[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18556-18557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08865]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0079; ER-FRL-9038-9]


Availability of a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) and 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA)/Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 
Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, and EPA's 
regulations for implementing NEPA, EPA has prepared a Programmatic

[[Page 18557]]

Environmental Assessment (PEA) to analyze the potential environmental 
impacts related to the issuance of credit assistance under the Water 
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. The PEA 
evaluates the potential adverse and beneficial environmental impacts of 
water infrastructure projects eligible for WIFIA credit assistance in 
compliance with NEPA. Projects receiving WIFIA credit assistance must 
also comply with applicable federal laws and regulations and Executive 
Orders (E.O.) and other state and local environmental reviews. Based on 
the environmental impact analysis in the PEA, EPA has made a 
preliminary determination that no significant environmental impacts are 
anticipated from the issuance of WIFIA credit assistance. This notice 
initiates the 30-day review period and invites comments from Federal, 
State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and the public regarding 
EPA's preliminary determination.

DATES: Comments must be received by May 29, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2018-0079 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Please follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or 
withdrawn. EPA may publish public comments 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: Alejandro Escobar, Water 
Infrastructure Division, Office of Wastewater Management, WIFIA 
Program, Mail Code: 4201T, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-
564-9047; email address [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is seeking public comment regarding its 
preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) to document its 
determination that no significant environmental impacts are anticipated 
from the issuance of WIFIA credit assistance. EPA invites the public to 
submit comments through Regulations.gov during the 30-day comment 
period following the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.
    Congress enacted the WIFIA as part of the Water Resources Reform 
and Development Act of 2014, as amended by sec. 1445 of Public Law 114-
94[thinsp][1] and codified at 33 U.S.C. 3901-3914. WIFIA establishes a 
new federal credit program for water infrastructure projects to be 
administered by EPA.
    The proposed federal action under consideration in this 
Programmatic EA is approving or denying WIFIA applications by either 
providing or not providing WIFIA credit assistance. WIFIA provides 
credit assistance to eligible water and wastewater infrastructure 
projects as defined in 33 U.S.C. 3905. The proposed action being 
evaluated is the design, construction, operation, and maintenance for a 
range of water and wastewater infrastructure projects, which are 
eligible for WIFIA credit assistance.
    The environmental review process, which is documented by the PEA, 
indicates that no potential significant adverse environmental impacts 
are anticipated from the proposed action. The PEA analyzed the 
potential environmental impacts of water and waste water infrastructure 
projects eligible for credit assistance under the WIFIA program.
    Based on the environmental impact analysis in the PEA, EPA has 
determined that no significant environmental impacts are anticipated 
from the issuance of credit assistance under WIFIA and the proposed 
action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly 
affecting the quality of the human environment, making the preparation 
of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) unnecessary. Therefore, EPA 
is issuing a preliminary FONSI.

    Dated: April 24, 2018.
Kelly Knight,
Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 2018-08865 Filed 4-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P