[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 211 (Thursday, October 31, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65306-65308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25845]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9902-21-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0723]


Best Practices for Continuous Monitoring of Temperature and Flow 
in Wadeable Streams

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, ``Best Practices for Continuous Monitoring of 
Temperature and Flow in Wadeable Streams'' (EPA/600/R-13/170). The EPA 
also is announcing that either ERG or Versar,

[[Page 65307]]

EPA contractors 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 (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development. The report describes best practices for the deployment of 
continuous temperature and flow sensors in wadeable streams. This 
document addresses questions related to equipment needs, configuration, 
placement, installation techniques, data retrieval, and data 
processing.
    EPA is releasing the draft report for the purposes of public 
comment and peer review. The draft document is available via the 
Internet on the NCEA home page under the Recent Additions and the Data 
and Publications menus at www.epa.gov/ncea. This draft report is not 
final as described in EPA's information quality guidelines, and does 
not represent and should not be construed to represent Agency policy or 
views. 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 that EPA receives 
in accordance with this notice.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins October 31, 2013, and 
ends December 2, 2013. Technical comments should be in writing and must 
be received by EPA by December 2, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The draft document, ``Best Practices for Continuous 
Monitoring of Temperature and Flow in Wadeable Streams,'' is available 
primarily via the Internet on the NCEA home page under the Recent 
Additions and the Data and Publications menus at www.epa.gov/ncea. A 
limited number of paper copies will be 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, ``Best Practices for 
Continuous Monitoring of Temperature and Flow in Wadeable Streams,'' 
(EPA/600/R-13/170) to facilitate processing of your request.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via 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 ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center; 
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email: [email protected].
    For technical information, contact Dr. Britta Bierwagen, NCEA; 
telephone: 703-347-8613; facsimile: 703-347-8694; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Project/Document

    The lack of continuous temperature and flow data for minimally 
disturbed, free-flowing freshwater wadeable streams is an impediment to 
analyses of long-term trends in biological, thermal, and hydrologic 
data. In recent years, there has been substantial interest in 
developing regional monitoring networks with states and EPA regional 
offices to detect long-term climate change-related impacts on aquatic 
communities in freshwater streams. Current participants, including 
states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, are initiating 
collection of thermal, hydrologic, and biological data from targeted 
sites in each state. To help further this effort, EPA and collaborators 
have written a best practices document to facilitate more uniform and 
effective collection of continuous temperature and water depth data at 
ungaged sites in wadeable streams. This document addresses questions 
related to equipment needs, configuration, placement, installation 
techniques, data retrieval, and data processing. The collection of 
these data will further efforts to detect and track climate change-
related impacts over the long term, further our understanding of how 
thermal, hydrologic, and biological conditions vary spatially and 
temporally and inter-relate to one another, and help inform state and 
federal agencies on how to attribute altered environmental conditions 
to climate change versus other stressors.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-
0723, 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: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center (ORD Docket), [Mail Code: 28221T], 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 
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.
     Hand Delivery: The ORD 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-
2013-0723. 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 
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 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

[[Page 65308]]

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 home page at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: 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 materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: October 23, 2013.
Abdel-Razak M. Kadry,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2013-25845 Filed 10-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P