[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 222 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71341-71342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29749]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9494-4; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-0914]


BASINS and WEPP Climate Assessment Tools: Case Study Guide to 
Potential Applications

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period and letter peer-review.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, BASINS and WEPP Climate Assessment Tools (CAT): Case 
Study Guide to Potential Applications (EPA/600/R-11/123A). EPA also is 
announcing that an EPA contractor for external scientific peer review 
will select an independent group of experts to conduct a letter peer-
review of the draft document. The document was prepared by the National 
Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development, and is intended to support application of two recently 
developed water modeling tools, the BASINS and WEPP climate assessment 
tools. The report presents a series of short case studies designed to 
illustrate the capabilities of these tools for conducting scenario 
based assessments of the potential future effects of climate, land use, 
and management change on water resources.
    EPA intends to forward the public comments that are submitted in 
accordance with this notice to the external peer-reviewers for their 
consideration during the letter review. When finalizing the draft 
document, EPA intends to consider any public comments received in 
accordance with this notice. EPA is releasing this draft assessment for 
the purposes of public comment and peer review. This draft assessment 
is not final as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and 
it does not represent and should not be construed to represent Agency 
policy or views.
    The draft document is available via the Internet on the NCEA home 
page under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins November 17, 2011, and 
ends December 19, 2011. Technical comments should be in writing and 
must be received by EPA by December 19, 2011.

ADDRESSES: The draft document, BASINS and WEPP Climate Assessment 
Tools: Case Study Guide to Potential Applications, is available 
primarily via the Internet on the National Center for Environmental 
Assessment's home page under the Recent Additions and the Data and 
Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of 
paper copies are available from the Information Management Team, NCEA; 
telephone: (703) 347-8561; facsimile: (703) 347-8691. If you are 
requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, mailing address, and 
the document title.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/
courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment 
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; 
telephone: (202) 566-1752; facsimile: (202) 566-1753; or email: 
[email protected].
    For technical information, contact Thomas Johnson, NCEA; telephone: 
(703) 347-8618; facsimile: (703) 347-8694; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Project/Document

    There is growing concern about the potential effects of climate 
change on water resources. U.S. EPA and partners have developed two 
assessment tools, the BASINS Climate Assessment Tool (BASINS CAT) and 
the Water Erosion Prediction Project Climate Assessment Tool (WEPPCAT), 
that facilitate application of existing simulation models for 
conducting scenario-based assessments of potential climate change 
impacts on water.
    This report presents a series of short case studies using the 
BASINS and WEPP climate assessment tools. The case studies are designed 
to illustrate the capabilities of these tools for conducting 
assessments of the potential future effects of climate, land use, and 
management change on water resources. Climate change scenarios are 
created based on model projections as well as historical data and past 
events. Land use change and management scenarios are also included to 
address questions related to the relative effects of land use versus 
climate change, and the effectiveness of management practices for 
reducing impacts.
    This report is technical in nature. It is of interest to modeling 
professionals including water and watershed managers, urban or regional 
planners, government officials, and scientists and engineers interested 
in using the BASINS or WEPP water models to assess the potential 
implications of climate change on water resources.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2011-
0914, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments;
     Email: [email protected];
     Fax: (202)-566-9744;
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 28221T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 
(202) 566-1752. If you provide comments by mail, please submit one 
unbound original with pages

[[Page 71342]]

numbered consecutively and three copies of the comments. For 
attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the 
comments, and submit an unbound original and three copies; or
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center's 
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. Deliveries are only accepted during the 
docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information. If you provide comments by 
hand delivery, please submit one unbound original with pages numbered 
consecutively and three copies of the comments. For attachments, 
provide an index, number pages consecutively with the comments, and 
submit an unbound original and three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2011-0914. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will 
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is 
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket 
without change and to make the comments available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless a 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 
email. 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your email 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 may not be able to 
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 EPA's public docket visit the 
EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: November 10, 2011.
Darrell A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2011-29749 Filed 11-16-11; 8:45 am]
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