[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28027-28029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11728]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9305-3]


State Program Requirements; Application for Program Revision to 
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program; 
Alaska

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA approved Alaska's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 
System (NPDES) program application on October 31, 2008 pursuant to 
section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA or ``the Act''). The approved 
State program, called the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
(APDES), includes an implementation plan that transfers the 
administration of specific program components from EPA to the Alaska 
Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) in four phases over a 
three year period from the date of program approval. Phases I-III have 
been transferred from EPA to ADEC. Transfer of the final phase, Phase 
IV, is currently scheduled for October 31, 2011. ADEC has made a 
submission for approval for a one year extension of the transfer of 
Phase IV of the APDES program, which includes oil and gas, cooling 
water intakes and dischargers, munitions and all other remaining 
facilities not previously transferred in Phases I-III. If EPA approves 
the APDES program revision, Phase IV will transfer to ADEC four years 
from the date of program approval, or October 31, 2012. Today, EPA is 
requesting comments on the proposed one year extension and is providing 
notice of a public hearing and comment period on the proposal. The EPA 
Region 10 Regional Administrator will either approve or disapprove the 
APDES program revision after considering all comments received during 
the public comment period.

DATES: Comments. The public comment period on the ADEC submission 
seeking a one year extension of the transfer of Phase IV will be from 
the date of publication of this Notice until June 27, 2011. Comments 
must be received or post-marked by no later than midnight on June 27, 
2011.
    Public Hearing: EPA will hold a public hearing on June 13, 2011 
from 6 p.m. until all testimony is heard or 9 p.m., whichever is 
earlier. The public hearing will be held in Anchorage, AK. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Mail: Send paper copies to Hanh Shaw, Office of Water and 
Watersheds, Mail Stop OWW-130, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, 
WA 98101-3140.
    E-mail: Send electronic copies to [email protected].
    Fax: Fax copies to the attention of Hanh Shaw at (206) 553-0165.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Deliver copies to Hanh Shaw, Office of Water 
and Watersheds, Mail Stop OWW-130, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, 
Seattle, WA 98101-3140. Call (206) 553-1200 before delivery to verify 
business hours.
    EPA requests that a duplicate copy of comments be sent to Theresa 
Svancara, [email protected], Alaska Department of 
Environmental Conservation, P. O. Box 111800, 410 Willoughby Avenue, 
Suite 303, Juneau, AK 99811-1800.
    Viewing and/or Obtaining Copies of Documents. ADEC has submitted a 
modified program description and a modified memorandum of agreement 
(MOA) related to the proposed APDES program revision. There are a 
number of ways that you may obtain or view the submissions. (1) Copies 
of ADEC's submissions are available for inspection at the EPA Region 10 
Library, Park Place Building, 1200 6th Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA 
98101-3140; the library hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, telephone number (206) 
553-1289. (2) Copies are available at the EPA, Region 10, Alaska 
Operations Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, 19, Room 537, Anchorage, 
AK 99513, during normal business hours; contact Cindi Godsey at (907) 
271-6561. (3) The ADEC submissions can be viewed or downloaded from the 
EPA Web site http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/water.nsf/NPDES+Permits/apdes. 
(4) ADEC will have copies of the submissions available for viewing 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Alaska holidays, 
at the following locations: 555 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK 99501-
2617; 410 Willoughby Avenue, Suite 303, Juneau, AK 99811-1800; and 610 
University Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99709. (5) The ADEC submissions can be 
viewed or downloaded from the State of

[[Page 28028]]

Alaska Web site http://www.dec.state.ak.us/water/npdes/index.htm. (6) 
Part or all of the ADEC submissions may be copied at EPA or at ADEC. 
ADEC has no copy fee for 200 or fewer pages and charges .20 per page 
for more than 200 pages. (7) You may request a copy of all or parts of 
the ADEC submissions from EPA using the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) request process. The procedures and costs associated with a FOIA 
request can be found at the EPA Web site http://www.epa.gov/region10/foia.
    Location of Public Hearing: The public hearing will be held on June 
13, 2011 at Dena'ina Center, Kahtnu Room, 600 W 7th Avenue, Anchorage, 
AK. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hanh Shaw, Office of Water and 
Watersheds, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 6th 
Avenue, Suite 900, Mail Stop OWW-130, Seattle, WA 98101-3140, (206) 
553-0171, [email protected] or Cindi Godsey, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 10, Alaska Operations Office, 222 W 7th 
Avenue, 19, Anchorage, AK 99513, (907) 271-6561, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 402 of the CWA created the NPDES 
program under which EPA may issue permits for the point source 
discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States under conditions 
required by the Act. Section 402 also provides that EPA may approve a 
State to administer an equivalent state program provided the State has 
appropriate legal authority and a program sufficient to meet the Act's 
requirements. The regulatory requirements for state program approval 
are set forth in 40 CFR part 123, and 40 CFR 123.21 lists the basic 
elements of an approvable application. The NPDES regulations, 40 CFR 
123.62, also set forth procedures for revision of approved state 
programs.
    EPA considers the program revision documents submitted by ADEC to 
be administratively complete at the time of this notice. EPA will not 
make a final decision on the APDES program revision until after 
considering all public comments provided during the public comment 
period and from the public hearing and completion of government to 
government Tribal consultations, as requested, with Federally 
recognized Tribes in Alaska.
    EPA's approval of the APDES program application on October 31, 2008 
authorized ADEC to assume responsibility for the NPDES program in four 
phases over three years from the date of APDES program approval. ADEC 
currently has permit administration authority for Phases I-III. These 
three phases cover the following major components: Phase I includes 
domestic discharges (excluding the bio-solids program), timber 
harvesting, seafood processing facilities and hatcheries; Phase II 
includes Federal facilities, stormwater program, pretreatment program, 
and miscellaneous non-domestic discharges; and Phase III includes 
mining. The ADEC phasing schedule authorizes the transfer of Phase IV 
three years from APDES program approval, or October 31, 2011. Phase IV 
components include oil and gas, cooling water intakes and dischargers, 
munitions, and all other remaining facilities not previously 
transferred in Phases I-III.
    By letter dated March 14, 2011, ADEC proposed a delay of the Phase 
IV transfer for one year, or until October 31, 2012. ADEC also 
submitted a modified APDES program description and a modified 
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) related to the APDES program revision. 
The program description and MOA submissions were modified to 
incorporate the proposed one year extension of the Phase IV transfer.
    The APDES program description provides a narrative description of 
the scope, structure, coverage, and processes of the APDES program 
including a description of the ADEC organization and staffing and 
administrative procedures for the issuance of permits and 
administrative or judicial procedures for their review. The only 
changes being proposed to the program description relate to a one year 
extension for the transfer of the Phase IV program component and to 
update the Phase IV permit list. The MOA is a document signed by each 
agency, committing them to specific responsibilities relevant to the 
administration and enforcement of the APDES program. The MOA provides 
structure for ADEC's program management and EPA's program oversight. 
The only changes being proposed to the MOA relate to a one year 
extension for the transfer of the Phase IV program component. The ADEC 
Commissioner and the Regional Administrator will sign the modified MOA 
if the APDES program revision is determined by EPA to be approvable 
after all comments received during the comment period have been 
considered.
    After close of the comment period and completion of consultations, 
the Regional Administrator will make a decision to approve or 
disapprove the APDES program revision based on the requirements of 
Section 402 of the CWA and 40 CFR part 123. If the Regional 
Administrator approves the APDES program revision, the Regional 
Administrator will so notify ADEC and sign the modified MOA. Notice 
would be published in the Federal Register and EPA would suspend 
issuance of NPDES permits in Phase IV in accordance with the approved 
modified schedule to transfer NPDES program authority for Phase IV. If 
the Regional Administrator disapproves the APDES program revision, the 
existing Phase IV transfer date (October 31, 2011) will be retained. 
ADEC will be notified of the reasons for disapproval and of any 
revisions or modifications to the program revision that are necessary 
to obtain approval.
    Public Hearing Procedures. The public hearing will be conducted in 
accordance with 40 CFR 124.12 and will provide interested parties with 
the opportunity to give written and/or oral comments for the official 
record. The following procedures will be used at the public hearing. 
(1) The presiding officer shall conduct the hearing in a manner which 
will allow all interested persons wishing to make oral statements an 
opportunity to do so; however, the presiding officer may inform 
attendees of any time limits during the opening statement of the 
hearing. (2) Any person may submit written statements or documents for 
the hearing record. (3) The presiding officer may, in his or her 
discretion, exclude oral testimony if such testimony is overly 
repetitious of previous testimony or is not relevant to the decision to 
approve the submitted APDES program revision to change the date for the 
transfer of Phase IV. (4) The transcript taken at the hearing, together 
with copies of all submitted statements and documents, shall become a 
part of the record submitted to the Regional Administrator. (5) The 
hearing record shall be left open until the deadline for receipt of 
comments specified at the beginning of this Notice to allow any person 
time to submit additional written statements or to present views or 
evidence tending to rebut testimony presented at the public hearing. 
(6) Hearing statements may be oral or written. Written copies of oral 
statements are urged for accuracy of the record and for use of EPA and 
other interested persons. Persons wishing to make oral testimony 
supporting their written comments are encouraged to give a summary of 
their points rather than reading lengthy written comments verbatim into 
the record. All comments related to the proposed program revision 
received by EPA Region 10 by

[[Page 28029]]

the deadline for receipt of comments, or presented at the public 
hearing, will be considered by EPA before taking final action on the 
submitted APDES program revision.
    Public Comment on the Program Revision. EPA and ADEC encourage 
public participation in this program revision process. EPA requests the 
public to review the program revision that ADEC has submitted and 
provide any comments relevant to the proposed one-year extension for 
transfer of Phase IV. EPA will consider all comments on the APDES 
program revision in its decision.

    Authority: This action is taken under the authority of Section 
402 of the Clean Water Act as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1342. I hereby 
provide public notice of the State of Alaska APDES program revision 
in accordance with 40 CFR 123.62.

    Dated: May 5. 2011.
Dennis McLerran,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2011-11728 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
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