[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 210 (Tuesday, October 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54587-54588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23632]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[Docket ID No. EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0389; FRL-9985-60-Region 8]
North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; Transfer
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice
of a proposed program revision to transfer the authority to implement
and enforce the North Dakota Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NDPDES) program from the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDOH) to
the newly established North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality
(NDDEQ). If approved, the NDDEQ will administer the approved NDPDES
program regulating discharges of pollutants into waters of the United
States under its jurisdiction as described in the state's program
application. The EPA will retain the authority to issue NPDES permits
for facilities located in Indian country and/or discharging to waters
in Indian country.
DATES: Written comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be
received on or before November 29, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R08-
OAR-2018-0389, to the Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
www.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.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Wastewater Program,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street,
Denver, Colorado 80202-1129. The EPA requests that if at all possible,
you contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section to view the hard copy of the docket. You may view the
hard copy of the docket Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
excluding federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: VelRey Lozano, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 8, (8WP-CWW), 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver,
Colorado 80202-1129, 303-312-6128, email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information
On April 7, 2017, the Governor of North Dakota signed a bill into
law mandating the creation of a new North Dakota Department of
Environmental Quality. NDDEQ will be a cabinet-level agency that will
implement all of the federally authorized or delegated environmental
programs currently run by the Environmental Health Section of NDDOH.
The law gives NDDOH until July 1, 2019, to obtain the necessary program
authorizations and approvals from EPA to allow NDDEQ to implement the
State's delegated and/or authorized environmental programs.
A state may revise its NPDES program. 40 CFR 123.62(a). In doing
so, the State must submit a modified program description, Attorney
General's statement, Memorandum of Agreement or other such
documentation as EPA determines to be necessary under the
circumstances. 40 CFR 123.62(b). States with approved programs are
required to notify EPA whenever they propose to transfer all or part of
the approved State agency to any other State agency and to identify any
new division of responsibilities amongst the agencies involved. 40 CFR
123.62(c). Organizational charts required in the State's original
authorization package must be revised and resubmitted. Id. The new
agency is not authorized to administer the program until approved by
the Regional Administrator.
On July 30, 2018, the EPA received a complete program revision
package from the state of North Dakota. The EPA has determined the
program revision package contains all the required elements. The full
program revision package is available for inspection and copying at the
addresses appearing in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
[[Page 54588]]
General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
Entities potentially affected by this action are: The EPA; and the
regulated community and residents within the state of North Dakota (see
Table 1). This table is not intended to be exhaustive; rather, it
provides a guide for readers regarding entities that this action is
likely to affect.
Table 1--Entities Potentially Affected by This Proposed Approval
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Category Examples of potentially affected entities
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State and Indian Tribal States and Indian tribes that provide
Governments, and Federal certification under section 401 of the
Agencies. CWA; States, Indian Tribes, and federal
agencies that own or operate treatment
works outside of Indian country that
require an NDPDES permit.
Municipalities............... POTWs required to apply for or seek
coverage under an NDPDES individual or
general permit and to perform routine
monitoring as a condition of an NDPDES
permit.
Industry..................... Facilities required to apply for or seek
coverage under an NDPDES individual or
general permit and to perform routine
monitoring as a condition of an NDPDES
permit.
NDPDES Stakeholders.......... Any party that may review and provide
comments on NDPDES permits.
Residents of the state of Any party that may review and provide
North Dakota. comments on NDPDES permits.
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If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. What action is EPA taking?
With this action, the EPA is providing notice of a proposed program
revision to the State of North Dakota's approved NPDES program to
transfer authority to administer the NDPDES program from the NDDOH to
the NDDEQ. This action is not changing the current scope of North
Dakota's NDPDES program and is transferring authority to another agency
to implement the state's current NPDES program as part of the larger
effort to move all federally authorized or delegated environmental
programs from the NDDOH to the NDDEQ. If the proposed program revision
is approved, EPA will retain the authority to issue permits for
facilities located in Indian country \1\ and/or discharging to waters
in Indian country.
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\1\ EPA's approval of North Dakota's request to transfer its
NPDES authority from the North Dakota Department of Health to the
North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality does not extend to
Indian country. As defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 1151, Indian country
generally includes lands within the exterior boundaries of the
following Indian reservations located within North Dakota: The Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation, the Spirit Lake Reservation, the
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and the Turtle Mountain
Reservation; any land held in trust by the United States for an
Indian tribe; and any other areas that are ``Indian country'' within
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. Section 1151. EPA, or eligible Indian
tribes, as appropriate, will retain responsibilities under the Clean
Water Act NPDES program for wastewater discharges in Indian country.
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C. What is EPA's authority for taking this action?
This action is taken under the authority of section 402 of the
Clean Water Act as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1342. Under 40 CFR 123.62(b)(2),
the EPA is required to determine whether proposed program revisions are
substantial and, if so, issue public notice and provide an opportunity
to comment for a period of at least 30 days. The EPA considers this
transfer of state authority to be substantial.
Dated: October 24, 2018.
Darcy O'Connor,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Water Protection, EPA,
Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2018-23632 Filed 10-29-18; 8:45 am]
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