[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28776-28777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12216]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9308-1]


Re-Proposal of Effluent Limits Under the NPDES General Permit for 
Oil and Gas Exploration, Development and Production Facilities Located 
in State and Federal Waters in Cook Inlet, AK (AKG-31-5000)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA Region 10 today re-proposes six effluent limits for 
produced water under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 
System (NPDES) General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration, Development 
and Production Facilities in State and Federal Waters in Cook Inlet, 
Permit No. AKG-31-5000 (Permit). The effluent limits subject to the re-
proposal are: mercury, copper, total aromatic hydrocarbons (TAH), total 
aqueous hydrocarbons (TAqH), silver, and whole effluent toxicity (WET). 
As proposed, the Permit would continue to authorize discharges from 
exploration, development, and production facilities that are included 
in the Coastal and Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction 
Point Source Category as authorized by Section 402 of the Clean Water 
Act (CWA or ``the Act''), 33 U.S.C. 1342.
    State Certification: Section 401 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1341, 
requires EPA to seek a certification from the State that the conditions 
of the re-proposed Permit are stringent enough to comply with State 
water quality standards. EPA obtained a draft certification from the 
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) on May 3, 2011. 
EPA intends to seek a final certification from ADEC prior to issuing 
the final Permit. When the State issues certification, the State may 
impose more stringent conditions than are currently included in the 
Permit re-proposal to ensure compliance with State water quality 
standards. EPA would then be required to include the more stringent 
conditions from the State certification in the Permit pursuant to 
Section 401(d) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1341(d).

DATES: Comments. The public comment period on the re-proposed produced 
water effluent limits will be from the date of publication of this 
Notice until June 20, 2011. Comments must be received or post-marked by 
no later than midnight on June 20, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods. EPA 
will consider all comments prior to making its final decision.
    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.
    Viewing and/or Obtaining Copies of Documents. A copy of the Permit 
re-proposal, the fact sheet that fully explains the re-proposal, and a 
copy of the State's draft certification of reasonable assurance may be 
obtained or viewed at the following locations. (1) EPA Region 10 
Library, Park Place Building, 1200 6th Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA 
98101-3140; (206) 553-

[[Page 28777]]

1289. (2) EPA, Region 10, Alaska Operations Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, 
19, Room 537, Anchorage, AK 99513; (907) 271-5083. (3) EPA Web 
site http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/water.nsf/NPDES+Permits/Permits+Homepage. (4) ADEC Anchorage office, 555 Cordova Street, 
Anchorage, AK 99501-2617. (5) ADEC Web site http://www.dec.state.ak.us/water/index.htm.

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].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 25, 2007, EPA issued the NPDES 
General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration, Development and Production 
Facilities in State and Federal Waters in Cook Inlet, AKG-31-5000, 
effective July 2, 2007. On June 17, 2007, a petition for review was 
filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Court) by Cook 
Inletkeeper, Cook Inlet Fishermen's Fund, the Native Village of 
Nanwalek, and the Native Village of Port Graham (Petitioners) pursuant 
to Section 509(b)(1)(F) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1369(b)(1)(F). Among 
other things, Petitioners challenged the effluent limits in the Permit 
that became less stringent than the previous permit, claiming that 
these less stringent limits were not supported by an adequate 
antidegradation analysis. On March 15, 2010, EPA filed a Motion for 
Voluntary Remand (Motion). The Motion requested the Court to remand the 
less stringent produced water effluent limits for mercury, copper, TAH, 
TAqH, and WET to allow EPA to reconsider the inclusion of these limits 
in the Permit. On October 21, 2010, the Court issued a Memorandum which 
granted EPA's Motion, subject to specific reporting requirements (Ninth 
Circuit, Case No. 07-72420). As a result, the Court remanded the 
requested effluent limits to EPA. At the time EPA made its Motion to 
the Court, EPA inadvertently left out the less stringent silver 
effluent for produced water. This was an error and EPA should have 
included this limit in the remand request. Therefore, EPA has also 
included the silver effluent limit in this re-proposal.

    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 Permit re-proposal in accordance with 
40 CFR 124.10.

    Dated: May 11, 2011.
Christine Psyk,
Associate Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2011-12216 Filed 5-17-11; 8:45 am]
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