[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 20, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03274]



[[Page 7129]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 257

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0613; FRL-9974-49-OLEM]


Oklahoma: Approval of Coal Combustion Residuals State Permit 
Program; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is 
extending the comment period on EPA's proposal to approve Oklahoma's 
Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) State Permit Program. The notice 
announcing this proposed approval was published on January 16, 2018, 
and the public comment period was scheduled to end on March 2, 2018. 
However, a number of public interest groups have requested additional 
time to review Oklahoma's application for a CCR State Permit Program 
and to develop and submit comments. Therefore, in response to the 
request for additional time, EPA is extending the comment period, so 
that comments are now due on or before March 19, 2018.

DATES: Comments on the notice of availability published January 16, 
2018 (83 FR 2100) must be received on or before March 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OLEM-2017-0613; Title: Oklahoma: Approval of Coal Combustion Residuals 
State Permit Program at https://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. 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Jackson, Materials Recovery and 
Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and 
Recovery, Mail code 5304P, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (703) 
308-8453; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is proposing to approve Oklahoma's CCR 
state permit program application, pursuant to RCRA 4005(d)(1)(B). If 
approved, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ)'s 
permit program would operate ``in lieu of'' the federal CCR program, 
codified at 40 CFR part 257, subpart D.
    On July 31, 2017 Oklahoma submitted to EPA its initial application. 
The State supplemented its original application on October 18, 2017. 
EPA determined that the application was complete and notified Oklahoma 
of its determination by letter dated December 21, 2017.
    The statute requires EPA to evaluate two components of a state 
program to determine whether it meets the standard for approval. First, 
EPA is to evaluate the adequacy of the permit program (or other system 
of prior approval and conditions) itself. See 42 U.S.C. 6945(d)(1)(A). 
Second, EPA is to evaluate the adequacy of the technical criteria that 
will be included in each permit, to determine whether they are the same 
as the federal criteria, or to the extent they differ, whether the 
modified criteria are ``at least as protective as'' the federal 
requirements. See 42 U.S.C. 6945(d)(1)(B). Only if both components meet 
the statutory requirements may EPA approve the program. See 42 U.S.C. 
6945(d)(1).
    On that basis, EPA conducted an analysis of ODEQ's application, 
including a thorough analysis of OAC 252:517 and its adoption of 40 CFR 
part 257, subpart D. Based on this analysis, EPA has preliminarily 
determined that ODEQ's submitted CCR permit program meets the standard 
for approval in section 4005(d)(1)(A) and (B). EPA is therefore 
proposing to approve Oklahoma's application. Oklahoma's program 
contains all the elements of the federal rule, including requirements 
for location restrictions, design and operating criteria, groundwater 
monitoring and corrective action, closure requirements and post-closure 
care, recordkeeping, notification and internet posting requirements. It 
also contains state-specific language, references and state-specific 
requirements that differ from the federal rule, which EPA has 
preliminarily determined to be at least as protective as the federal 
criteria. EPA's analysis and preliminary findings are available in the 
docket supporting this proposed action.
    The notice announcing the proposed approval of Oklahoma's 
application was published on January 16, 2018, and the comment period 
was scheduled to end on March 2, 2018. See 83 FR 2100. Since 
publication of the notice, a number of stakeholders have requested 
additional time to review Oklahoma's application and to develop and 
submit comments. Therefore, after considering this request for 
additional time, EPA has decided to extend the comment period until 
March 19, 2018.

    Dated: February 8, 2018.
Barry N. Breen,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-03274 Filed 2-16-18; 8:45 am]
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