[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 3 (Friday, January 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 727-729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31716]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9765-7]
Public Notice of Proposed Reissuance of the NPDES General Permits
for Facilities/Operations That Generate, Treat, and/or Use/Dispose of
Sewage Sludge by Means of Land Application, Landfill, and Surface
Disposal in the EPA Region 8
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to reissue NPDES general permits and request
for comments.
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SUMMARY: Region 8 of the EPA is hereby giving notice of its tentative
determination to reissue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) general permits for facilities or operations that
generate, treat, and/or use/dispose of sewage sludge by means of land
application, landfill, and surface disposal in the States of CO, MT,
ND, and WY and in Indian country in the States of CO, MT, ND, SD, WY
and UT (except for the Goshute Indian Reservation and the Navajo Indian
Reservation).
DATES: Public comments on this proposal must be received, in writing,
on or before February 19, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be sent to: WASTEWATER UNIT (8P-W-
WW); ATTENTION: BIOSOLIDS PROGRAM; U.S. EPA, REGION 8; 1595 WYNKOOP
STREET; DENVER, CO 80202-1129.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the draft permit and Fact
Sheet may be downloaded from the EPA Region 8 web page at http://www.epa.gov/region8/water/biosolids/documents.html. For a printed copy
of the draft permit and Fact Sheet, please write Bob Brobst at the
above address or telephone (303) 312-6129. Questions regarding the
specific permit requirements may be directed to Bob Brobst, telephone
(303) 312-6129.
Public Comment Period: Public comments are invited. Comments must
be written and must be received by no later than February 19, 2013.
Comments should be sent to: WASTEWATER UNIT (8P-W-WW); ATTENTION:
BIOSOLIDS PROGRAM; U.S. EPA, REGION 8; 1595 WYNKOOP STREET; DENVER, CO
80202-1129. Each comment should cite the page number and, where
possible, the section(s) and/or paragraph(s) in the draft permit or
Fact Sheet to which each comment refers. Commenters should use a
separate paragraph for each issue discussed.
[[Page 728]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 21, 2000 and September 21, 2000,
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy issued orders stating that until
all necessary total maximum daily loads under Section 303(d) of the
Clean Water Act are established for a particular water quality limited
segment, the EPA is not to issue any new permits or increase permitted
discharges under the NPDES program. (The orders were issued in the
lawsuit Friends of the Wild Swan, Inc., et al., v. U.S. E.P.A., et al.,
CV 97-35-M-DWM, District of Montana, Missoula Division.) The EPA finds
that the reissuance of this proposed general permit does not conflict
with this order, because (1) the proposed permit would not authorize
any point source discharges and (2) as discussed under the ``Protection
of Public Health and The Environment'' section of the Fact Sheet for
the general permits, the use and/or disposal of sewage sludge in
compliance with the conditions of this permit is not likely to have any
adverse effect on any waterbody in Montana that has been listed under
Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. If any member of the public
believes that the EPA should interpret the District Court's decision
otherwise, the EPA requests that this issue be brought to its attention
during the public comment period on this proposed permit.
Since these permits do not involve discharges to waters of the
United States, certification under Sec. 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water
Act is not necessary for the issuance of these permits and
certification will not be requested.
Region 8 is proposing to continue to use general permits instead of
individual permits for permitting such sewage sludge related activities
in order to reduce the Region's administrative burden of issuing
separate individual permits. The renewal permits and fact sheets are
very similar to the previous permits and fact sheets. Minor editing was
done throughout the permits and fact sheets to correct typographic
errors, update the list of the tribal environmental contacts, and some
wording changes were made to provide clarification. The only
significant changes made to the permits and fact sheets were: (1)
References to Biosolids Data Management System (BDMS) was removed as it
is no longer compatible with current computer systems; (2) In Table 12
several antiquated analytical methods were removed from the list of
acceptable analytical methods to be used in the analysis of sewage
sludge. These methods may still be used with permission of the
permitting authority; and (3) In Part 5.1.1.2.8 of the landfilling part
of the permit, the requirement to do Part 4.1.4 of the permit was added
for when sewage sludge is used in the final cover of the landfill. The
purpose is to require agronomic soil sampling for calculating the
proper amount of sewage sludge to be utilized in the establishment/
maintenance of vegetation on the final cover of the landfill. The
administrative burden for most of the regulated sources is expected to
be less under the general permits than with individual permits, and it
will be much quicker to obtain permit coverage with general permits
than with individual permits. The substantive permit requirements would
be essentially the same with an individual permit or under the general
permit. Facilities or operations that incinerate sewage sludge are not
eligible for coverage under these general permits and must apply for an
individual permit. Wastewater lagoon systems that are not using/
disposing of sewage sludge do not need to apply for permit coverage
unless notified by the permit issuing authority. The deadlines for
applying for coverage under the general permits are given in the
permits and the Fact Sheet. Facilities/operations that had coverage
under the previous general permit and have submitted a timely request
for coverage under this renewal permit are covered automatically under
this permit unless the permit issuing authority requires the submittal
of a new notice of intent (NOI).
On February 19, 1993, (58 FR 9248,) the EPA promulgated ``Standards
for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge'' (40 CFR part 503) and made
revisions to the NPDES regulations to include the permitting of
facilities/operations that generate, treat, and/or use/dispose of
sewage sludge. The 503 regulations were amended on August 4, 1999 (64
FR 42551).
The States of South Dakota and Utah currently are the only States
in Region 8 that have been authorized to administer the biosolids
(sludge) program. It is proposed that the EPA general permits be
reissued for facilities or operations that generate, treat, and/or use/
dispose of sewage sludge by means of land application, landfill, and
surface disposal within the following areas:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area covered by the
State Permit No. general permit
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Colorado....................... COG650000 State of Colorado
except for Federal
Facilities and Indian
country.
COG651000 Indian country within
the State of Colorado
and the portions of
the Ute Mountain
Indian Reservation
located in New Mexico
and in Utah.
COG652000 Federal Facilities in
the State of Colorado,
except those located
in Indian country,
which are covered
under permit COG51000.
Montana........................ MTG650000 State of Montana except
for Indian country.
MTG651000 Indian country in the
State of Montana.
North Dakota................... NDG650000 State of North Dakota
except for Indian
country.
NDG651000 Indian country within
the State of North
Dakota (except for
Indian country located
within the former
boundaries of the Lake
Traverse Indian
Reservation, which are
covered under permit
SDG651000) and that
portion of the
Standing Rock Indian
Reservation located in
South Dakota.
South Dakota................... SDG651000 Indian country within
the State of South
Dakota (except for the
Standing Rock Indian
Reservation, which is
covered under permit
NDG651000), that
portion of the Pine
Ridge Indian
Reservation located in
Nebraska, and Indian
country located in
North Dakota within
the former boundaries
of the Lake Traverse
Indian Reservation.
Utah........................... UTG651000 Indian country within
the State of Utah
except for the Goshute
Indian Reservation,
Navajo Nation, and Ute
Mountain Indian
Reservation (which is
covered under permit
COG651000).
Wyoming........................ WYG650000 State of Wyoming except
for Indian country.
WYG651000 Indian country within
the State of Wyoming.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 729]]
The States of South Dakota and Utah have been authorized permitting
authority for sewage sludge, therefore the EPA's general permits will
be reissued only for Indian country in those States. The general permit
for Indian country in Utah does not include the portions of the Goshute
Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation in Utah because the permitting
activities for these reservations are done by Region 9 of the EPA. The
State of Colorado has not been authorized permitting authority for
Federal facilities, so a general permit is proposed for Federal
facilities not located in Indian country.
Authorization for use/disposal of sewage sludge under the general
permits may be for one of the following three categories: Category 1--
Facilities/operations that generate and/or partially treat sewage
sludge, but do not use/dispose of sewage sludge; Category 2--
Facilities/operations that use/dispose of sewage sludge and may also
generate and/or treat sewage sludge; and Category 3--Wastewater lagoon
systems that need to land apply sewage sludge on an occasional,
restricted basis. Authorization for use/disposal of sewage sludge under
the general permit will be limited to one of the three categories, but
authorization may be granted to one or more subcategories under
Category 2. In applying for authorization for use/disposal of sewage
sludge under the general permit, the applicant will be required to
specify under which category or subcategory(s) authorization is being
requested. However, the permit issuing authority will have the final
determination as to which category or subcategory(s) the authorization
will be granted. The requirements in the permit for the use/disposal of
sewage sludge are based primarily on 40 CFR Part 503.
Other Legal Requirements
Economic Impact (Executive Order 12866): The EPA has determined
that the issuance of this general permit is not a ``significant
regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735 (October 4, 1993)) and is therefore not subject to formal OMB
review prior to proposal.
Paperwork Reduction Act: The EPA has reviewed the requirements
imposed on regulated facilities in these proposed general permits under
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, 44 U.S.C. Sec. 501 et seq. The
information collection requirements of these permits have already been
approved by the Office of Management and Budget in submissions made for
the NPDES permit program under the provisions of the Clean Water Act.
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended
by the Small Business regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA): The
RFA requires that the EPA prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for
rules subject to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) that have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. The
permit proposed today, however, is not a ``rule'' subject to the
requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553(b) and is therefore not subject to the
RFA.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: Section 201 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA), Public Law 104-4, generally requires Federal
agencies to assess the effects of their ``regulatory actions'' defined
to be the same as ``rules'' subject to the RFA) on tribal, state, local
governments and the private sector. The permit proposed today, however,
is not a ``rule'' subject to the RFA and is therefore not subject to
the requirements of the UMRA.
Authority: Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: December 17, 2012.
Derrith R. Watchman-Moore,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and Regulatory
Assistance.
[FR Doc. 2012-31716 Filed 1-3-13; 8:45 am]
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