[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 209 (Friday, October 28, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 75006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25929]



[[Page 75006]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 147

[EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0372; FRL 9953-36-OW]


Commonwealth of Kentucky Underground Injection Control (UIC) 
Class II Program; Primacy Approval

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to 
approve the Commonwealth of Kentucky Underground Injection Control 
(UIC) Class II Program for primacy. The EPA determined that the state's 
program is consistent with the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water 
Act (SDWA) at section 1425 to prevent underground injection activities 
that endanger underground sources of drinking water. The agency's 
approval allows the state to implement and enforce state regulations 
for UIC Class II injection wells only located within the state. The 
Commonwealth's authority excludes the regulation of injection well 
Classes I, III, IV, V and VI and all wells on Indian lands, as required 
by rule under the SDWA. The agency requests public comment on this 
proposed rule and supporting documentation. In the ``Rules and 
Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, the agency published 
EPA's approval of the state's program as a direct final rule without a 
prior proposed rule. If the agency receives no adverse comment, EPA 
will not take further action on this proposed rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received by November 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2015-0372, at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any 
comment received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other 
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly S. Green, Drinking Water 
Protection Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (4606M), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0651; fax number: 
(202) 564-3754; email address: [email protected]; or Nancy H. Marsh, 
Safe Drinking Water Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303; telephone 
number (404) 562-9450; fax number: (404) 562-9439; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Why is EPA issuing this proposed rule?

    The EPA proposes to approve the Commonwealth of Kentucky's UIC 
Program primacy application for Class II injection wells located within 
the state (except all wells on Indian lands), as required by rule under 
the SDWA. The proposed rule grants Kentucky primary enforcement 
authority to prevent Class II (oil and gas-related) underground 
injection activities that endanger underground sources of drinking 
water. Accordingly, the agency proposes to codify the state's program 
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR part 147. EPA will 
continue to administer the UIC Program for injection well Classes I, 
III, IV, V and VI and wells on Indian lands, if any such lands exist in 
the state in the future. The agency has published a direct final rule 
in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of today's Federal Register, 
approving the state's program because EPA views this approval as 
noncontroversial and anticipates no adverse comment. The agency 
provided reasons for the approval and additional supplementary 
information in the preamble to the direct final rule. If EPA receives 
no adverse comment, the agency will not take further action on this 
proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse comment, the agency will 
withdraw the direct final rule and it will not take effect. The agency 
would then address all public comments in any subsequent final rule 
based on this proposed rule. The agency does not intend to institute a 
second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting must do so at this time. For further information, please 
contact the persons listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section.

    Dated: October 19, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-25929 Filed 10-27-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P