[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 182 (Thursday, September 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44176-44177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20065]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R10-OW-2017-0369; FRL9968-06-Region 10]


Public Hearings: Proposal To Withdraw Proposed Determination To 
Restrict the Use of an Area as a Disposal Site; Pebble Deposit Area, 
Southwest Alaska

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Announcement of public hearing dates.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two public 
hearings to obtain public testimony and comment on its proposal to 
withdraw the EPA Region 10 July 2014 Proposed Determination that was 
issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act. The public hearings will be 
held on October 11, 2017, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time 
(AKDT) in Dillingham, Alaska, and October 12, 2017, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. 
AKDT in Iliamna, Alaska. The EPA will continue to accept written public 
comments through the close of the public comment period on October 17, 
2017.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 17, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R10-
OW-2017-0369, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. 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: Visit www.epa.gov/bristolbay or 
contact a Bristol Bay-specific phone line, (206) 553-0040, or email 
address, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. Public Hearings

    The EPA will hold two public hearings on its proposal to withdraw 
the EPA Region 10 July 2014 Proposed Determination. The hearing dates 
and locations are as follows:

October 11, 2017--6:00-9:00 p.m. AKDT, Dillingham Middle School Gym, 
Dillingham, Alaska

October 12, 2017--1:00-4:00 p.m. AKDT, Iliamna Community Center, 
Iliamna, Alaska

    Additional hearing details and any changes to the schedule are 
available at www.epa.gov/bristolbay. The purpose of the public hearings 
is to obtain public testimony and comment on the proposal to withdraw 
the EPA Region 10 July 2014 Proposed Determination that was issued 
pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. Senior leadership 
from EPA Headquarters and Region 10 will be in attendance, along with 
staff from both EPA Headquarters and Region 10. Any person may attend 
the hearings and submit oral and/or written statements or data and may 
be represented by counsel or other authorized representatives. If you 
would like to submit written comments, you may do so at the public 
hearings or by one of the methods described in the section of this 
public notice entitled: How to Submit Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov.
    The EPA will not respond to questions/comments during the hearing. 
The EPA will consider the oral and written statements received at the 
public hearings and other written comments submitted pursuant to the 
instructions set forth in the section of this public notice entitled: 
How to Submit Comments to the Docket at www.regulations.gov.

B. Background

    On July 19, 2017, EPA published a public notice and request for 
comment in the Federal Register, entitled ``Proposal to Withdraw 
Proposed Determination to Restrict the Use of an Area as a Disposal 
Site; Pebble Deposit Area, Southwest Alaska'' (82 FR 33123). The EPA 
Administrator and Region 10 Acting Regional Administrator are 
requesting public comment on this proposal to withdraw the EPA Region 
10 July 2014 Proposed Determination that was issued pursuant to Section 
404(c) of the Clean Water Act, to restrict the use of certain waters in 
the South Fork Koktuli River, North Fork Koktuli River, and Upper 
Talarik Creek watersheds in southwest Alaska as disposal sites for 
dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble deposit, a 
copper-, gold-, and molybdenum-bearing ore body. The EPA agreed to 
initiate this proposed withdrawal process pursuant to policy direction 
from EPA's Administrator and as part of a May 11, 2017 settlement 
agreement with the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), whose subsidiaries 
own the mineral claims to the Pebble deposit. The Agency is accepting 
public comment through the aforementioned notice to afford the public 
an opportunity to comment on:
     Whether to withdraw the July 2014 Proposed Determination 
at this time for the reasons stated in the aforementioned notice; and
     if a final withdrawal decision is made following this 
comment period,

[[Page 44177]]

whether the Administrator should review and reconsider the withdrawal 
decision.

C. How To Submit Comments to the Docket

    In addition to submitting your comments during the hearing, you may 
also submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OW-2017-
0369, by one of the following methods:
    a. Federal eRulemaking Portal (recommended method of comment 
submission): Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
    b. Email: Send email to [email protected]. Include the docket 
number EPA-R10-OW-2017-0369 in the subject line of the message.
    c. Mail: Send your comments to: Water Docket, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, Attention: Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OW-2017-0369.
    d. Hand Delivery/Courier: Deliver your comments to EPA Docket 
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 
DC 20460, Attention: Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OW-2017-0369. Such 
deliveries are accepted only during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday (excluding 
legal holidays). Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. The telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 
566-2426.

    Dated: September 13, 2017.
Michelle Pirzadeh
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2017-20065 Filed 9-20-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P