[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 178 (Tuesday, September 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55352-55355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23056]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OECA-2015-0628; FRL-9933-77-OECA]


Public Comment on EPA's National Enforcement Initiatives for 
Fiscal Years 2017-2019

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting public 
comment and recommendations on national enforcement initiatives (NEI) 
for fiscal years 2017-2019. EPA selects these initiatives every three 
years in order to focus federal resources on the most important 
environmental problems where noncompliance is a significant 
contributing factor and where federal enforcement attention can make a 
difference. The current initiatives as well as potential new 
initiatives under consideration are described in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section, with additional descriptions and data on current 
initiatives available on our Web site: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/national-enforcement-initiatives.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 14, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments via www.regulations.gov, identified by 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-2015-0628; FRL-9933-77-OECA. Follow the on-
line instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OECA-
2015-0628. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
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 www.regulations.gov. 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 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 FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Palmer, Deputy Director, 
Planning Measures and Oversight Division, Office of Enforcement and 
Compliance Assurance, Mail Code: M2221A, Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: 202-564-5034; fax number: 202-564-0027; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What are EPA enforcement and compliance national initiatives?

    EPA is soliciting public comment and recommendations on national 
enforcement initiatives to be undertaken in fiscal years 2017-2019. EPA 
selects these initiatives every three years in order to focus federal 
resources on the most important environmental problems

[[Page 55353]]

where noncompliance is a significant contributing factor and where 
federal enforcement attention can make a difference. This notice is an 
Agency planning document and does not impose any legally binding 
requirements on EPA or any outside parties.

II. On what is EPA requesting comment?

    EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is collecting 
comment on which of the current national enforcement initiatives should 
continue, be expanded or returned to the standard enforcement program. 
Current initiatives may be carried forward, refined or concluded for 
the FY 2017-2019 cycle. EPA is also seeking comment on the list of 
potential NEIs described above which are currently being considered for 
the FY 2017-2019 national enforcement cycle. The public is invited to 
propose any other areas for consideration, keeping in mind resource 
constraints.

III. What are the current FY 2014-2016 national enforcement initiatives 
(which can be extended)?

    For the six current initiatives, EPA invites the public to comment 
on whether each NEI should continue into the FY 17-19 cycle or return 
to the standard enforcement program for completion of remaining work. 
EPA also invites comment on whether EPA should add new areas of focus 
within those NEIs that are recommended for extension.
    (1) Reducing air pollution from the largest sources. This national 
enforcement initiative has focused on ensuring that large industrial 
facilities comply with the Clean Air Act when building new facilities 
or making modifications to existing facilities. In keeping with the 
purpose of NEIs to address the largest, highest impact sources of 
pollution, this NEI has been centered on industrial sectors with the 
largest amounts of air pollution that can significantly impact human 
health: Coal fired power plants, as well as acid, glass and cement 
manufacturing facilities. Large percentages of facilities in these 
sectors are now under enforceable commitments to reduce pollution, 
although there are still violating facilities with substantial 
pollution. For coal-fired power plants alone, the injunctive relief in 
these cases, when fully implemented, will mean reductions in serious 
air pollution of nearly 3 million tons each year. Although significant 
progress has been made to address noncompliance in several sub-
categories of this initiative, more work may be needed on new cases and 
EPA has an on-going commitment to monitor progress under existing 
consent agreements to assure that the required actions are implemented 
and air pollution reductions from completed enforcement actions 
actually occur.
    (2) Cutting toxic air pollution. Toxic air pollution from 
industrial facilities is a national problem, which is nowhere more 
urgent than in the fence line communities that bear the brunt of 
unlawful pollution. This national enforcement initiative has focused on 
the substantial illegal emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) 
from leaks, flares, and excess emissions at industrial facilities that 
are putting neighbors' health at risk. Through active investigations 
and use of innovative monitoring technologies, EPA has identified many 
violating facilities where toxic air pollution was much greater than 
what had previously been estimated. EPA has conducted hundreds of 
evaluations and brought numerous enforcement actions to require these 
facilities to reduce pollution and to comply with the law. Based on 
what we have learned about the sources of the largest toxic emissions 
and the causes of the releases, EPA is considering expanding this 
initiative into new focus areas and sources where noncompliance is a 
growing threat, as described further below.
    (3) Assuring energy extraction and production activities comply 
with environmental laws. EPA has been working with states to assure 
that domestic land-based natural gas extraction and production is done 
in an environmentally protective manner and in compliance with 
environmental laws. Natural gas development activities in energy rich 
areas of the country have led to concerns about increases in air 
pollution levels, pollution of surface and ground waters, the safety of 
community drinking water supplies, and damage to ecosystems. EPA has 
brought a number of high impact enforcement actions to address serious 
violations in this industry. This sector continues to develop and 
change rapidly, and EPA is continuing to evaluate the best way to 
address pollution problems in this sector, including opportunities for 
greater use of advanced monitoring.
    (4) Reducing pollution from mineral processing operations: Mining 
and mineral processing facilities generate more toxic and hazardous 
waste than any other industrial sector. Improper handling of those 
wastes can lead to expensive cleanups that can cost taxpayers billions 
of dollars. This NEI has been focused on the largest and highest risk 
mineral processing operations, to ensure that they properly manage 
their wastes and have sufficient financial assurance to properly close 
facilities. This NEI has resulted in a number of large, high impact 
cases to ensure proper handling of these hazardous wastes. By the end 
of FY16 many of the highest risk mineral processing facilities are 
expected to be under enforceable agreements or orders that will require 
them to properly address hazardous waste.
    (5) Keeping raw sewage and contaminated stormwater out of our 
Nation's waters: Discharges of raw sewage and contaminated stormwater 
are a serious pollution problem in waters across the country. Under 
this initiative, EPA has tackled significant water pollution problems 
within communities that result from Clean Water Act noncompliance. Many 
communities with raw sewage discharges are now under enforceable 
commitments to reduce pollution, including numerous communities that 
have embraced green infrastructure as a solution. Green infrastructure 
can provide benefits beyond compliance with the Clean Water Act and can 
be more cost effective. EPA will need to continue to monitor 
implementation of these long-term agreements, and to adapt them to 
changing circumstances and new information, such as the increasing 
commitment of cities to implement green infrastructure, changes in 
financial capability, or technological advances. Municipal stormwater 
pollution also remains an important clean water challenge in 
communities around the country.
    (6) Preventing animal waste from contaminating surface and ground 
water: Animal waste is a significant contributor to serious water 
quality issues and can result in environmental and human health risks 
such as water quality impairment, fish kills, algal blooms, 
contamination of drinking water sources, and transmission of disease-
causing bacteria and parasites associated with food and waterborne 
diseases. The focus of this national enforcement initiative has been 
reduction of animal waste pollution that impairs our nation's waters, 
threatens drinking water sources, and adversely impacts communities. 
These impacts are often acutely felt in rural communities of 
environmental justice concern. EPA's enforcement strategy for this NEI 
has focused on animal agriculture operations that have a big impact or 
where action is necessary to ensure that all operations in the sector 
play by the same rules. For the future, EPA is considering an updated 
strategy

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to explore the use of nutrient recovery technologies that show promise 
to reduce water pollution, implementation of instream monitoring to 
demonstrate impacts to water quality and identify violations, as well 
as new tools to identify the most significant violators.

IV. What are the FY 2017-2019 potential NEIs currently under 
consideration?

    In addition to evaluating the current NEIs to determine which 
should continue and potentially be expanded and which can return to the 
standard enforcement program, EPA is also considering new initiatives 
for FY 2017-2019. We are very mindful that our resources have been 
declining over the past five years, so we need to keep resource 
constraints very much in mind as we consider taking on new work. A 
brief description and pertinent background information for each 
potential new FY 2017-2019 initiative is provided below.
    (1) Protecting Communities from Exposure to Toxic Air Emissions. 
EPA is currently implementing an air toxics NEI and is considering 
expanding the initiative to include emissions from additional sources 
and industries. Emissions of toxic air pollutants continue to be a 
concern that threatens the health of communities. EPA seeks public 
comment on whether to significantly increase our commitment to 
addressing this national problem by expanding into one or both of the 
following two areas:
    Organic Liquid Storage Tanks: In addition to the current areas of 
focus--flares and leaks--large storage tanks can be significant sources 
of excess air emissions at many sites, including terminals, refineries, 
and chemical plants. Using advanced monitoring, including optical 
remote sensing techniques, such as differential absorption light 
detection and ranging technology and optical gas imaging cameras, EPA 
has observed that volatile organic compound (VOC) and hazardous air 
pollutant (HAP) emissions from storage tanks can greatly exceed the 
permitted and/or estimated emissions. In many instances, EPA has 
observed that emissions are the result of violations, including 
inadequate maintenance of the tanks and associated emissions controls, 
design flaws, and expansion of production volumes without corresponding 
increases in emissions control. There are thousands of tanks operating 
in the United States at refineries, chemical plants, and other bulk 
storage facilities that are located in ozone nonattainment areas, 
communities of environmental justice concern, or other areas with 
sensitive populations.
    Hazardous Waste Air Emissions: The handling of hazardous waste can 
also result in toxic air emissions, which present many of the same 
public health risks that led to the selection of air toxics as an NEI. 
In addition, these hazardous wastes, if improperly handled, can also 
present a potential for increased fire or explosion risk due to their 
high corrosivity and ignitability. Such catastrophic events not only 
create a safety risk for workers and the surrounding community, they 
also create the potential for significant associated releases of toxic 
air pollutants that have both acute and chronic health effects. Based 
on EPA's observations during field work, as well as the publicly 
available compliance information on Enforcement and Compliance History 
Online (ECHO), it appears that widespread violations of the air 
emission requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
(RCRA) are a significant contributing cause of these problems. 
Violations observed include the improper use of monitoring and control 
devices by facilities, resulting in releases of emissions from RCRA 
regulated units. Of particular concern are the toxic air emissions that 
result from the handling of hazardous waste at treatment, storage, and 
disposal facilities (TSDFs) and large quantity generators (LQGs) that 
are not properly controlling hazardous waste releases to the air as 
required by regulation.
    One of the reasons to consider these areas for an expanded NEI is 
to support a level playing field, so that all industries with toxic air 
releases, which usually operate in multiple states across the country, 
are held to a common, consistent standard. EPA invites comment on 
whether to expand our work to reduce toxic air emissions to these two 
new focus areas.
    (2) Keeping Industrial Pollutants out of the nation's Waters Many 
waters (including sediments) around the country are polluted by 
nutrients and metals. Certain industrial sectors contribute a 
disproportionate amount of the pollution over discharge limits. This 
potential NEI would focus on the top sectors that have many violations 
and are responsible for contributing to surface water pollution and 
putting our drinking water at risk: Mining, chemical manufacturing, 
food processing and primary metals manufacturing. A number of 
facilities in the top sectors discharge pollution in excess of their 
permit limits. In addition to being a focused attempt to significantly 
reduce serious water pollution across the nation, selecting this as an 
NEI would allow for a national approach for those companies that 
operate in more than one state and would support a consistent national 
strategy to achieve compliance across industry sectors.
    (3) Reducing the Risks and Impacts of Industrial Accidents and 
Releases. It is an all too common occurrence for industrial facilities 
to have serious accidents and explosions that kill or injure employees 
and emergency responders, and release chemicals that threaten 
neighboring communities. Thousands of facilities across the country 
produce, process, store, and use extremely hazardous substances that 
are acutely toxic or can cause serious accidents. These facilities vary 
widely in nature, from municipal water treatment plants to the largest 
refineries in the United States and are often extremely large and 
complex. Across the country, approximately 150 catastrophic accidents 
occur per year among the universe of regulated facilities. These 
accidents pose a risk to neighboring communities and workers because 
they result in fatalities, injuries, significant property damage, 
evacuations, sheltering in place, or environmental damage. 
Approximately 2,000 facilities are currently considered ``high-risk'' 
because of their proximity to densely populated areas, the quantity and 
number of extremely hazardous substances they use, or their history of 
significant accidents.
    Most of these serious accidents are preventable if the necessary 
precautions and actions are taken. Failure to adequately train 
personnel, maintain equipment, conduct routine inspections, or take 
other common sense precautions contribute to the dangers these 
facilities pose to their workers and to surrounding communities. This 
potential NEI would be a targeted focus on the facilities and the 
chemicals that pose the greatest risks, with a goal of increasing 
industry attention to preventing accidents, instead of addressing 
problems after accidents happen, thereby reducing the risk of harm to 
communities and workers.
    For all of the NEIs that EPA ultimately selects for FY17-19, we 
intend to incorporate Next Generation Compliance approaches into our 
work. Our goal will be to use the most current monitoring technologies, 
data analytics and transparency, as well as the latest thinking on what 
drives better compliance, to get better results even in a time of 
serious resource constraints. We invite comment on what some of these 
Next Gen opportunities might be for the continuing and potential new 
NEIs.

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    EPA will consider all public comments in determining whether and to 
what extent to continue or expand an initiative or to select a new one, 
but will not respond to the comments received. Final selection will be 
incorporated into the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance 
Assurance FY 2017 National Program Manager Guidance Addendum that 
provides national program direction for all EPA regional offices.
    Information in support of this Notice of Public Comment is 
available via the Internet at: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/national-enforcement-initiatives.

V. Can the deadline for comments be extended?

    No. EPA will include the final selection of the national 
enforcement initiatives in the National Program Manager Guidance (NPM 
Guidance) to enable EPA, states, and federally-recognized Indian tribes 
(tribes) to effectively align their joint implementation of 
environmental laws to achieve mutual goals. The NPM guidance must be 
timely released for public comment in order to allow the EPA regions, 
as well as states and tribes with approved programs, to consider the 
NPM Guidance fully in their annual planning processes which direct the 
use of resources according to the fiscal calendar. As a result, EPA 
must receive public comments by October 14, 2015 in order to make 
selections in keeping with this schedule.

    Dated: September 3, 2015.
Betsy Smidinger,
Acting Director, Office of Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-23056 Filed 9-14-15; 8:45 am]
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