), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460-0002, 
telephone (703) 308-7251, e-mail address [email protected]. For 
more information on this rulemaking, please visit http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/fossil/index.htm/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NODA that is the subject of this notice, 
and which was published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2007 (72 
FR 49714), announces the availability of new information and data 
contained in three documents that the Agency is requesting public 
comments on, concerning the management of CCW in landfills and surface 
impoundments. The three documents that the Agency is requesting 
comments on are: A joint U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA report 
entitled, Coal Combustion Waste Management at Landfills and Surface 
Impoundments, 1994-2004; a draft risk assessment conducted by EPA on 
the management of CCW in landfills and surface impoundments; and EPA's 
damage case assessment. The Agency is soliciting comments on the extent 
to which the damage case information, the results of the risk 
assessment, and the new liner and ground water monitoring information 
from the DOE/EPA report should affect the Agency's decisions. EPA is 
also requesting direct comment on the draft risk assessment document to 
help inform a planned peer review. In addition, the Agency has included 
in the docket to the NODA a rulemaking petition submitted by a number 
of citizens' groups. Furthermore, the Agency has included in the docket 
to the NODA two approaches regarding the management of CCW, one 
prepared by the electric utility industry and the other prepared by a 
number of citizens' groups. The Agency will consider all the 
information provided through the NODA, the comments and new information 
submitted on the NODA, as well as the results of a subsequent peer 
review of the risk assessment, as it continues to follow-up on its 
Regulatory Determination for CCW disposed of in landfills and surface 
impoundments.
    The comment period for the NODA was scheduled to end on November 
27, 2007. However, a number of environmental groups (Earthjustice, 
Environmental Integrity Project, Clean Air Task Force, Kentucky 
Resources Council, Army for a Clean Environment, and Delaware 
Riverkeeper Network) have requested that EPA extend the comment period 
by 75 days, noting that additional time is needed in order to comment 
meaningfully on the information contained in the NODA and to perform 
extensive analysis on several documents, some of which are highly 
technical. The commenters also noted that, due to the length and 
complexity of the draft risk assessment (``Human and Ecological Risk 
Assessment of Coal Combustion Wastes''), it will be necessary to engage 
expert review that will consequently increase the time necessary to 
prepare their comments.
    EPA believed that the 90-day public comment period originally 
established was reasonable. However, since the Agency will be 
considering all the information provided through the comments and new 
information submitted on the NODA, as well as the results of a 
subsequent peer review of the risk assessment, we believe it is 
important that commenters have adequate time to analyze the data 
noticed in the NODA so that they may provide informed and meaningful 
comments to the Agency. Therefore, we have decided to extend the 
comment period by 60 days, thereby extending the comment period to 150 
days. We believe an additional 60 days is adequate for commenters to 
analyze the data noticed in the NODA and available in the docket to the 
NODA. Because the 60-day extension ends on January 26, 2008, which is a 
Saturday, the comment period will actually be extended until the 
following Monday, January 28, 2008.

    Dated: September 28, 2007.
Matthew Hale,
 Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. E7-19935 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P