[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 63 (Monday, April 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19661-19662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7816]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0943; FRL-9655-1]


Draft National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate 
Change

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is publishing for public 
comment a draft long-range strategy that describes how the agency will 
address climate change challenges to its mission of protecting human 
health and the environment. Climate change alters the hydrological 
background in which EPA's programs function. Depending upon the 
regional, local and even temporal nature of effects, climate change 
will pose challenges to various aspects of water resource management, 
including how to: address risks to drinking water, wastewater and storm 
water infrastructure; protect quality of surface water, ground water 
and drinking water; build resilience of watersheds, wetlands, and 
coastal and ocean waters; and work with tribal communities to 
understand the implications of climate change to their economy and 
culture.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 17, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2011-0943, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov--
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0943 in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Send 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-2011-0943.
     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-2011-0943. Such deliveries 
are accepted only during 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-
0943. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change and may be made available online 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 email{time} . The http://www.regulations.gov 
Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which

[[Page 19662]]

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: All 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 material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in 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. Elana Goldstein, Office of Water 
(4101M), Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Building, Mail 
Code 4101M, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: 202-564-1800; email address: [email protected]. For more information, visit: http://epa.gov/water/climatechange.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    To remain effective and continue fulfilling its mission, the EPA 
will need to adapt to already observed and projected changes. To that 
end, the Agency will continue to collaborate with partners at the 
federal, state, tribal, and local levels to develop the requisite 
information, tools and strategies. The Draft National Water Program 
2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change (Draft 2012 Strategy) 
addresses the challenges climate change poses and lays out a long term 
vision for the sustainable management of water resources for future 
generations in light of climate change. The Draft 2012 Strategy is 
intended to be a roadmap to guide future programmatic planning, and 
inform decision makers during the Agency's annual planning process. It 
describes the array of actions that should be taken in the coming years 
to build a climate resilient national water program.
    The following questions are intended to solicit input and insight 
for particular areas of the Draft 2012 Strategy. In addition to these 
questions, reviewers are encouraged to consider their own questions 
pertinent to their interests.
     Which Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act program 
areas do you think are most vulnerable to climate change? Which 
strategic actions should be prioritized? Are there strategies that are 
missing or need revision?
     Are there important partnerships that have not been 
identified?
     Are there examples of methods for measuring and tracking 
progress and outcomes of adaptation activities? Is the approach 
described adequate?
     Are there research priorities that were not listed?
     Please supply any additional references addressing the 
economics of climate change adaptation (e.g., assessing the costs and 
benefits of climate change adaption projects).
     How can we improve our representation of tribal climate 
change and water interests? Are there examples of incorporating 
traditional ecological knowledge involving water resources into climate 
adaptation science and strategies?
    Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

    Dated: March 28, 2012.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Water.
[FR Doc. 2012-7816 Filed 3-30-12; 8:45 am]
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