[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8757-8758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3589]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 280 and 281

[EPA-HQ-UST-2011-0301; FRL-9631-6]
RIN 2050-AG46


Revising Underground Storage Tank Regulations--Revisions to 
Existing Requirements and New Requirements for Secondary Containment 
and Operator Training

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is extending the public comment period for the proposed 
changes to the 1988 underground storage tank (UST) technical, financial 
responsibility, and state program approval regulations published in the 
Federal Register on November 18, 2011 (76 FR 71708) (FRL-9485-5). These 
changes establish federal requirements that are similar to key portions 
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; they also update certain 1988 UST 
regulations. Proposed changes include: Adding secondary containment 
requirements for new and replaced tanks and piping; adding operator 
training requirements; adding periodic operation and maintenance 
requirements for UST systems; removing certain deferrals; adding new 
release prevention and detection technologies; updating codes of 
practice; making editorial and technical corrections; and updating 
state program approval requirements to incorporate these new changes. 
These changes will likely protect human health and the environment by 
increasing the number of prevented UST releases and quickly detecting 
them, if they occur. This document extends the comment period for 60 
days, from February 16, 2012 until April 16, 2012.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 16, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
UST-2011-0301, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OPA-2009-0880, Mail Code 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, 
DC 20460. In addition, please mail a copy of your comments on the 
information collection provisions to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attn: Desk 
Officer for EPA, 725 17th St. NW., Washington, DC 20503.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington DC 20460. Attention Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-UST-2011-0301. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should 
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-UST-
2011-0301. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
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 www.regulations.gov or email. The 
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 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: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Docket, EPA/DC, 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 EPA 
Docket Center (EPA/DC) is (202) 566-0276.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth McDermott, OSWER/OUST 
(5401P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 703-603-7175; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document extends the public comment 
period established in the Federal Register on November 18, 2011. In 
that document EPA proposed changes that establish federal requirements 
that are similar to key portions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; they 
also update certain 1988 UST regulations. Several potential commenters 
requested an extension to the comment period. EPA is hereby extending 
the comment period, which was set to end on February 16, 2012, to April 
16, 2012. To submit comments, please follow the detailed instructions 
as provided under ADDRESSES. If you have questions, consult the 
individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 280

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures, 
Confidential business information, Groundwater, Hazardous materials, 
Petroleum, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Underground 
storage

[[Page 8758]]

tanks, Water pollution control, Water supply.

40 CFR Part 281

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures, 
Hazardous materials, Petroleum, State program approval, Underground 
storage tanks.

    Dated: February 8, 2012.
Carolyn Hoskinson,
Director, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Office of Solid Waste 
and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 2012-3589 Filed 2-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P