[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 125 (Tuesday, June 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37255-37257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16042]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R08-OW-2015-0346; FRL-9929-80-Region-8]
Proposed Issuance of NPDES General Permits for Wastewater Lagoon
Systems Located in Indian Country in EPA Region 8
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 is
providing for comment the draft 2015 National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) lagoon general permits for
[[Page 37256]]
wastewater lagoon systems located in Indian country in Region 8
(Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming).
These draft permits are similar to the existing permits and will
authorize the discharge of wastewater from lagoons located in Region 8
Indian country in accordance with the terms and conditions described
therein. EPA proposes to issue these permits for five (5) years and is
seeking comment on the draft permits.
DATES: Comments must be received, in writing, on or before July 30,
2015.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R08-
OW-2015-0346, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: VelRey Lozano, Wastewater Program, Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, Mailcode 8P-W-WW, 1595 Wynkoop
Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129.
Hand Delivery: VelRey Lozano, Wastewater Program,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, Mailcode 8P-W-WW, 1595
Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129. Such deliveries are only
accepted Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding
federal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R08-OW-
2015-0346. 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. 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 instructions on submitting
comments, see Section I, General Information of this document.
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 Wastewater
Program, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop
Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129. EPA requests that if at all
possible, you contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section to view the hard copy of the docket. You
may view the hard copy of the docket Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m., excluding federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: VelRey Lozano, Wastewater Program,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mailcode 8P-W-WW, 1595
Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129, (303) 312-6128,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
a. Identify the public notice and docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
b. Follow directions--Organize comments by referencing the part of
the permit or fact sheet by section number.
c. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
d. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
e. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
f. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
g. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
h. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline
identified.
II. Background
These draft permits are similar to the current permits and will
authorize the discharge of wastewater in accordance with the terms and
conditions described therein. The fact sheet for the permits is
provided for download concurrently with the permits and provides
detailed information on; the decisions used to set limitations, the
specific geographic areas covered by the permits, information on
monitoring schedules, inspection requirements, and other regulatory
decisions or requirements.
Issuance of the general permits will cover discharges from
wastewater lagoon systems located in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The general permits are grouped
geographically by state, with the permit coverage being for specified
Indian reservations located within a state boundary [specific permit
coverage areas below]; any land held in trust by the United States for
an Indian tribe; and any other areas which are Indian country within
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 1151.
III. Summary of Permits
A. Colorado: COG587###
This permit covers the Southern Ute Reservation and the Ute
Mountain Reservation, including those portions of the Reservation
located in New Mexico and Utah.
[[Page 37257]]
B. Montana: MTG589###
This permit covers the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana; the
Crow Indian Reservation; the Flathead Reservation; the Fort Belknap
Reservation of Montana; the Fort Peck Indian Reservation; the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation; and, the Rocky Boy's Reservation.
C. North Dakota: NDG589###
This permit covers the Fort Berthold Reservation; the Spirit Lake
Indian Reservation; the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation; and, the
Turtle Mountain Reservation.
This permit includes that portion of the Standing Rock Sioux
Reservation and associated Indian country located within the State of
South Dakota. It does not include any land held in trust by the United
States for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate or any other Indian country
associated with that Tribe, which is covered under general permit
SDG589###.
D. South Dakota: SDG589###
This permit covers the Cheyenne River Reservation; Crow Creek
Reservation; the Flandreau Santee Sioux Indian Reservation; the Lower
Brule Reservation; the Pine Ridge Reservation (including the entire
Reservation, which is located in both South Dakota and Nebraska); the
Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation; and, the Yankton Sioux Reservation.
This permit includes any land in the State of North Dakota that is
held in trust by the United States for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate or
any other Indian country associated with that Tribe. It does not
include the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation or any associated Indian
country, which is covered under general permit NDG589###.
E. Utah: UTG589###
This permit covers the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation of Utah
Reservation (Washakie); the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Reservation;
the Skull Valley Indian Reservation; and Indian country lands within
the Uintah & Ouray Reservation. It does not include any portions of the
Navajo Nation or the Goshute Reservation.
F. Wyoming: WYG589###
This permit covers the Wind River Reservation.
Coverage under the general permits will be limited to lagoon
systems treating primarily domestic wastewater and will include two
categories of coverage; discharging lagoons (DIS), and lagoons expected
to have no discharge (NODIS). The effluent limitations for discharging
lagoons are based on the Federal Secondary Treatment Regulation (40 CFR
part 133) and best professional judgement (BPJ). If more stringent and/
or additional effluent limitations are considered necessary to comply
with applicable water quality standards, etc., those limitations and
their basis are explained in the permit fact sheets and will be imposed
by written notification to the permittee. Lagoon systems under the no
discharge category are required to have no discharge except in
accordance with the bypass provisions of the permit. Self-monitoring
requirements and routine inspection requirements are included in the
permits.
Where the Tribes have Clean Water Act section 401(a)(1)
certification authority; Flathead Indian Reservation, the Fort Peck
Indian Reservation, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, and the Ute
Mountain Indian Reservation; EPA has requested certification that the
permits comply with the applicable provisions of the Clean Water Act
and tribal water quality standards.
IV. Other Legal Requirements
Economic Impact (Executive Order 12866): EPA has determined that
the issuance of these general permits 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: 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. 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.
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 Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA) on tribal, state, local governments and the private sector. Since
the permit proposed today is an adjudication, it is not 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: June 9, 2015.
Darcy O'Connor,
Acting Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Partnerships and
Regulatory Assistance.
[FR Doc. 2015-16042 Filed 6-29-15; 8:45 am]
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