[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39101-39102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16617]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409; FRL-9428-4]


EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Guidance Regarding Identification 
of Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Department of the Army, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On May 2, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) announced availability 
of draft guidance (76 FR 24479) that describes how the agencies will 
identify waters protected by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
Amendments of 1972 (Clean Water Act or CWA or Act) and implement the 
Supreme Court's decisions on this topic (i.e., Solid Waste Agency of 
Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) (531 U.S. 
159 (2001)) and Rapanos v. United States (547 U.S. 715 (2006)) 
(Rapanos)). The comment period was originally set to expire on July 1, 
2011, and the agencies are extending the public comment period by 30 
days.

DATES: Public comments are due by July 31, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-0409 by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409 in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Send the original and three copies of your comments 
to: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention: Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Deliver your comments to EPA Docket 
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409. Such deliveries 
are accepted only during the Docket's normal hours of operation, which 
are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. The telephone number for the Water Docket is 202-566-2426.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-
0409. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change and may be made available on-line 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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
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 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 
might not be able to consider your comment. Avoid the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption, and ensure that electronic files 
are free of any defects or viruses. For additional information

[[Page 39102]]

about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at 
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Some information, however, is not publicly 
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available 
docket materials are available electronically at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water Docket, EPA Docket 
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, 
DC. 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, and the telephone number for the 
Water Docket is 202-566-2426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Donna Downing, Office of Water 
(4502-T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington DC 20460; telephone number 202-566-1783; email address: 
[email protected]. Mr. David Olson, Regulatory Community of Practice 
(CECW-CO-R), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 441 G Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20314; telephone number 202-761-4922; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the May 2, 2011, issue of the Federal 
Register (76 FR 24479), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the availability of draft agency 
guidance, regarding Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction following the 
U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in SWANCC and Rapanos. The agencies 
invited public comment for a 60-day period. Several entities have 
requested an extension of the comment period for the guidance. The EPA 
and the Corps find that a 30-day extension of the comment period is 
warranted. Therefore, the comment period is extended until July 31, 
2011.
    A copy of the draft guidance can be found on EPA's Web site at 
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/CWAwaters.cfm and on 
the Corps' Web site at http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/cwa_guide.aspx.

    Dated: June 27, 2011.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection 
Agency.
    Dated: June 27, 2011.
Jo-Ellen Darcy,
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Department of the 
Army.
[FR Doc. 2011-16617 Filed 7-1-11; 8:45 am]
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