[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57776-57778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23678]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9203-2]
Clean Water Act Section 303(d): Notice for the Public Review of
the Draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft TMDL and request for public
review and comment on the Draft TMDL.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of EPA's Draft
Chesapeake Bay (Bay) TMDL for nutrients and sediment for public review
and comment and announces the information regarding public meetings on
the Draft TMDL being held within the watershed. EPA is establishing the
Draft TMDL for nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment for
each of the 92 segments in the tidal portion of the Chesapeake Bay
watershed pursuant to Sections 117(g) and 303(d) of the Clean Water Act
(CWA). As such this Draft TMDL will contain at minimum 92 segment
specific point (wasteload) and non-point (load) allocations for
nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment that will assure the attainment and
maintenance of all applicable water quality standards for each of the
92 segments. The Bay TMDL is a key part of the clean water commitment
in the Federal Strategy developed as part of Executive Order 13508 on
Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration. EPA intends to work with
federal partners, the six watershed states, the District of Columbia,
local governments and other parties to put in place a comprehensive,
transparent and accountable set of commitments and actions that
together ensure that pollution controls needed to restore Bay water
quality are implemented by no later than 2025 (Executive Order, 13508).
To provide information to the public regarding the process,
approach and implications of the Draft Bay TMDL, EPA will hold a series
of informal public meetings on the dates and locations identified
below. The goal of these meetings is to assist the public in their
understanding of the Draft Bay TMDL and provide an overview of the TMDL
process, especially the stakeholder review and comment process. EPA
will verbally respond to as many questions as time permits at these
public meetings. Formal comments that any stakeholder wishes to make
must be written and submitted as described below and will be entered
into the public record. By this notice, EPA is soliciting input from
the public on the Draft Bay TMDL. EPA will review all written comments
submitted during the public comment period and will consider them, as
appropriate, in establishing the Final TMDL. Persons wishing to comment
on the information contained in the TMDL are invited to do so in
writing from September 24, 2010 to November 8, 2010. All comments must
be postmarked no later than November 8, 2010. All comments must be
written, include the name, address and telephone number of the
commenter, and should be as concise and as specific as possible in
order for EPA to develop a meaningful response. Electronic submission
of comments as described below is encouraged. Additional information on
the Draft Bay TMDL and on the public meetings can be found at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl.
DATES: Comments on the Draft TMDL must be submitted in writing to EPA
on or before November 8, 2010.
Viewing: The Draft TMDL can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl, EPA's Docket Center (instructions below), in person
at EPA Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 with proper
arrangements made in advance with the Region 3 library (215-814-5254 or
[email protected]) or at the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office at
410 Severn Avenue Suite 112, Annapolis, MD 21403 (Contact Debbie
Embleton 410-267-9856 or [email protected]).
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OW-2010-0736, by one of the following methods:
(1) http://www.regulations.gov: After entering the docket for this
action, click on the Draft Bay TMDL to make a comment. Click the
``Submit a Comment'' button at the top right of the Web page, then
follow the online instructions.
(2) Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode:
28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
(3) Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room, EPA
Headquarters West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's
normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information by
contacting the Docket Center at 202-566-1744.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OW-
2010-0736. This Notice is not open for public
[[Page 57777]]
comment, but, beginning September 24, 2010 the Draft Bay TMDL is
available for comment on http://www.regulations.gov. Additional
information about the docket is contained below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Draft Bay TMDL,
please contact Jennifer Sincock, USEPA, Region 3, Water Protection
Division (3WP30), 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103; telephone
number: (215) 814-5766; fax number: (215) 814-2318; e-mail: [email protected].
Public Meeting Dates and Locations
Wednesday, September 29, 2010: DC Watershed meeting and
webinar from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Washington National Zoo Visitor Center
Auditorium, 3001 Connecticut Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
Monday, October 4, 2010: VA Watershed meeting from 6 to 8
p.m. at the Grafton Theatre, James Madison University, 281 Warren
Service Drive, Harrisonburg, VA.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010: VA Watershed meeting from 6 to 8
p.m. at Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus, Ernst
Community Cultural Center, 8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale VA.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010: VA Watershed meeting from 6 to
8 p.m. at the Robins Pavilion Jepson Alumni Center, University of
Richmond, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA.
Thursday, October 7, 2010: VA Watershed webinar from 1 to
3 p.m.
Thursday, October 7, 2010: VA Watershed meeting from 6 to
8 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina Hotel, 700 Settlers Landing
Road, Hampton, VA.
Monday, October 11, 2010: DE Watershed meeting and webinar
from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Delaware Tech Owens Campus, Arts and Science
Center Theatre, Route 18, Georgetown, DE.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010: MD Watershed meeting from 2 to
4 p.m. at The Easton Club 28449 Clubhouse Drive, Easton, MD.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010: MD Watershed meeting from 2
to 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Annapolis, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis, MD.
Thursday, October 14, 2010: MD Watershed meeting and
webinar from 2 to 4 p.m. Hagerstown Hotel and Convention Center, 1901
Dual Highway, Hagerstown, MD.
Monday, October 18, 2010: PA Watershed meeting from 2 to 4
p.m. at the Best Western Eden Resort, 222 Eden Road, Lancaster, PA.
Tuesday. October 19, 2010: PA Watershed meeting from 2 to
4 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 850 Stratford Drive, State College,
PA.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010: PA Watershed meeting and
webinar from 2 to 4 p.m. at Lycoming College, The Academic Center
Wendle Hall, 700 College Place, Williamsport, PA.
Thursday, October 21, 2010: PA Watershed meeting from 2 to
4 p.m. at Bentley's, 2300 Route 309, Ashley, PA.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010: NY Watershed meeting from 6 to
8 p.m. at the Riverview Holiday Inn, 760 East Water Street, Elmira, NY.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010: NY Watershed meeting and
webinar from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Binghamton Regency Hotel, 225 Water
Street, Binghamton, NY.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010: WV Watershed meeting from 6
to 8 p.m. at the Comfort Inn, 1872 Edwin Miller Blvd, Martinsburg, WV.
Thursday, November 4, 2010: WV Watershed meeting and
webinar from 6 to 8 p.m. at the South Branch Inn, Route 50 East,
Romney, WV.
Please check the Web site http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl to confirm the meeting or webinar date and time.
Alternately, you may also contact Jennifer Sincock by telephone at
(215) 814-5766 or by e-mail at [email protected]
To register for the webinars, please go to the following
link and follow the webinar registration instructions, http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl. Webinars are open to all interested
stakeholders not just residents within the jurisdiction that the
webinar is held. Registration is only required to attend the meetings
via webinar. Attending the public meetings in person does not require
registration.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 303(d) of the CWA requires that each
state identify those waters within its boundaries for which existing
technology-based and other pollution controls required by the CWA are
not stringent enough to attain or maintain state water quality
standards. A TMDL must be established for each of those ``impaired''
waters. TMDLs are pollution budgets designed to identify necessary
reductions of pollutant loads to the impaired waters so that the
appropriate water quality standards are met, including designated uses
like fishing or swimming and water quality criteria for parameters such
as dissolved oxygen and water clarity.
Why is a TMDL being developed for the Chesapeake Bay? The
Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure constituting the largest estuary
in the United States and one of the largest and most biologically
productive estuaries in the world. Despite significant efforts by
federal, state, and local governments and other interested parties,
water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay prevents the attainment of
existing state water quality standards. The pollutants that are largely
responsible for impairment of the Chesapeake Bay are nutrients, in the
form of nitrogen and phosphorus, and sediment. EPA, in coordination
with the Bay watershed jurisdictions of Delaware, the District of
Columbia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West
Virginia, is establishing a nutrient and sediment pollution budget for
the Bay consistent with CWA requirements to guide and assist Chesapeake
Bay restoration efforts.
When will the Bay TMDL be completed? The TMDL schedule calls for
the completion of the Bay TMDL by December 31, 2010. EPA intends to
collect public comments on the Draft TMDL between September 24 and
November 8, 2010. EPA will establish the Final TMDL by December 31,
2010.
Who is developing the Bay TMDL? EPA Region III Water Protection
Division has assumed primary responsibility for the establishment of
the Bay TMDL, at the request of the Bay jurisdictions. The Chesapeake
Bay Program Office in EPA Region III has modeling and water quality
expertise that is critical to the TMDL development process. EPA Region
II also is providing guidance and technical support to Region III and
will cosign the final TMDL as New York State is included in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, and sources in New York State (like the other
jurisdictions) contribute nutrients and sediment to the Bay. EPA used
the Chesapeake Bay Program committee structure to engage the watershed
jurisdictions in the development of the TMDL, including the Chesapeake
Bay Water Quality Goal Implementation Team (formerly the Water Quality
Steering Committee and Nutrient Subcommittee), which is composed of the
seven Bay watershed jurisdictions, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the
Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the Interstate Commission on the
Potomac River Basin, and EPA Regions II and III. Major policy input has
been provided by the Chesapeake Bay Program Principals' Staff Committee
(Secretaries from each Bay jurisdiction, the Chesapeake Bay Commission
Executive Director, and the EPA Region III Regional Administrator) and
Executive Council (Bay watershed State Governors, Mayor of District of
[[Page 57778]]
Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission Chair, and the EPA
Administrator).
What is the scope of the Bay TMDL? The Bay TMDL addresses all
segments of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. The Bay TMDL
consists of 92 TMDLs, addressing nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment, for
each of the 92 segments in the Bay and tidal tributaries. EPA intends
that the Bay TMDL will be established at a level necessary to ensure
attainment of water quality standards in each of these segments. In
addition, the Bay TMDL assigns individual and (as appropriate)
aggregate maximum daily allowable point source and nonpoint source
loadings, called wasteload allocations (WLAs) and load allocations
(LAs), respectively, across all jurisdictions within the Bay watershed.
When completed, the Bay TMDL will be the largest, most complex TMDL in
the country, covering a 64,000 square mile area in six states and the
District of Columbia.
How will the TMDL promote nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
reductions? Under the CWA, the TMDL will establish the watershed
pollution budget for nutrients and sediment necessary to meet water
quality standards in the Bay. Other provisions of the CWA, as well as
the jurisdictions' Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs), are intended
to implement the TMDL. During TMDL development, EPA worked with its
partners, the Bay jurisdictions, to assist them in developing
individual jurisdiction-specific WIPs, which collectively serve as part
of the overall TMDL implementation framework. Those WIPs are not part
of the Bay TMDL itself but are part of the TMDL record and help provide
reasonable assurance that the necessary nutrient and sediment
reductions identified in the TMDL will be achieved. The WIPs identify
specific nutrient and sediment reduction targets by geographic location
and sector to achieve allowable loadings, as well as a description and
schedule of actions that the jurisdictions will take to achieve these
reductions.
In accordance with EO 13508, EPA and the jurisdictions also will
provide the next set of two-year milestone commitments specifying what
source controls will be taken to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and
sediment during that period. EPA has invited each jurisdiction to
present information on its WIP at the meeting(s) and/or webinar(s)
within its jurisdiction. At these meetings EPA will be available to
answer questions on the TMDL and how the WIPs will inform the TMDL. Any
questions or comments regarding the substance of the individual WIPs,
or the WIPs themselves should be addressed to the individual
jurisdiction. Links to the WIPs are available at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl.
For information on the jurisdictions' Draft WIPs and procedures for
submitting comments, please contact the jurisdiction representatives
below.
Jurisdiction WIP Contacts
Delaware: Jennifer Volk ([email protected]).
District of Columbia: Monir Chowdhury ([email protected]).
Maryland: TMDL Coordinator ([email protected]).
New York: Peter Freehafer ([email protected]).
Pennsylvania: Patricia Buckley ([email protected]).
Virginia: VA Bay TMDL ([email protected]).
West Virginia: Jennifer Pauer ([email protected]).
Paperwork Reduction Act: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
has previously approved the information collection requirements for
developing TMDLs pursuant to Section 303(d) of the CWA under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and
has assigned OMB control number 2040-0071. The OMB control numbers for
EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
How Can I Access the Docket and/or Submit Comments? Docket: EPA has
established a public docket for this Notice under Docket ID No. EPA-
R03-OW-2010-0736. The Draft Bay TMDL is available in the docket at
http://www.regulations.gov. Assistance and tips for accessing the
docket can be found at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl.
Comments via e-mail are not being accepted. Instead, comments will
be accepted through http://www.regulations.gov and by mail. All
comments received, including any personal information provided, will be
included in the public docket without change and will be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov, unless the comment includes
information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or
other information, the disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do
not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected through http://www.regulations.gov. It is recommended 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 your comment cannot
be read due to technical difficulties and we are unable to contact you
for clarification, we will not 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 the
public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. Publicly available docket materials
are available electronically either at http://www.regulations.gov as
well as at the EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The telephone number for this
docket is 202-566-2426. 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. Certain
material, such as copyrighted materials, will be publicly available
only in hard copy at the Docket Center.
Dated: September 15, 2010.
Jon M. Capacasa,
Water Protection Division, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2010-23678 Filed 9-21-10; 8:45 am]
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