[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 126 (Thursday, July 1, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38068-38069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15885]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 122, 123, 403, 501 and 503

[FRL-9169-8]


Public Meeting With Interested Stakeholders for National 
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting 
Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gives 
notice of a meeting to discuss the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule. 
With this rulemaking, EPA is utilizing 21st Century modern technologies 
to improve management and performance of the NPDES program by requiring 
electronic reporting of NPDES information from regulated facilities. 
This will reduce the burden for facilities to report to regulatory 
agencies and for states to report to EPA. Expected benefits include 
lower processing costs for facilities and states, improved data quality 
and accuracy, greater data accessibility and transparency for the 
public, and an increased ability to target and address noncompliance 
that will improve and protect water quality. This meeting will be a 
session in which EPA will discuss electronic reporting alternatives for 
submission of NPDES information directly to states and/or EPA from 
permittees. Topics include the feasibility of requiring electronic 
reporting in areas such as electronic discharge monitoring reports 
(eDMRs), electronic notice of intent (eNOI), and electronic program 
reports. The purpose of this meeting is to give interested parties the 
opportunity to discuss the proposed rule and to provide EPA feedback on 
the presented options.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 from 1 p.m. 
till 3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting location is Room 1117A EPA East, 1201 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anuj Vaidya 202-564-3459, 
[email protected] or Sharon Gonder 202-564-5256, 
[email protected]. If you are interested in attending this meeting, 
please contact Mr. Anuj Vaidya or Ms. Sharon Gonder to register for 
this meeting no later than Wednesday, July 7, 2010.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This meeting will be open to all 
stakeholders

[[Page 38069]]

interested in the rule EPA is developing to collect NPDES program 
management information via electronic reporting from permittees to 
states and/or EPA. After considerable dialogue with NPDES authorized 
states, EPA decided to develop a proposed rulemaking to require 
electronic reporting for the NPDES program ensuring that the site 
specific information essential for the protection of public health and 
the environment is available on a nationally consistent, timely, 
accurate and complete basis.
    EPA believes this rulemaking will improve the ability of EPA and 
states to protect and preserve water quality by mandating electronic 
reporting directly from facilities in order to increase the volume and 
quality of data available to identify and address environmental 
problems within available resources. EPA also believes this rulemaking 
will improve overall management and oversight of the NPDES program and 
improve compliance by individual facilities. These efficiencies should 
provide significant benefits, including reduced costs of processing 
paper forms, improved quality and accuracy of the data available to 
regulatory agencies, more timely and expanded use of the data to 
identify, target, and address problems, quicker availability of the 
data for use, and increased accessibility and transparency of the data 
to the public. These efficiencies should allow states to shift precious 
resources from data management activities to those more targeted to 
protect the environment.
    For this meeting, EPA plans to seek comment from stakeholders 
regarding the feasibility of electronic reporting requirements, which 
existing reporting requirements for NPDES subprograms (e.g., 
pretreatment, or biosolids) could be adapted into electronic reporting, 
costs and benefits to the states, permittees, EPA and the public, and 
the timing of the rule implementation schedule. EPA believes that such 
electronic reporting requirements will improve the timeliness, 
accuracy, and completeness of the NPDES data and improve the 
transparency of the NPDES program to the public.

    Dated: June 24, 2010.
Lisa Lund,
Director, Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2010-15885 Filed 7-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P