[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70866-70867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28154]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-0850; FRL-9919-81-ORD]


Regional Monitoring Networks To Detect Climate Change Effects in 
Stream Ecosystems

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, ``Regional Monitoring Networks to Detect Climate 
Change Effects in Stream Ecosystems'' (EPA/600/R-14/341). The document 
was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within 
EPA's Office of Research and Development. The document describes the 
development of the current regional monitoring networks (RMNs) for 
small, freshwater wadeable streams.
    EPA intends to forward the public comments that are submitted in 
accordance with this document 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 document. EPA is releasing this draft document 
solely for the purposes of public comment and in connection with pre-
dissemination peer review. This draft document is not final as 
described in EPA's information quality guidelines, has not been 
publicly disseminated by the EPA, and 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 28, 2014, and 
ends December 29, 2014. Comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by December 29, 2014.

ADDRESSES: The draft document, ``Regional Monitoring Networks to Detect 
Climate Change Effects in Stream Ecosystems,'' 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 document.

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 Britta Bierwagen, NCEA; 
telephone: 703-347-8613; facsimile: 703-347-8694; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Project/Document

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with its 
regional offices, states, tribes, and other organizations to establish 
regional monitoring networks (RMNs) at which biological, thermal, and 
hydrologic data will be collected from freshwater wadeable streams to 
quantify and

[[Page 70867]]

monitor changes in baseline conditions, including climate change 
effects. RMNs have been established in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and 
Southeast, and efforts are expanding into other regions. The need for 
RMNs stems from the lack of long-term, contemporaneous biological, 
thermal, and hydrologic data, particularly at minimally disturbed 
sites. Data collected at RMNs will be used to detect temporal trends; 
investigate relationships between biological, thermal, and hydrologic 
data; explore ecosystem responses and recovery from extreme weather 
events; test hypotheses and predictive models related to climate 
change; and quantify natural variability. RMN surveys build on existing 
bioassessment efforts, with the goal of collecting comparable data that 
can be pooled efficiently at a regional level. This document describes 
the development of the current RMNs for small, freshwater wadeable 
streams. It contains information on selection of candidate sites, 
expectations for data collection, the rationale for collecting these 
data, and provides examples of how the RMN data will be used and 
analyzed.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-
0850, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: EPA Docket Center [ORD 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 
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-
2014-0850. 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 home page 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 ORD Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

     Dated: November 20, 2014.
Debra B. Walsh,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2014-28154 Filed 11-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P